Meet these young Pune startups giving competition to its neighbouring hubs

Deemed as the cultural capital of Maharashtra, Pune, in recent years, has become a buzzing hub for the automobile and I-T sectors. Like its neighbouring city Mumbai, it is prepping to be a gateway for startups. Owing to a large number of colleges in the city, a friendly climate, and a vibrant outlook, Pune city has a huge talent pool, and is all set to become the next startup hub of India.

From helping local artisans to teaching blockchain to students, startups in Pune are venturing into different sectors.

Here is a listicle by YourStory on the Pune-based startups to look out for.

Karagiri

Spotting a huge demand for Indian handicraft products in the international markets, husband-wife duo Dr Amol Patwari and Pallavi Mohadikar Patwari started Karagiri in July 2017 in Pune. 

Karagiri, that aims to promote skilled artisans and weavers from across the country, was initially started with an investment of Rs 3 lakh and 40 stock keeping units (SKUs). Currently, the startup has around 3,000 SKUs available on its website across different silks, and claims to be growing at 50 percent month-on-month in terms of revenue. 

Customers from across the world including India, the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, UAE and the Netherlands, among other countries, can shop for its products both online and offline.

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Fitato

To make fitness a natural part in the lives of busy young people, 25-year-old Karan Murada started Fitato in 2016 in Pune. Karan was later joined by his friend Aditya Srivastava.

The goal of the startup is to address the real challenges of holistic fitness by providing a simple ‘one pass solution’ for all the activities that are needed to maintain physical, mental, and social well-being. 

A single membership with Fitato can give one access to the best fitness studios and gyms across Pune, combined with a host of Fitato-owned social and community events. The startup provides its customers with an array of workouts such as Yoga, Zumba, Crossfit, and functional training, to name a few. 

The team claims to be clocking an 80-percent growth each quarter for the past two years, and a 45-percent retention rate. Fitato claims to have over 5,500 registered members. In late 2015, the startup had raised $120,000 in seed funding.

Woofbnb

In 2015, Anshul Goenka started Woofbnb, to help pet owners and lovers to fulfil their pet needs. It is a one-stop solution for pet lovers and owners, which provides a range of services that includes grooming, veterinary, walking, pet-sitting, as well as an online shop.

While services such as grooming and pet-sitting, works on an aggregator model, the dog-walking service follows a monthly or yearly subscription.

The startup today claims to be serving over 4,000 clients and is growing at 40 percent on a month-on-month basis.

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Moonshine Meadery

Nitin Vishwas and Rohan Rehani decided to experiment with mead, an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey with water, sometimes with various fruits, spices, grains, or hops. Thus, in 2016, the duo started Moonshine Meadery in Pune.

Today, Moonshine Meadery, has a presence in over 450 stores and restaurants across Mumbai, Pune, Goa, and Nagpur. They offer three products – Traditional Mead, Apple Cyder Mead and Coffee Mead which is priced at Rs 220 for a 330ml bottle with an alcohol content of 6.5 percent.

In 2018, the startup received seed funding from an angel investor group and high net worth individuals (HNIs). Currently, Moonshine Meadery has expanded its production to 25,000 litres, from the initial capacity of 2,000 litres.

TheBlokchainschool.io

TheBlokchainschool.io was started in December 2018 by a trio of friends who realised that there was no formal education for blockchain technology in engineering colleges.

The startup, founded by Saurabh Sharma along with his friends Vishwajeet Ranade and Kaivan Doshi, aimed to upskill students and solve the unemployment issue in India. The bootstrapped startup offers blockchain content explained through code and graphics, digital and physical training with blockchain experts, community meetups and mentor sessions.

The Blockchain School passport, which lets students be a part of blockchain conferences across the world, allows students to get recognition by freelancing with industry partners and other benefits.

The company offers a six-month subscription programme at Rs 7,000 and over 200 students have already signed up.

(Edited by Suman Singh)

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