Global IndianstoryMeet the Indian fintech startups that are changing the way India spends

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Meet the Indian fintech startups that are changing the way India spends

Written by: Global Indian

If anything, the pandemic has taught most of us the importance of investing early and investing right. The lockdowns emphasized the need to go digital; even with payments and other financial transactions. And cashing in on this are India’s many financial technology startups that have made life easier for the consumer. With over 2,000 fintech startups operating in India across the areas of stockbroking, loans, and contactless payments, there’s a lot the sector has to offer a nation finding its way around a new way of transacting.

Global Indian looks at some of India’s most promising fintech startups that have been changing the way the country spends.

Zerodha

Global Indian looks at some of India’s most promising fintech startups that have been changing the way people transact.

Nikhil and Nithin Kamath

Founded in 2010 by brothers Nithin and Nikhil Kamath, Zerodha has been changing the way young India invests in stocks. The Bengaluru-headquartered company offers retail and institutional brokerage, currencies and commodities trading, mutual funds, and bonds. With an active client base of over 32 lakh, Zerodha is the largest retail stockbroker in India, beating even traditional brokerage firms such as ICICI Securities and HDFC Securities.

The idea for the startup came about when Nithin, who’d been trading stocks since the age of 17, felt the need for a platform that offered people a seamless trading experience. The operations which initially focused on day traders have now evolved to cater to long-term investors. The company began as a completely bootstrapped venture and has so far not required any external funding; the company has been thriving despite the pandemic with people making a conscious effort to begin their investment journeys in these uncertain times. The platform has seen a 100% growth in concurrent users and won the NSE Retail Broker of the Year in 2018.

CRED

Kunal Shah

This Bengaluru-based fintech startup was founded in 2018 by Kunal Shah and lets users pay their credit card bills through an app. They in turn receive benefits via Cred coins and gems that can be redeemed across coffee shops, theatres, and e-commerce sites. The startup has also added a new feature to allow users to pay house rent and has introduced short-term credit lines. By 2021, the company has clocked in over 5 million users and currently offers five products: CRED RentPay, CRED Cash, CRED Pay, CRED Store, and CRED Travel Store.

The two-year-old company is one of the youngest Indian startups to become a unicorn with a valuation of over $2 billion. In April this year, the company had raised $215 million in a Series D funding round led by Falcon Edge Capital and Coatue Management. In January, it had raised $81 million in Series C funding.

Digit Insurance

Kamesh Goyal

Founded by Kamesh Goyal in 2016, Digit became the first startup this year to enter the unicorn club through an undisclosed investment round. Headquartered in Bengaluru, the company is backed by the Fairfax Group. Its services include care insurance, travel insurance, home insurance, commercial vehicle insurance, shop insurance. The platform leverages technology to simplify the whole insurance game and offers features such as smartphone-enabled self-inspection and audio claims.

It recently announced that it is now valued at $3.5 billion after raising $200 million in funding from new and existing investors such as Faering Capital, Sequia Capital India, and IIFL Alternate Asset Managers. Since its inception, the company has gathered a customer base of over 1.5 crore.

MoneyTap

Kunal Verma, Anuj Kacker, and Bala Parthasarathy

Founded in 2016 by Anuj Kacker, Kunal Verma, and Bala Parthasarathy, MoneyTap is India’s first app-based credit line. Launched in partnership with leading banks, it caters to the credit needs of middle-class Indian customers. With a presence in over 40 cities, MoneyTap provides small-medium cash loans, quick credit on mobile with affordable interest rates, and flexible EMIs. The founders, who are IIT and ISB alumni, wanted to make credit accessible to those Indians who found it hard to get loans when they needed it.

In the five years since its inception, the startup has now become an RBI-registered NBFC and has over 11 million users with a credit disbursement of over ₹4,000 crore. The startup is now all set to transition into a credit-led neobank FREO and aims to offer an innovative digital banking experience that focuses on the needs of modern Indian and Souteast Asian consumers.

