Villages in India have spending power, but they also has some unique problems. What this combination has done is to stoke entrepreneurship among professionals aiming to offer solutions and tap into the rural opportunity...
Tweaking technology is also making it possible for startups to offer new applications that suit rural consumers. It is the scale of the opportunity that is drawing scores of entrepreneurs to rural India. We take a look at five entrepreneurs who have are offering unique solutions:
Tweaking technology is also making it possible for startups to offer new applications that suit rural consumers. It is the scale of the opportunity that is drawing scores of entrepreneurs to rural India. We take a look at five entrepreneurs who have are offering unique solutions:
1) EVOMO Research & Advancement - Abhinav Kumar CEO, EVOMO
Based in: Ahmedabad
USP: Aims to replace non-licensed local transport vehicles
Funding: Rs 5 lakh from NID
What it does: Designs and makes lowcost rural utility vehicle
As a young automobile engineer Abhinav Kumar dreamt of joining a professional racing team. But a casual visit to rural Uttar Pradesh, where he saw a range of locally manufactured vehicles being used to ferry people and goods, changed the 27-year-old's career ambitions.
Based in: Ahmedabad
USP: Aims to replace non-licensed local transport vehicles
Funding: Rs 5 lakh from NID
What it does: Designs and makes lowcost rural utility vehicle
As a young automobile engineer Abhinav Kumar dreamt of joining a professional racing team. But a casual visit to rural Uttar Pradesh, where he saw a range of locally manufactured vehicles being used to ferry people and goods, changed the 27-year-old's career ambitions.
He realised there was consumer demand for a transport vehicle that was both affordable and reliable. Soon he quit his job at auto-parts maker, Sona Koyo Steering Systems to set up his own venture, Evomo, in 2010.
Evomo's rural utility vehicle costs Rs 1.5 lakh, which is less than the price of a Tata Nano, dubbed the world's cheapest car. Kumar said he manages to keep costs low by using locally sourced material and drawing from global design ideas that are past the patent-protection stage. His target is to sell at least one vehicle in each of India's 6.5 lakh villages in the next five years.
2) Ampere Vehicles
Based in: Coimbatore
What it does: Makes electric bikes
USP: These bikes are used for local distribution by small entrepreneurs
Target Revenue: Rs 100 crore in the next four years
Based in: Coimbatore
What it does: Makes electric bikes
USP: These bikes are used for local distribution by small entrepreneurs
Target Revenue: Rs 100 crore in the next four years
Funding: Rs 20 cr from Forum Synergies and Spain's Axon Capital
In Coimbatore, electric-bike maker Ampere Vehicles is selling thousands of bikes being used by retailers to distribute water and milk in villages. Founded in 2008 by Hemalatha Annamalai, 45, a computer engineer, the company is expected to reach revenue of Rs 100 crore within the next four years.
In Coimbatore, electric-bike maker Ampere Vehicles is selling thousands of bikes being used by retailers to distribute water and milk in villages. Founded in 2008 by Hemalatha Annamalai, 45, a computer engineer, the company is expected to reach revenue of Rs 100 crore within the next four years.
3) iKure Techsoft
Based in: Kolkata
What it does: Sets up rural health centres
Target Revenue: Rs 1 crore this year
Funding: Rs 45 lakh from Intellecap Impact Investment Network and Calcutta Angels; Rs 70 lakh from WEBEL
Based in: Kolkata
What it does: Sets up rural health centres
Target Revenue: Rs 1 crore this year
Funding: Rs 45 lakh from Intellecap Impact Investment Network and Calcutta Angels; Rs 70 lakh from WEBEL
Kolkata-based iKure Techsoft has built a network of rural health centres where doctors are available through the week and pharmacists dispense only accredited medicines. In addition the company has built a back-end software platform on which all health records are stored. This is used to centrally monitor key metrics such as doctors' attendance, treatment prescribed and pharmacy stock management.
Sujay Santra, iKure's founder said the idea for the business came to him when he realised that his relatives and friends in a West Bengal village could not relate to his work at a US technology firm. "I was not doing anything which would impact them directly," said Santra, 36, who left Oracle to launch his healthcare venture.
4) Aakar Innovations
Based in: New Delhi
What it does: Builds low-cost machines that produce sanitary napkins
USP: The napkins are biodegradable
Target revenue: Rs 60 lakh this year
Funding: Rs 6.15 lakh loan from the NIF; Rs 3.6 lakh Mahindra 'Spark the Rise' grant
Based in: New Delhi
What it does: Builds low-cost machines that produce sanitary napkins
USP: The napkins are biodegradable
Target revenue: Rs 60 lakh this year
Funding: Rs 6.15 lakh loan from the NIF; Rs 3.6 lakh Mahindra 'Spark the Rise' grant
5) nanoPix
Based in: Hubli
What it does: Image and video processing products for agriculture, healthcare
USP: Machine vision-based blood smear analysis and automated cashew sorting
Revenues: Rs 2.2 crore fiscal 2014
Funding: Rs 80 lakh from friends, family; Rs 15 lakh loan from Deshpande Foundation
Based in: Hubli
What it does: Image and video processing products for agriculture, healthcare
USP: Machine vision-based blood smear analysis and automated cashew sorting
Revenues: Rs 2.2 crore fiscal 2014
Funding: Rs 80 lakh from friends, family; Rs 15 lakh loan from Deshpande Foundation
Thirty-six-year-old Sasisekar Krish makes image and video processing products for agriculture and healthcare at his company nanoPix based in Karnataka's Hubli district. Farmers use his product to sort agriculture products like cashew by shape, size, colour and quality. The same technology also helps analyse blood smears to detect infectious diseases.
nanoPix has already tied up with a few hospitals in rural Karnataka to use the product. To keep costs low, Krish, a former engineer at Wipro, has done away with expensive high-resolution cameras used in imaging technology.
Instead he combines images from several low- cost cameras and uses a software algorithm to create three dimensional models of the objects to be analysed.
Instead he combines images from several low- cost cameras and uses a software algorithm to create three dimensional models of the objects to be analysed.
No comments:
Post a Comment