More than how to recharge, what to recharge is a unique problem and iReff has a solution to this question
iReff is the product of a vision to solve the information problem in the mobile recharge space in India. Nizam Mohideen, founder of iReff, decided to target 100 million people in India using mobile. Rajesh Badgeri and Prasanna Hegde soon joined him as co-founders to fulfill his mission.
iReff helps prepaid mobile users find the best recharge that suits their specific needs. It can be used by people who recharge at shops online or by retailers to answer the queries of walk-in customers. More than how to recharge, what to recharge is a unique problem due to ever-changing plans in India’s competitive telecom market. iReff is trying to confront this problem with its solutions.
In further conversation, Rajesh explained the workings of the company.
Pain point addressed
The company wants to solve the information problem in India. One such area is mobile recharge, which is consumed by 800 million prepaid users in India.
Influences in his journey
According to him, analysing customer behaviours and solving their problems contributed a lot. Work experience in Silicon Valley for five years helped in cultivating the entrepreneurial spirit. The opportunity to work for two to three startups gave added all round experience too.
Experience that helped
The early experience of working with startups in India and abroad earlier in his career, followed by solid product R&D experience at HP, gave him confidence in products, customer-driven innovation and managing customer expectations.
iReff’s USP
It helps you find the best recharge available quickly and easily. Today, every operator has more than 100 plans at any time. On top of that, they keep changing these plans, which makes it hard for consumers to discover the best plan for their needs. It is not practical to get this by calling up an operator’s call centre or a recharge shop or talking to friends every time. The iReff app makes it easy to browse all the latest plans and offers and helps you decide on your plan in seconds. With the help of this app you can manage your connection and data plans for your daily usage.
Monetisation modes
iReff has over five million app downloads and half a million active monthly users on the web. Current monetisation is through in-app ads and recharge partnerships. They have Paytm, Freecharge and Mobikwik as their wallet players.
Funding status
iReff is currently bootstrapped and has survived for more than 1,000 days through its monetisation strategy. They are looking for funding to scale products and growth.
Health and family management
Rajesh added, ”Each member having worked for more than 20 years in startups and MNCs, our venture is a more balanced one. Regular networking events and learning from fellow entrepreneurs have become part and parcel of life. Online reading on entrepreneurship, leadership and philosophy helps a lot.”
In response to being questioned on his hobbies, he added, “I am good at free-hand drawing and sports like cricket and TT, which help. I am also a foodie and love to explore all tastes.”