RELATED READ: 5 Indian healthtech startups that empower doctors

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Published on 03, Jul 2021

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How locally-sourced milk becomes world class cheese in the hands of Luigi Avarelli, the cheese-master in Puttaparthi

(October 12, 2024) He came to India for a break; never left, but set up a dharmasala, a dental clinic and now, Luigi Avarelli runs a successful business making varieties of authentic Italian cheeses. Listening to Luigi Avarelli discuss how he runs his cheese business is a lesson in integrity, passion, and ethics. He lives on the outskirts of the Sathya Sai Baba Ashram in Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh. He’s been here since 1999 and tells Global Indian in an exclusive, how his tryst with India began. “I had been working for 16-17 hours every day for 23 years in Torino – but I am a native of Southern Italy – Cosenza. I was tired and needed a break. I came to the Sathya Sai Baba Ashram and stayed here. When I wanted to return, Baba told me not to go back and stay back in India. So I went to Italy, sold my business to my nephew and moved here permanently. My wife travels between India and Italy frequently.” Drawn to Satya Sai Baba of Puttaparthi, Luigi Avarelli left behind a chain of successful restaurants in Milano, along with a bevy of sports cars, to begin a new spiritual lease

behind a chain of successful restaurants in Milano, along with a bevy of sports cars, to begin a new spiritual lease on life. Today, his team works amid of whir of gleaming steel, operating top of the line machinery from Italy, with which they produce 500-600 kilos of cheese everyday. It's priced anywhere between Rs 1200 and Rs 1800 per kilo. Avarelli's cheeses make their way across the country to a list of top-tier clientele, including The Leela Palace, and Masque, in Mumbai. Even Mukesh Ambani is reportedly a fan of Avarelli's burratta, and the giant white pyramid-shaped dome in his garden, caught the attention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

[caption id="attachment_57766" align="aligncenter" width="342"] Luigi Avarelli | cheese maker | Global Indian Italian cheesemaker Luigi Avarelli[/caption]

Italian Cheese Made in India

When Luigi needed a break, he was working as a manager with a company, running his restaurant [he is also a chef] and is the third-generation cheese-maker in his family, which meant he was in the business of making cheese as well. On his return, after tying up loose ends in Italy, Luigi, with his friend Sai Krishna, decided to build a dharmshala. He says, “We built a dharmshala that provides food and accommodation at a nominal price to 600 people in support of the Super Speciality Hospital built by Sri Sathya Sai Baba. On Thursdays, we provide free food for all the poor in the surrounding area. Then in 2007-08, we built a dental clinic that would provide dental treatment to the poor for free.”

With no Trust funds or any NGO supporting his charitable efforts, he ran out of money in 2013. That is when he decided he had to do something sustainable. “I put my own money and built the structure where my cheese factory is. Sai Krishna helped with the land and I imported all the machinery from Italy.” To counter the heat of Andhra Pradesh, Luigi ensured the walls of the building were two feet thick. The company he set up is called Parthifoods and Caseificio Italia is the brand name under which the cheeses are made and sold.

As for the staff and ingredients, he sourced them locally. “I buy the milk directly from the local farmers and my staff can speak Hindi and Telugu. The vegetarian rennet for the cheese I import from Italy directly.”

Sweet Dreams are made of Cheese

The cheese range made by Luigi includes Mozzarella, Ricotta [low in fat and sodium, it is recommended for low-cal diets and is used to make Neapolitan pastries, Cassatas and Sicilian Cannoli]; Bocconcini and Ciliegine, [both of these are used for salads and appetisers] Mascarpone [excellent for cheesecakes and Tiramisu], Mozzarella “Fior Di Latte” [made from cow’s milk and predominantly used to make a Caprese and pizzas], and Burrata, a product typical of Southern Italy.

I ask why Parmesan cheese is excluded from his list and he explains, “There is no authentic Parmesan cheese in India. In Italy, Parmesan comes from two regions, Parma and Reggio Emilia, in Central Italy: the accurate phrase is ‘Parmigiano Reggiano’. The cows there, the grass they eat, and the milk they produce cannot be replicated in India. What you get here is duplicate Parmesan if it is made here. That is why I do not make Parmesan cheese.”

