TATA NEN Hottest Startup Nominees
The TATA NEN Hottest Startup Awards recognizes high-potential startup organizations in India. Startups seems to be a dime a dozen these days, so beating out hundreds of other new ventures is quite a feat. I’ve picked out some nominees that have a social twist to their operations.
Three startups are featured after the jump, but if you are interested in voting, check out the shortlist (a login is required to vote). The five startups that win the most votes by December 23 will win.
Ecomove Solutions, for example, is a business that provides a membership for bicycle usage. This is how Ramesh V. describes his company in the award snapshot:
Ecomove is into retail transportation. With global warming, air pollution and fuel scarcity being very vital issues staring at all of us, there is a crying need for people to adopt a travel solution that is ecological and economical. We at Ecomove Solutions will provide services and travel solutions which meets both these needs.
We aim to provide rental service of bicycles to registered members. We would establish depots at various locations – the member can take the bicycle from one depot and leave it at another. The cost one pays would be less than Rs. 10 or 15 a day for multiple uses. Travelling by bicycle helps in dodging traffic, saves time and money and makes you healthier, and you also contribute towards reducing air pollution.
This is actually very similar to the Zipcar or SmartBike model in the United States. Instead of paying a large one-time cost to purchase a vehicle, a member can pay for whenever they really need to get somewhere. And it’s a healthy alternative for the environment.
Daily Dump is another green organization, focusing on composting. Poonam Bir Kasturi explains the concept to Tata NEN awards:
Daily Dump has designed a product with which anyone can convert kitchen waste into compost at home. The product, made of terra-cotta, is sourced from village potters. It is marketed through word-of-mouth referrals, media awareness, and our website. It is sold through channels including individuals, retail stores, and societies. The designs are ‘open source’, so individuals in other locations can replicate, adapt, build on, sell and use – for wide and rapid propogation of the idea.
The current product works well in independent homes; we are working on a ‘mechanical composter’ for use in flats. Our vision is to see a composter pre-fitted in every flat sold in the country, as a standard fitting. Daily dump not only retro fits composters at homes and other establishments but also provides maintenance advice and assistance through its service plans, essentially allowing you to just dump and letting nature and Daily Dump do the rest.
An interesting home solution to the waste problem in India, and a great way to make composting user-friendly for the average consumer.
Sammaan Foundation works with rickshaw pullers to add value to their services. Irfan Alam, an IIM-A grad, underscores the premise behind the foundation:
Sammaan’s idea is to systematize the working of all Rickshaw pullers by bringing them under one roof and to modernize the cycle rickshaw pulling sector (which contributes 30% in urban transport) with small but innovative changes. This not only makes it easier for the rickshaw pullers to drive and increase their income through Outdoor Advertising, but Value Added service such as sale of Mineral water, Juices, Mobile recharge, courier collection, Bills collections also makes it more comfortable and enjoyable ride for the commuter.
The organization will be owned by the rickshaw pullers themselves. The rickshaws are given free to the pullers, and then a small maintenance charge is collected daily. The following video provides more background:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUuP16fyTjM&eurl]
