From Treebo Hotel’s tablet app to IoT connected car technology DriveMate - the product launches of this week

Frugal innovation today is the answer to India’s unmet needs across sectors, be it healthcare, travel industry, e-commerce or the real-estate sector. Keeping in mind the changing lifestyle of consumers, startups always strive to bring in products that are a combination of both convenience and innovation.

From FitCircle’s nutrition supplement brand O’Ziva, to Treebo Hotels’s standalone tablet app, to Housing’s first 'Privilege Price Card', the product launches of this week seem to be tailored for both the B2B and B2C segments. Have a look.

FitCircle’s nutrition supplement brand O'Ziva

Chat-based health and fitness company FitCircle launched nutrition products under the brand 'O'Ziva', which will include meal-replacement shakes and protein supplements. With the new product launch, FitCircle plans to tap into the ever-growing nutraceutical Indian market, which is poised to grow by $6.2 billion by 2020.

The nutraceuticals industry in India is one of the rapidly growing markets in the Asia-Pacific region and is currently divided into functional food and beverages (68 percent) and dietary supplements (32 percent).

Tablet app of Treebo Hotels

Bengaluru-based chain of budget hotels Treebo Group has launched a tablet-based property management system for its hotel partners. The app, ‘Bumblebee’, will enable property managers to manage all tasks related to hotel operations, including check-ins, check-outs, new reservations, room assignments, payments, fulfilling guest preferences, billing for F&B and laundry.

Treebo currently has 85 properties in 17 cities. Founded in 2015 by ex-McKinsey/Myntra colleagues Sidharth Gupta and Rahul Chaudhary, and their college-mate from IIT Roorkee, Kadam Jeet Jain, the startup has raised $6 million in Series-A investment last year from Matrix Partners and SAIF Partners.

Privilege Price Card launched by Housing.com

Real Estate platform Housing.com has launched ‘Privilege Price Card’ for home buyers through which one can get access to exclusive deals and offers on properties across India. Primarily, the card will be launched in Pune as the company believes that Pune is one of the fastest growing markets for residential real estate.

For the launch, Housing.com partnered with ten developers, including B U Bhandari Landmarks, Kumar Properties, Pride Group, Goel Ganga Developments, Mittal Brothers, Naiknavare, Nirman Developers and Kool Homes. The card will offer special deals on more than 25 new projects across the best localities of Pune.

The price of the card starts at Rs 9,999 and it is refundable in case the user does not buy property. Housing also claims that buyers can avail a discount at the time of purchase and save upto Rs 30 lakh.

Chat based tax filing app ‘Taxchat’

Tax filing company H&R Block has launched tax filing app ‘Taxchat’, a free do-it-yourself tax filing solution. This app is built on an intuitive and interactive interface and enables users to file their return by chatting to a tax professional.

H&R Block offers tax services like expert online tax preparation, free online income tax e-filing, in person tax e-filing, NRI tax e-filing, US tax filing in India, tax consultation and scrutiny of individuals including non-residents (NRIs) and expatriates.

DriveMate - next-gen IoT connected car technology

MapmyIndia, a digital map data, GPS navigation and location-based apps provider, has launched its next-generation connected car Internet of Things (IoT) technology, DriveMate. MapmyIndia's DriveMate has built-in GPS and Internet connectivity. With the map and location-based technologies, DriveMate securely monitors, records and transmits the car’s live (exact) location as well as driver behaviour. DriveMate mobile app is available across Android, iOS, Windows and web platforms.

The Max variant of DriveMate gives the car owner in-app connectivity with their car dealer or service centre. Besides, users can store important documents electronically in their app, like their driving licence, registration certificate, insurance policy and pollution certificate. DriveMate is a plug-and-play device and it plugs into the OBD-II port underneath the steering wheel. The price of the DriveMate is Rs 9,990 including first-year service and SIM/mobile connectivity charges.

The trend in product innovation in India has witnessed a dynamic shift in the past decade, with the startup fraternity becoming less patient in their quest to success. Breakthrough innovation is key to incremental growth and organisational survival. With government-led startup-friendly policies and initiatives like Startup India, India is poised to script a lot more startup success stories in the near future.