I buy the milk directly from the local farmers and my staff can speak Hindi and Telugu. The vegetarian rennet for the cheese I import from Italy directly - Luigi Avarelli

[caption id="attachment_57765" align="aligncenter" width="552"] Luigi Avarelli | cheese maker | Global Indian Luigi Avarelli at work. He supplies to some of India's top restaurants and hotel including Araku in Mumbai and The Leela Palace[/caption]

Several hotel chains including The Leela Palace and ITC Gardenia were his clients when he started. While the former still buys their cheese from him, the latter no longer does – a fact he attributes to the changing staff who come with their preferences. However, he has other hotel groups like the Taj and the Oberoi and smaller restaurants and pizzerias buying his cheese in cities like Bengaluru, Chennai and even Hyderabad. When he started, he would personally teach the chefs how to use the cheeses with authentic Italian dishes that best showcased them.

When Luigi started, he was making 30 to 40 kilos of cheese a day in 2014. Today, his factory makes 500 to 600 kilos of cheese every day, all year round. The packaging is kept simple and functional. Depending on the cheese, the price ranges from Rs 1200 to Rs 1800 per kilo. He reiterates that his prices are based on the fact that his cheese is chemical-free, and ethically made with no shortcuts or compromise on the ingredient quality, it is completely natural and authentic. He owns temperature-controlled trucks, through which the cheese is transported with the temperature at a steady 4 degrees Centigrade. “How can cheese makers in India send cheese by train without any cooling? Plus, the cold storage trucks here are at -18 degrees which is too cold for cheese. Hence, I bought my trucks to transport the cheese the right way,” he states. When his business grew, Luigi brought in more machinery from Italy in 2016-17. He would like to expand his reach of customers but logistics are a challenge he says.

Luigi sends his trucks to Bengaluru twice a week and prefers to work with customers who understand the authenticity of his products and the value they add to their dishes. He says, “My goal is not only to make money; it is tough to work with those who don’t understand what I do. Other cheese brands will last a month or more, mine lasts for only one week.”

True Italian Style

With the cheese business keeping him busy, he still has several ideas for what he would like to do next. “I want to set up a food academy, where I can train people to make authentic Italian food. Here, no one has respect for genuine Italian cuisine. They want to add chilli and spices to everything, and ketchup on their pizza and if you give them the original, they say it is not good. People don’t understand that Italian food is different from Indian food and the spices are not the same. So, when I eat out, I eat Indian food, but if I want to have an Italian meal, I cook it myself.”

[caption id="attachment_57782" align="aligncenter" width="558"] Luigi Avarelli | cheese maker | Global Indian Luigi's staff[/caption]

The olive oil he uses to cook his food comes from the trees in his backyard in Italy. His commitment to authenticity shows in everything he does, not just in his products, but his personal life as well. Not surprising then, that only connoisseurs of true Italian cuisine buy his cheeses. And given the quantities he sells every day; it would appear there are quite a few. One can only hope he achieves his goal of setting up a food academy too someday, so people who love global cuisines can learn how to cook authentic Italian. Till then, they just have to make do with the real cheeses he makes.

Romesh Wadhwani: The Indian American force to reckon with in the world of tech startups

(November 10, 2021) When Romesh Wadhwani completed his PhD in electrical engineering and began considering career prospects, he was clear on one thing: a 9-to-5 job simply didn’t interest him. He never wanted to work for someone else, which is why he decided to stay back in the US and start his own company instead. Given that this was in the 1970s and entrepreneurship was still in its nascent stages in America, and the fact that Wadhwani was not an American citizen, threw up several challenges. Yet, this Global Indian was determined to make it work. And he did. Today, the California-based Wadhwani is considered to be one of the most influential and powerful people in the world of tech startups. The founder of Symphony Technology Group (STG), who has a net worth of over $3.5 billion and is on the Forbes 400 list, is an active philanthropist and runs the Wadhwani Foundation for economic development in emerging economies. He beat polio to take on the world Born in a Sindhi family in 1947 in British India’s Karachi, Wadhwani moved to India with his family after the Partition. When he was two-years-old he contracted polio, which made it rather difficult for him to get admissions in school. Not one to

n emerging economies.

