10 Startups @Innovate Delhi 2016 Accelerator Program
This post was supposed to be very simple. I’d list the ten startups that were selected after 250+ applications in the Innovate Delhi 2016 Accelerator Program and quote the essentials that the Investors were looking for in them. But just as I was putting the words together, the conducive environment of the hall of IIIT-Delhi, seemed to be the perfect setting for an interesting discussion among the loudest voices of the city’s pioneering generation.
IIIT-Delhi partnered with Hellomeets for a six week boot camp to provide an opportunity to startups to show their business propositions and pitch before angel investors at the end of the program. We had among us Ashray Iyengar (Nexus Venture Partner), Videt Jaiswal (Saif Partners), Girish Shivani (YourNest), Shuvi Shrivastava (Lightspeed Venture Partners), Swarandeep Kamboas (Axon Partners Group) and many more as the Investors.
Investors mainly focus on startups with potential for insane growth. Startups need customers, polished product, promising business model, a strong pitch and of course, a credible team. But for entrepreneurs it is a tough task to reach that level unsupported. And that’s where the accelerator model steps in.
The teams present in the event are going strong on an upward trajectory and drawing seed funding. Some seemed quite adept; we noticed that they have their product, traction, scalability, focus and poise, just the type of qualities that an investor will fund.
Here’s a quick review of the startups-
Socialfluence
It is an automated influencer marketing platform to connect Brands and Influencers. To Influencers it provides:
- Live Social Channel Dashboard
- Live Socialfluence Audit
And to Brands:
- Intelligent Influencer search across internet
- Automated Campaign management with ROI
Changed algorithm by social media hurts brands and that’s where they step in!
CustTap provide an intelligent Customer Engagement and Marketing Platform for Brick and Mortar Stores. Amar Parkash displayed a real-time problem-
So much is the business opportuinity of offline stores, but the Eco System is poor and the approach to the market is restricted.
They have some huge amount of data but no Digitization. Now these people provide a cloud based data analytics system and educate and aware the sellers. This idea must be brought home!
We love texting, don’t we? YOU, yes you, are texting while reading this. Perfect. This is what Morph.AI is about; using the habit of people to message. It’s a B2B platform to build conversational bots for businesses.
It just learns how a conversation takes place and gets rid of redundancies with use. These bots are gonna help you to buy things and for automated customer support over channels like Facebook, Twitter, Live-Chat etc.
Just like Watches never went out of fashion, despite number of gadgets which can tell time, Newspapers never went out of fashion either. But spending hours on the Newspaper is no longer in Vogue.
Here, our “Awsumm” team takes lead. Awsummly is an AI based Short News App with “relevant” content. They claim real-time news in 22+ languages, personalised and no information overload. Maybe give it a shot and download the App off the Play Store?
One thing that impressed me when I saw their App Traction was that their numbers really do speak!
They provide free Employability Assessment of 40+ skills using mobile application and connect jobseekers with recruiters using pre-accessed profiles. The App provides recommendation, employment news and study, video interview facility and the list goes on. Guys this one surely has an innovative spark!
A slight variation from its contenders, BookMySawari is an online platform that organizes the Intercity Cab Rental market. They solve the problem of lack of standardization, price and service.
Surprisingly, they are quite OK with the one-way destinations and seem to somehow get customers from the other side too. And when they don’t, they still cover up the losses with ease. They have really got some good profits flowing in, the statistics show. Luck? A magical Marketing Strategy rather!
University Living Accomodation
In a new country and amongst people who speak alien language, how will you ever find a place?! University Living is your Super Hero. It is a platform for International Students to Discover, Compare and Book student Accommodation from their native country. Ever gone to a departmental store for an item and found the complementing items for free? This is what University Living is offering. Secure Payments, Property Tours, Flexible Options for short and long term and short term stay, Counseling, Documentation Support and what not!
Remember the competition that your parents warned you of? This is it.
It is a smart Payment Card App. You can literally have a temporary ON and OFF button for your card! Didn’t we need this magic all those times when we desperately needed to cancel a payment and couldn’t do so? How about the times of fraud? What about managing and tracking expenses?
Now these people are doing some fine business with number of orders pouring in. With the UPI taking shape, Olly can be a great complementary.
Suitsbuyyou
There is a key issue for men in online bespoke clothing: they suck. More specifically, app-based services lack user engagement and follow through. So this gentleman, Rishabb Bhoot built SUITSBYYOU like the ancient time dressmakers who come to your doorstep, measure you, show you a variety of material and finally make you a customized piece.
You will get a Stylist’s opinion on clothing, consultation and most importantly it will be affordable. SUITSBYYOU is doing some really, really cool, lucky business! Watch out for them!
Here we have our typical environment guys. They are a clean-tech company that specializes in Air Quality measurement and Purification. And the best part is that they are India-based. Air purification seems like a heavy cost, but apparently that’s not the case. They have their product tested and selling in the market. They are already well ahead in the CSR aspect as well. Gets a nod from me!
Credit should most notably be given to the mentors and of course our Investors who carefully critiqued the startups (we always need that to help us grow). And finally congratulations must be extended to the teams for their efforts! All the Best!
Upcoming Workshops at @ HelloMeets —
Google Analytics Workshop — 16th July | 3pm to 7pm
How should Developers & Designers work together to Speed up the work? — 17th July | 10 am to 4 am
Content Writing Workshop — 17th July | 3pm to 7pm
Blog credits — Sakshi Kaul, Content Writer @Hellomeets
