The week that was: from the rise of Boingg to the tech behind Razorpay, India’s latest Unicorn
This week, YourStory looked at startups that are using tech to make a difference in the lives of people. We also featured the journey of Rashmi Verma, the techie who introduced digital maps to India before Google.
“In a family home, all the joy and laughter reside in the child’s room. We want the room to match its occupant,” says Neha Indori, Co-founder of children furniture startup
When Neha decided to do up her daughter’s room, the lack of options led her to dig deep and research the children’s furniture segment. Realising the Indian furniture market to be highly-unorganised, Neha discussed the idea with her husband, Vitesh, and her brother-in-law, Dhruvan Barar, and co-founded Boingg in 2019.
The Gurugram-based startup provides thought-through, functional, and safe furniture for children. Boingg! targets young couples between ages 25 and 35 years, with children between zero to six years old.
The startup sells beds, tables, storages, cribs, changing tables, nursing chairs, sofas, teepees, and playmats, among others. The furniture price starts from Rs 2,750 (for a wall shelf) and can go up to Rs 83,500 (for a bunk bed with an in-built wardrobe).
Neha Indori and Dhruvan Barar, Co-founders of Boingg! | Image source: Boingg!
Now, from product innovation, we move on to building something to solve real-world problems.
Rashmi Verma, Executive Director and Co-founder of , had one thing in mind when she returned to India from the US in 1990 - build something lasting and powerful. A graduate in Chemical Engineering from IIT Roorkee with a master’s in Operational Research and Computer Science from Eastern Washington University, Rashmi worked for the likes of Citi Corp before joining IBM in the US.
She then returned to India with her husband and realised India did not have a map reading culture like the US.
Rashmi co-founded MapmyIndia in 1995 along with her husband, Rakesh Verma. The Delhi-based company offers digital map data, telematics, and location-based SaaS and GIS services, and is now making waves with its app, Move.
Rashmi Verma, Co-founder and Executive Director, MapMyIndia
As we speak about technology, we have seen how using advanced technologies can help businesses improve and achieve game-changing outcomes.
When IIT-Roorkee graduates Harshil Mathur and Shashank Kumar started in 2014, the duo knew the power of payments and how it could transform sectors. They knew what they wanted to start up with – a startup in the fintech space - but didn’t know how. They began with a crowdfunding platform to get people to invest money towards charity.
They realised how cumbersome the process was while testing international payments and integration with a payment gateway. This led to the birth of Razorpay, the fintech startup that recently raised $100 million and gained the unicorn status.
Founders of Razorpay - Harshil Mathur and Shashank Kumar
From payments, let us talk about a recipe sharing platform, which has got many followers during the pandemic.
Cookpad is home to over six million recipes shared by home cooks from around the world. These elaborate recipes, guided cooking methods, and ‘cooksnaps’ cover myriad cuisines and cultures, and are available in 29 languages in 72 countries.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed Cookpad has over 100 million monthly users, who form one of the most engaged online cooking communities in the world. Cookpad is also available as an Alexa skill in Spain.
Edited by Megha Reddy