Global Indian Romesh Wadhwani

He beat polio to take on the world

Born in a Sindhi family in 1947 in British India’s Karachi, Wadhwani moved to India with his family after the Partition. When he was two-years-old he contracted polio, which made it rather difficult for him to get admissions in school. Not one to give up, Wadhwani persevered and went on to graduate from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay. While at hostel in IIT, he even set up a canteen. Talking about their childhood, when Wadhwani required a series of surgical procedures for polio, his brother Sunil told Forbes, “Sometimes he would run a high fever, but always topped his class. He has an amazing level of drive and focus, which he also brings to philanthropy. He is very clear about what he wants to achieve.”

After graduating from IIT, Wadhwani went to the US to do his Masters and PhD in electrical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. After he graduated, Wadhwani decided to start his own company, but was plagued with various problems. The fact that he had no background in business, he was not an American citizen, and the startup scene in Pittsburg at the time was almost unheard of, all threw up several road blocks. But Wadhwani was not one to be deterred.

Global Indian Romesh Wadhwani

On the path to entrepreneurship

He founded his first company Compuguard Corporation in Pittsburgh in 1972 to develop and commercialise software for energy management and security in commercial buildings. This was immediately after he completed his PhD. However, he found that nobody would give him any venture capital. In an interview he said, “I only needed $100K, but I had to call 125 different VC firms all over the US; the first 124 said No, the last one, Urban National Corp in Boston, said yes, and that led to my building Compuguard and the start of my business career.”

He ran Compuguard for 10 years and turned it into a $10 million business before selling it. According to him, it was a mediocre venture at best and he’d made a lot of mistakes such as not paying attention to basics like product quality, talent management, and customer relationship.

Global Indian Romesh Wadhwani

Wadhwani then took over American Robotics, a company that had been launched by the Rockefeller family. As he set about building it into a robotics technology leader, he raised over $40 million in venture capital. However, when Japanese manufacturers of robots started introducing their robots into the US market at below manufacturing costs, Wadhwani’s company suffered heavy losses. It was a trade war of sorts that Wadhwani couldn’t win. However, he felt a moral obligation to do the best for the venture capitalists who’d invested in the company and stuck with American Robotics for eight years to help them get back most of their money. He worked round the clock to transform the company into a computer integrated manufacturing software company.

Learning curve

“After 10 years of working 90 to 100-hour weeks, I came away from this grueling experience with just a few hundred thousand dollars as my equity reward but a wealth of experience in how to build a technology business in a tough market with large, aggressive, well-financed competitors,” said Wadhwani of this experience.

He eventually built his third company Aspect Development, a leader in enterprise software for supply chain management. This was when he resigned from multiple boards in Pittsburgh and moved to Silicon Valley with his family to start all over again with little to no network in this new state. Though starting out again was no easy feat, Wadhwani enjoyed every bit of it and ran Aspect from 1991 till its acquisition by i2Technologies in 1999. That was also the year, Wadhwani entered the coveted billionaires’ club.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qU-F2F-ac1Q[/embed]

Wadhwani then went on to found Symphony Technology Group in 2002 in Palo Alto. Today, it is the parent company to many products such as Symphony Teleca Corporation, Symphony Health Solutions, Symphony Performance Health among others. Today, Wadhwani is considered to be one of the most influential and powerful people in the world of technology startups.

Giving Back

In 2000 he founded the Wadhwani Foundation to which he has now committed most of his wealth. The Foundation’s mission is economic acceleration in emerging economies through job creation and skill development. The Foundation has already launched five high-impact initiatives in India with the goal of creating 25 million jobs. One of its key initiatives is the National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN) that was co-founded in 2003 with IIT Bombay, IIM Ahmedabad, BITS Pilani, SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, and the Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology.

Global Indian Romesh Wadhwani

As the pandemic raged across the globe and brought about uncertainty regarding jobs and economic stability last year, Wadhwani went on to commit ₹200 crore towards launching the Sahayata Initiative to help distressed SMEs affected by the pandemic-induced economic crisis.

