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Digital lending is one of the fastest-growing segments in India’s fin-tech space. A BCG report has predicted the digital lending industry will touch a market size of $1 Tn in the next five years. While it growing to become a very competitive segment, very few players are actually catering to the 'next billion' market, namely those present in India's tier 3 & 4 towns. Even fewer are focusing on green loans. But RevFin is taking advantage of both those opportunities. Founded in 2018, RevFin is a consumer lending platform enabling financing of electric three-wheeler loans in Tier 3 and Tier 4 towns. The company ties up with OEMs to directly acquire these customers, thereby reducing its cost.  To cater to the sub-prime segment RevFin has developed an alternative underwriting method. This technique is basically a mix of psychometric and biometric tests to predict the customer’s intention to repay a loan.  On this episode of Startup Safarnama, we catch up with Sameer Aggarwal, Founder of RevFin on: Growing up across India and the influence that had on his professional as well as personal goalsHis biggest takeaway from an engineering degree 10 years of accelerated learning, across 6 continents , with HSBCLeaving the comfort of job security to join the startup worldA personal experience that made financial inclusion and targeting the sub-prime segment, his top most priority Early setbacks while establishing RevFin in IndiaChallenges and opportunities of starting up in India Make sure to subscribe, rate & review us!

Delhi is home to a population of more than 30 million people, who collectively purchase more than 80,000 tons of goods daily. As the population expands, and demand for home deliveries rises, the need for last mile delivery providers is greater than ever. But more deliveries will of course amplify the already concerning problem of pollution. In 2017, Akash Gupta and Rashi Agarwal created Mobycy, a bike sharing service to make the daily commutes of Delhi-ites carbon-free. However, after testing out various business models, they decided to transition from India's first dockless bike sharing app, to ZYPP Electric, an e-scooter-based last-mile delivery provider. The venture now works with local merchants and e-commerce giants alike, to deliver groceries, medicines, food and other packages from point A to Point B, using e-scooters which are fully automated, low-maintenance and high-performance.  Zypp raised more than $2.5 million in it’s pre-Series A in 2019, is present now in 6 Indian cities with plans to expand into 20 cities with 10,000 vehicles by the end of this year. They’ve also built 50 battery swapping stations in Delhi-NCR with plans to take it to 500 over the next three years. By electrifying the lifeline of Indian consumers, the Delhi based startup is leading India’s transition to electric vehicles.

Urbanisation and rising disposable incomes among middle-class households, coupled with changing attitudes towards pets & pet ownership is on the rise in India. The size of the Indian pet care industry is estimated to be over USD 343 million and is also projected to grow at 17% till 2024.  But when Rashi brought home her baby labrador Sara, these numbers just didn’t exist. Back in 2008, pet care products were often sold by unorganised providers, an afterthought that didn’t require a proper front-end or a proper store set-up. Plenty of families still viewed themselves as pet owners, rather than pet parents, often keeping their dogs outside their houses as guard dogs. For those looking for a more intimate relationship with their pets, a huge void existed for pet products that were high quality and enjoyable to use. And so Rashi took on setting up Heads Up For Tails, with a focus on offering high-quality products that pet parents would love buying. Today the venture has raised a total of 13 million dollars, has 40 stores in 6 different India cities along with presence in the US & Singapore and has been able to achieve a 80% year-on-year growth since 2017. 

Infamous for its hustle & bustle, Delhi has now become synonymous with long traffic jams and 2-hour daily commutes. And while the growing congestion on Delhi’s roads may be frustrating for commuters, for ambulance operators it is a matter of life and death.  That is where New Delhi-based Medulance Healthcare comes into the picture. Launched in 2017 by Pranav Bajaj and Ravjot Arora, the startup started out with the aim to make finding an ambulance as easy as finding cabs. This disruptive venture is now using their technology and know-how to offer fast and high quality ambulances services across Delhi NCR and beyond. In this episode,  Pranav talks about his off-and-on relationship with entrepreneurship in the early days. But his time at Zomato, working on revenue and business development, solidified his drive for becoming an entrepreneur. As was meant to be, that is when Ravjot entered his life and that led to the creation of Medulance.  Join us as we dive into the details of running a bootstrapped company, aggregating ambulances, building credibility and disrupting an industry. 

With the fast paced lives of urban Indians, let’s face it - convenience has become king. Ready-to-consume lattes, cold brew coffees, and tea-bag coffees have, in some demographics, even superseded India’s preferred choice of beverage - Chai.  In this episode we grab a cup of coffee with Arman Sood, the co-founder of Sleepy Owl, an early mover in India’s grab & go beverage space and the first to launch cold brew bottles & packs in Delhi.  For Arman,  and even his co-founders - Ashwajeet & Ajai - entrepreneurship was always the goal. From selling party accessories at Jindal to running a leading coffee company, catering to the rise in demand for specially brewed, gourmet coffee in the Indian market - the friends have come a long way. We dive deep into his transition from a law student to an entrepreneur and all the steps in between.  Today, Sleepy Owl has raised a total of $2 million, attracting more than 60,000 customers across online platforms & more than a 1000 retail stores. Most recently, they took the bold step of including direct consumer feedback in the product development process for their next - filter coffee. We discuss the importance of customer feedback, marketing and efficient distribution in building a direct to consumer brand. 

We begin the podcast series on our current home turf - ‘Dilwalon ki Dilli’. Home to the world’s biggest Hindu temple, the country’s largest mosque and South Asia’s largest shopping mall,  India’s capital is nothing if not outsized.  Delhi NCR is also home to the MOST active startups out of any city in India (over 7000). This is a direct result of Delhi's large consumer base with a high GDP per capita,  a highly talented & educated labour pool, presence of keen investors and global corporates, solid infrastructure and easy accessibility to industry as well as consumers. 

Hello & welcome to StartUp Safarnama. I’m Pranati and I’m Supriya, and together we will journey across India’s discovered and undiscovered entrepreneurial hubs, experiencing stories of India’s brightest entrepreneurs & social disruptors.  Through this journey, we will travel to a new city every season, featuring entrepreneurs from that city and exploring the powerful influence of geography on startup culture.  And through this podcast, we will bring you stories that are incredibly diverse - from serial entrepreneurs to accidental ones, funded to bootstrapped, suburban to urban, tech-enabled to traditional, and profit-driven to social enterprises.  What each of these entrepreneurs has in common, is that through hard work, creative-thinking and sheer perseverance, they have created a niche for themselves in India’s rapidly growing and evolving market.  With no holds barred, we talk to our guests about their experiences growing up and lessons learned from their previous ventures. We speak about the major triumphs, as well as the times when things have hit rock bottom; the trials & insecurities as well as the joys of being an entrepreneur, and the things that have helped them to persevere. Through these stories we hope to demystify starting up and inspire you (our audience) to pursue your own startup dreams.