Gurugram-based Momspresso is a multi-lingual content platform for mothers. It also has a mobile app on Android and iOS

At a glance

Startup: Momspresso

Founders: Vishal Gupta, Prashant Sinha and Asif Mohamed

Year it was founded: 2010

Where it is based: Gurugram - NCR

Sector: Content platform for mothers

Problem it solves: Curates content for mothers

Funding raised: Rs 20 crore in Series A funding round from YourNest and SIDBI Venture Capital.

If there are hyper-listings platforms for groceries and restaurants, Vishal Gupta, Prashant Sinha, and Asif Mohamed wondered why they couldn’t be for tuition classes, tennis lessons, and birthday party organisers.

Armed with this thought, the trio set up Mycitykids in 2010, a hyper-local listings platform for children’s resources, and even events.

Soon, just being a listings platform was not enough and Vishal, Prashant and Asif wanted to engage more with mothers, and rebranded themselves to be called Momspresso.

Vishal says, “The information we earlier used to provide was not available elsewhere and as a parent, one would struggle to find places for children – be it a playschool or a tennis class. We, however, wanted to play a larger role in a mother’s life. The listing still continues to be a part of our business, but doesn't take a major chuck.”

So, what does Momspresso do? Vishal says the platform acts mostly like a blogspace where mothers can post experiences and tips for others. It also allows mothers to ask questions and seek answers to their queries. 

“With increasingly nuclear families, working spouses and people moving across cities, the vertical flow of parenting knowledge from generation to generation was replaced by a horizontal flow of knowledge among mothers. In keeping with the experience globally, where mothers are the most prolific blogging community, we felt there was an inherent need for a platform where mothers could share their parenting experience.”

With the rebranding of Mycity4kids to Momspresso, the team is expanding the content to also address the needs of a mother, both as a parent and as a woman. Momspresso is a multi-lingual content platform and Vishal says, “The finely brewed content on Momspresso not only provides answers to a mother’s parenting questions, but also supports her in her own personal journey as a woman.”

It also has an app available on Android and iOS platforms and allows users to engage in five regional languages in addition to English. The company claims it adds 100-120 blogs a day across six languages.

The growth story

Vishal claims the attracts 7.5 million mothers every month and blog contributions come in from 5,500 mothers. It also has a video channel with close to 500 videos.

“One of the initial challenges we faced was being able to consistently attract new bloggers, and make Momspresso the platform of choice for them. We realised that the biggest motivation for bloggers was for their blogs to be read, and we were able to ensure a significantly higher level of reach and engagement compared to any other platform.” 

To replicate the success it got for its English language content for regional languages was also a challenge, recalls Vishal. “We first targeted multi-lingual users and once they started publishing, the native bloggers organically started using the platform after reading the blogs,” he adds.

The team at Momspresso is currently 50 strong and is spread across content, technology, brand solutions and other functions.

Prashant and Vishal were colleagues at Aviva, while Asif was introduced to them through a common friend. Vishal has an MBA from IIM Bangalore and has over 13 years of work experience across companies like Asian Paints, Unilever and Aviva. Prashant has an MBA from the Times School, and spent 12 years at The Times of India, Pepsi and Aviva. As COO of Momspresso, he manages the sales and operations. Asif graduated from IIT Delhi, and then spent 12 years working with I-flex Solutions and Cranes Analytics. He is the CTO at Momspresso.

Brand collaborations

Mothers form an extremely valuable demographic for brands as they are primary buyers of products related to children and the household. Vishal says, “It is estimated that 40 percent of the Rs 60,000 crore annual advertising spends are targeted at this demographic.”

With two of its co-founders having worked with Unilever and Pepsi, they are wired to the way brands think, and to provide appropriate solutions for their brands. Keeping that in mind, the Momspresso platform enables brands to create content through bloggers, and an environment where they can engage with the sharply segmented audience.

Momspresso’s revenue model is based on native content (blogs and videos), blogger meets, and brand-focused solutions. It works with 60 brands, and has long-term engagements with Nestle, Dettol, Pampers, J&J, Horlicks and Dove.

The company claims to have reached breakeven, and is expecting to clock a revenue of Rs 15 crore in FY18, up from Rs 6.5 crore in FY17.

Future Plans

In the children and parenting segment, besides Mycity4kids, many other platforms like Indiaparenting, KIDDS, Zenparent, Parentune, and BabyChakra, are vying for mothers’ attention.

Talking about its differentiator, Vishal says, “We have a unique self-serve platform with 90 percent of our content being user generated blogs, unlike other platforms. Coming from mommy bloggers, the content covers all issues that mothers face in their day-to-day life, making it relevant for every mother out there.” 

The platform was started with a personal investment of Rs 50 lakh from the founders and has since raised Rs 20 crore in a Series A funding round from YourNest and SIDBI Venture Capital.

For the future, Vishal says, “In addition to parenting-related content, the platform will see the addition of new content categories such as health and fitness, beauty and fashion, travel and living, careers and recipes to enhance its relevance to the modern, multi-faceted mother of today.”

He adds, “As per our estimate, there are 150 million mothers in India and by expanding the number of languages from the current six to 10 by 2018, and the increased scope and relevance of the content with Momspresso; we plan to grow the user base from 7.5 million monthly visits to 75 million monthly visits in three years.”

The company is also planning to exponentially grow its revenue from Rs 15 crore in FY18 to Rs 150 crore by 2021 on the back of growing online ad-spends and by targeting a larger pool of women-centric brands. It also plans to increase the brands it works with from 60 to 200.

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