Wadhwani also founded the Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Intelligence with his brother Sunil at the University of Mumbai in 2018. Together, the brothers have committed over $30 million to use AI for social good to leverage the power of AI to improve public health, agriculture, skilling, infrastructure, and other social needs. “Our approach is to identify important areas of social need, develop AI-powered solutions, and then work with the central government, state governments, foundations, and other partners to validate these solutions in pilot programmes. If these pilots are successful, we then implement these solutions at a much larger scale,” he said.

Follow Romesh Wadhwani on LinkedIn.

Reading Time: 10 mins

Entrepreneur Meera Singh: Revolutionising the travel industry with innovative logistics solutions

(March 09, 2024) A few years back, when Meera Singh was travelling from Kolkata to Hyderabad after attending a wedding, she was aware that a few of her bags would be checked in as excess baggage at the airport. But what she wasn't prepared for was the exorbitant prices that the airline was charging her for the excess baggage. "My ticket for the airplane was about ₹2500, whereas they were asking me to pay ₹8000 towards excess baggage as I had a lot of luggage. It was extremely frustrating to think that in future I will always have to pay this kind of money for excess baggage," shares the entrepreneur as she connects with Global Indian in an exclusive interview. While most people would have paid the charges and moved on, this incident proved to be a turning point for Meera. The entrepreneur established Avaan India – a group of companies solving the new-age problems of logistics through innovative and sustainable models. "Having worked in the transport industry for about two decades, I understood the costs and woes of the logistics industry. So, I started the company with a focus on customer service and sustainable business models. Our primary focus

w-age problems of logistics through innovative and sustainable models. "Having worked in the transport industry for about two decades, I understood the costs and woes of the logistics industry. So, I started the company with a focus on customer service and sustainable business models. Our primary focus is to offer a cost-effective resolution to excess baggage challenges, delivering throughout India through two transportation options: Air and Road. Air shipments are guaranteed to be delivered within 72 working hours from pickup, with a cost of less than ₹200/kg. On the other hand, road shipments take five to seven working days for delivery from pickup, with a minimal cost of just ₹100/kg," shares the entrepreneur, who is the recipient of the Startup Business Award at the Economic Times Business Innovation Leaders Awards, 2020. Having a kiosk at major Indian airports already, Avaan India recently started their services at the Jaipur International Airport.

Gangtok chronicles

Meera grew up in the beautiful mountain Kingdom of Sikkim. As her father was good friends with the then King of Sikkim, Meera got a chance to experience Sikkim's capital Gangtok as well. "My family shifted to the mountain country before it became a part of the nation in 1975. My father was the Director of Education there. At that time the Tibetans were coming to Sikkim, and I remember making friends with those refugee kids and learning the Tibetan language from them. I also met the Dalai Lama, when he visited the kingdom a few times. It was a very interesting childhood," shares the entrepreneur.

Entrepreneur | Meera Singh | Global Indian

Unfortunately, the entrepreneur lost her father at a very tender age. "I was about 18 years old." Though the family didn't face any financial issues, the biggest challenge was the sheer suddenness of it. "He was just 48 years old, and it was quite difficult for us to cope with this loss. But, what I learned from this was that nothing is permanent in our lives, and that change is the only constant," she says.

Climbing up the ladder

After finishing her school, Meera went on to pursue a graduate degree in management and hotel administration from the Pusa Institute (IIHM), Delhi, and a post-graduation in management from the Oberoi School of Learning & Development, Delhi. Eventually, she landed a job at The Oberoi, in Mumbai. Although quite ambitious, Meera quit her job quite soon. "I was very well placed in the hotel industry as the F&B manager. But I found that life was very boring after some time, and quit my job," shares the entrepreneur, adding, "I moved to Hyderabad and joined the transport industry. Many people wondered why would a woman leave the luxury of the hotel industry and move to transport, but I enjoyed it. I got to travel so much during my time at Gati Ltd, and was in fact the first person in the country to set up a customer care service for a transport company, something that I learned in the hotel."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fonV1SBP-vc

Thanks to her work, Meera also got a chance to travel the country extensively. "I have been to the biggest cities and the smallest villages in India. I believe there is no greater school than meeting people; there is so much one can learn about management through travelling and talking to people. Also, having travelled the lengths and breadths of this country, I discovered how vibrant and beautiful this nation is. I have lived in Singapore, and yet missed India," laughs the entrepreneur.

