There's always a simple solution - your startup fix for the week

Steve Jobs said, “When you first start off trying to solve a problem, the first solutions you come up with are very complex, and most people stop there. But if you keep going, and live with the problem and peel more layers of the onion off, you can oftentimes arrive at some very elegant and simple solutions."

And why not? Looking at the crop of startups today solving so many complex problems with the simplest of solutions, Jobs seemed to have been vindicated. Last week, we delved into refugee-led startups. Incidentally, Steve Jobs, the son of a Syrian immigrant, went on to build one of the world's most valuable tech company.

The National Foundation for American Policy states that 55 percent of $1 billion startups (50 out of 91 such startups) in the US have had at least one immigrant founder. To put it plainly, the world is built on contributions made by refugees and immigrants. On that note, we present four startups founded by refugees trying to solve real-life problems using the simplest of solutions.

We also have a bouquet of startup stories to inspire you even more this Monday!

Why engineering major Greaves Cotton is betting big on electric

Indian engineering giant Greaves Cotton, known for its diesel engines, generators, and pump sets, is going electric - betting big on electric mobility. The manufacturing major recently acquired Coimbatore-based startup Ampere Electric for Rs 150 crore, leapfrogging from a predominantly diesel engine resource maker to a fuel-agnostic solution provider. And CEO Nagesh Basavanhalli believes this is a natural transition for the 160-year-old company.

These brothers left their family business to build a successful B2B online marketplace

Brothers Akshay and Akash Hegde, while working on their family business, saw multiple pain points while in the market. These included procurement issues like sub-optimal pricing, delivery service levels, and streamlined supply that posed production challenges. Hence, in 2016, the duo came up with the idea of ShakeDeal – a B2B ecommerce platform that solves problems in the procurement and distribution space. Soon, the brothers were joined by their friend Santhosh Reddy as a Co-founder.

This Israeli startup is building the future of video technology

Israeli startup Minute.ly began as a video discovery app in 2014 with distinct ambitions of becoming the ‘Flipboard for video’. In the first few years, it was a B2C platform available as a downloadable app for consumers. Now, Minute.ly sells proprietary video AI technology to content publishers - mostly in the fields of sports, news, entertainment, etc. - around the world, with the purpose of increasing their video click-through rates and revenues. 

Brick by brick, this SaaS startup is bringing transparency to the construction industry

Founders Sashi Kiran, Aditya Shankar, and Gautam Mayur have ensured that over 60 builders use tech and data to manage their building sites better. In this video interview with YourStory Business Editor Vishal Krishna, they tell us what the Bengaluru-based startup does.

Edtech platform to connect students to schools, colleges, universities in rural areas

Patna-based Campus Varta enables students in rural India to get updates from schools, colleges, and universities. It was founded by Ranjan, a college dropout, who was keen to make educational opportunities available and accessible to these students. The edtech startup claims to have reached 54 universities, 1,800 colleges, and 1,000 schools, with a monthly active user base of 40,000.

These two automobile enthusiasts' EV startup's bike doubles as a cycle

Matching the joy of riding a bicycle with the speed of a sporty bike is Pune-based Polarity. In a conversation with YourStory Business Editor Vishal Krishna, the startup’s founders Sachin Jadhav and Anand Mohan explain why they have the most urban EV solution in the country.

Bengaluru-based Sushimen offers an easy way to get your sushi fix

Launched by Abhijeeth Urs and Ashwin Prasad in 2018, bootstrapped Sushimen is tapping the niche market for sushi - through home delivery. The startup, which focuses on fresh ingredients, is currently operational in Bengaluru and aims to expand before venturing to other metros. If you are wondering why home delivering sushi is a challenge, consider that the dish requires superlative slicing skills and has a shelf life of just four hours.

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