These startups will make your Valentine's Day special (without burning a hole in your pocket)
Red roses and chocolates are passé. Give your bae a Valentine's Day surprise she/he'll remember for long with the help of these five startups.
With Valentine's Day around the corner, millennials - and anyone who “believes” in celebrating a day of love - are getting ready to surprise their partners. February 14 has been globally accepted as much more than a day for gifting and greeting card companies to churn millions. In fact, a few startups in India are ensuring that your V-Day can be made memorable, with experiences rather than the usual greeting cards or gifts that are unwrapped and forgotten in a day.
OyeHappy - This Hyderabad-based startup provides products and services that India has rarely seen before; these include renting a hoarding to wish your loved one on his/her birthday; a message on the screen during a movie interval or on the billboard during a cricket match; or sending a huge teddy bear for a bear hug. Prices of Oyehappy’s customisable products and services begin at Rs 300 and can go up to Rs 5 lakh if you opt for something extravagant like renting a private jet for a day. If your bae loves puppies (who doesn’t?) the most memorable Valentine’s Day gift will set you back by only Rs 1,200 - for an hour of getting to play with puppies in a private kennel.
Vkaao is a theatre-on-demand platform changing the way movies are being consumed: anyone can watch a movie of their choice from PVR’s collection at a time and theatre of their choice. So if your spouse missed watching a particular Indie or offbeat movie s/he was looking forward to, Vkaao saves the day as it increases the shelf life of indie movies that get limited theatrical release or are shown only at film festivals. It could be a classic romantic movie or one that hasn’t even released in India - for just the two of you. Tickets can be booked via online ticket booking platform BookMyShow. If you want a 4D experience, check the PVR theatres in Noida, Bengaluru, and Mumbai.
Dunzo, the popular app for daily task management, is there for you to surprise him/her with a bouquet of flowers or a wrapped gift! If you are not in town, your girlfriend will still know that you remembered this special day. You just have to tell the Dunzo app when and where to pick up the flowers/gift, and pay online when they upload the bill. Dunzo takes care of the rest! You can track real time as Dunzo’s executive completes the job. This Bengaluru-based startup, backed by Google among others, uses AI to ensure smooth processes.
Tea Box sells fresh tea and tea-based products sourced from Darjeeling, Assam, Nilgiris, and Nepal online. Besides their regular range of iced teas, flavoured and unflavored blends,Teabox has introduced an exciting range for Valentine’s Day - a collection of liquor teas. Priced at Rs.840, Champer’s Holiday is a sweet white tea with natural flavours vetted by renowned flavour experts from Germany.
Rum & Raisin Tea is a black tea blend, rich with authentic Egyptian dates and Middle Eastern raisins that complement the rich flavour of rum. It is available for Rs 1,000. Mulled Wine Tea, available at Rs 900, is a woody textured tea with natural red wine flavouring, the authentic sweetness of cinnamon, and the strong undertones of cloves and mace.
Callyally is a startup that brings back old-world romance with hand-written love letters. You just have to type the content and send it to them by email and they will write it in beautiful handwriting and post it from the nearest post office. You can choose to send your love note on handmade paper for Rs 101 and on normal paper for Rs 89. Based in Jaipur, CallyAlly charges you Rs 125 for hand-written cards for occasions, and bulk letters (with the same content) to multiple persons. But we hope you are not using the latter for Valentine’s Day!