ALSO READ | Meet Dr Masooma Rizvi, the art curator for the Maharishi Valmiki International Ayodhya Airport

Meera is also one of the only females to have successfully spearheaded the commissioning of the first hydel power project of 110 MW in the State of Sikkim in North East India. "The then CM of Sikkim was my father's close friend and he called me up to take up this project. It was quite a challenging project. In fact, I remember thinking that I wouldn't be able to do this job. But the CM was very sure of my abilities and encouraged me to not only work on the hydel project but also successfully complete it," she says.

A new beginning

After developing and working on the idea of Avaan India, the entrepreneur still wasn't 100 percent sure if the start-up would be received well. "I was at a senior management programme organised by the Isha Foundation. There I spoke about my business idea for the first time in front of so many people who were from the big companies, including Tata and Mahindra. When I was done with my presentation, people were so shocked to know that someone could come up with an idea like this. They were so excited about this idea, and that was very motivating," she shares.

Entrepreneur | Meera Singh | Global Indian

Ask her about the initial capital for the business, and she quips, "Well, all thanks to my mother for teaching me that one should always have a source of income above the regular salary they earn. I have been a serious stock market investor for the last three decades, and that's how I had a good sum to invest in the business. So, finance was never a problem for me."

The road ahead

Now that Avaan is launched in almost all the major international airports of India, Meera wishes to expand the business. "We have already tied up with players like GMR, ADANI, AAI, Gati, Make My Trip, and MarutiCourier and are delivering worldwide through various partners such as DHL, Aramex, and UPS. Now, promoting our services digitally is the next course of action for the growth of the business. The next ventures in the pipeline for Avaan Excess are Pet Express and Art Express. Through Pet Express we shall transport pets like cats and dogs across India at affordable prices. We are also working on having a white glove service called Avaan Art Express through which we will be transporting exclusive art pieces and artefacts with packaging from a professional German packaging company," shares the entrepreneur.

ALSO READ | Art in her heart: Gunjan Gupta is making India proud globally

Meera has established Gati Academy, a venture under the Avaan India brand, aimed at fostering the skill development of students, with a particular focus on Tier 3 rural areas. Additionally, she has founded Gati Intellect, a startup dedicated to eLearning, and Avaan Avishkaar, a marketplace showcasing a diverse range of ethnic Indian products such as handicrafts, Ayurvedic items, and traditional Indian weaves. This initiative not only enhances the skills of students but also creates employment opportunities for them.

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"Being a female entrepreneur is both a challenging and exhilarating journey. It presents daily obstacles that contribute to personal strength and the ability to lead assertively," says the entrepreneur advising other businesswomen, "Women should not feel daunted; there is no concept of a glass ceiling. Success is not limited by gender but is determined by one's conduct and leadership within a team. Throughout history, women have excelled as intuitive and empathetic leaders. To all emerging female entrepreneurs of the modern era, my advice is to believe in yourself, work hard with humility, and success will inevitably follow."

Follow Meera Singh on LinkedIn
Follow Avaan India on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn

Reading Time: 6 mins

The ‘Batterman’: How Mani Krishnan became California’s ‘dosa king’

(April 20, 2023) The year was 2003. Subramanian 'Mani' Krishnan was broke in the Bay Area, with a wife and two kids to feed. Work would begin early, by 7 am, when Krishnan and his wife, Anandhi, would begin preparing freshly-fermented dosa batter at their home in San Jose. Then, Krishnan would leave his house in San Jose, his car packed with 32-ounce containers filled to the brim. He would go from one grocery store to the next, requesting them to sell his batter. Mani Krishnan was in his forties, then, and had mortaged his house for his dosa batter business. "I thought it's better to be miserable on your own than to work for someone else and be more miserable," he reasoned. His idea was not new - there were many small-time, homespun ventures making dosa batter. A handful of stores agreed to stock his product, only if it sold. Still, demand was rising and Krishnan's USP was his scientific method, his use of technology and the fact that he followed the FDA guidelines. Twenty years later, Mani Krishnan, the founder of Shastha Foods, is the undisputed 'dosa king' of the USA. Shastha Foods has sold over 170 million

lank" rel="noopener">Shastha Foods, is the undisputed 'dosa king' of the USA.

Shastha Foods has sold over 170 million 'south Indian crepes', as they are lovingly known by the non-Indian population. With the courage to take a risk, the determination to rise up from very challenging circumstances and unwavering belief in the potential that his childhood breakfast food - the dosa - held, Mani Krishnan doesn't just sell food - he introduced South India's best loved dish to an appreciative global audience. "I want to sell a billion dosas," he often remarks. The company has 350 stores across the the US and Canada, functioning out of 35,000 sq ft, state-of-the-art manufacturing unit. Shastha's dosa batter is a staple in Indian households in the west. The immensely popular video of Vice President Kamala Harris and Mindy Kaling making a masala dosa also features Shastha dosa batter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xz7rNOAFkgE

Journey to the USA

Mani was born in Thirunelveli, a small town in Tamil Nadu (famous for its halwa, made from milk and wheat berries). Like so many thousands of others before him, Mani Krishnan arrived in the USA, in 1977, to join his family. He had a degree in commerce and some experience as an accountant in Mumbai. His family, who had moved there a few years prior, were living in San Jose, where Mani also set up his base.

He found a job at a tech company, realising early on that he didn't want to work for someone else. So, he set up a hardware export business, sending hard disk drives, motherboards and processors to India. Business did well at first - this was at the start of the dot-com boom and although times were rough, Mani decided to stick with it. By the time the 1990s came to an end, the company folded. "When that business went south, I came to a point where I had to re-build my life from scratch. I was in my 40s then," the Global Indian said.

Mani had to make ends meet, he had a family to sustain. He knew the export-import business and could see the Indian diaspora - and its demands - grow over the years. He decided to bring filter coffee powder, which every South Indian loves and longs for, to the US. It led to his million-dollar-idea - making idli and dosa batter. He noticed a rising demand for food - the Indian diaspora was growing and they longed for home food. Dosa and idli are the morning staples at most South Indian homes but making the batter is a time-consuming process. “We stumbled upon the idea to sell idli batter in 2003; we did not do a formal market study but we made an observation; it was the phase when there was a steady rise in Indian nuclear families in the US and people had no time to buy the rice, soak it, grind it and allow it to ferment," he recalled. Mani cashed in, mortgaging his house to help him get started.

[caption id="attachment_37572" align="aligncenter" width="532"] Mani Krishnan[/caption]

Challenges to opportunities

This was 2003, and after the initial investment, Mani was left with very little. Failure just wasn’t an option. His wife, Anandhi, joined him and they began working out of their home kitchen, doing everything from manufacturing, to labelling and distribution. The couple would rise early, getting to work by 7 am and sitting by the 2-litre grinder to make dosa batter. After the batter was made and packed into 32-ounce containers, Mani would begin the hard journey around San Jose, dealing with sceptical grocery store owners.

"In good faith, I would leave our products with them. I would make regular calls to take follow-ups and even have to drive back to collect all the unsold packets and discard them," he recalled. It was this perfectionism, this unerring attention to detail and top-class customer service, which paved the way for his success, much like Mafat Patel, co-founder of the Patel Bros chain of grocery stores. "There were already players in the market. I think the system that I created helped me maintain quality, ensure consistency in delivery and also scale up. I am proud to say that it is Indian technology in the US," Mani said.

The Shastha Foods empire

At the end of their first year in business, Mani had paid off his mortgage and his delivery system had been upgraded from the backseat of his car to a refrigerated truck. "Soon, we out-grew that and we invested in small refrigerated trucks," he said. These days, the delivery department is buzzing everyday, with over a dozen refrigerated trucks travelling through the city. There were challenges, though. The first was the ingredients themselves - rice and dal, which he bought from Africa, Dubai and the USA.

Over, 12,500 kilos of batter are made everyday, at the San Jose headquarters of Shastha Foods. The process, which Mani takes great pride in, is completely automated. Rice and dal are loaded onto an automatic weighing and dispensing machine, then soaked in water. The ingredients are cleaned and loaded on to custom-made stone grinders. "Every minute, four containers of Shastha idli batter are being sold across the US," Mani told The Hindu. In 2017, the company also launched its organic products and they make batter with millet, as well as an Ayurvedic Khichdi mix.

[caption id="attachment_37574" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Shastha Food's millet khichdi[/caption]

Customer is always king

Mani takes nothing for granted, he says. "For us, service and quality is paramount.So, if due to unforeseen circumstances, any item goes bad, I make sure to take personal responsibility for that and either issue a full refund or replacement." As often as he could, Mani would drive up to meet customers personally, to take back a sub-par product and replace it.

Shastha Food now offers some 16 varieties of dosa batters and also sells essentials like rice, lentils, dals, pickles, sweets and millet-based items. And even after such success, Mani remains humble, a staunch advocate of high thinking and simple living. "A large house or a luxurious lifestyle was never a goal for me," he said. "I know from experience that money comes and goes and so I wanted to create something that could make a meaningful difference."

Follow Shastha Foods on Instagram and Mani Krishnan on LinkedIn.

These FemTech startups are changing the way women’s health is perceived in India

(August 27, 2021) FemTech: it’s the hottest buzzword in the startup ecosystem with more and more entrepreneurs jumping onto the bandwagon. And most of them are women. After all, nobody gets a woman’s health like a woman might. Women’s health, an oft neglected area, is finally finding its moment in the spotlight with more and more startups sensing the importance of the sector that has long been overlooked and undermined. Short for female technology, these are companies that manufacture and sell products catering to women’s needs: wearable devices, treatments, informative apps and platforms and hygiene products. From tech that addresses concerns surrounding breast cancer (one in 28 women develop it) to forums that raise awareness about PCOS (one in five Indian women suffer from it), FemTech startups are covering the spectrum. According to a report in Forbes, despite the rise in FemTech startups, only 3% of the total HealthTech funding went to the segment in 2020. The lack of funding continues to plague the segment, despite the sector being expected to reach $1.07 trillion by 2026. The disconnect: 95% of VC partners are men and don’t understand the potential this market holds. Regardless, women-led FemTech startups are soldiering on and Global Indian turns the spotlight on some promising Indian enterprises that are rising in the segment. Niramai [caption id="attachment_8533" align="aligncenter" width="607"]

healthtech-and-femtech/?sh=743ded7107c3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Forbes, despite the rise in FemTech startups, only 3% of the total HealthTech funding went to the segment in 2020. The lack of funding continues to plague the segment, despite the sector being expected to reach $1.07 trillion by 2026. The disconnect: 95% of VC partners are men and don’t understand the potential this market holds.

Regardless, women-led FemTech startups are soldiering on and Global Indian turns the spotlight on some promising Indian enterprises that are rising in the segment.

Niramai

[caption id="attachment_8533" align="aligncenter" width="607"] Niramai Nidhi Mathur and Dr Geetha Manjunath, founders of Niramai[/caption]

Founded in 2016 by Dr Geetha Manjunath and Nidhi Mathur, Niramai provides Artificial Intelligence (AI) solution to help detect breast cancer and growth abnormalities in women. Their Thermalytix, a breakthrough solution in the segment, is now being used by hospitals to detect breast cancer as well as several other diseases, through non-invasive and radiation-free ways. The product uses AI and a high-resolution thermal sensing device to measure the temperature of the chest region to detect early-stage cancer. The startup was backed in 2019 by Bill and Melinda Gates to develop a cure for an AI-based software to control the spread of River Blindness which had affected 17 million in Africa.

The Bengaluru-based Niramai has raised total funding of $14 million until June 2021 and during the pandemic it also launched a home-based screening service. In June this year, it raised research funding from CDC, a UK-based development finance institution, to develop NIRAMAI FeverTest that was launched last year to enable screening for COVID-19 symptoms at scale.

Ava

[caption id="attachment_8535" align="aligncenter" width="639"] Evelyn Immanuel, founder, Ava[/caption]

Irregular periods, erratic weight gain, infertility, insulin resistance, mood swings, fatigue: all symptoms characteristic of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) which are often brushed under the carpet. However, with one in five women in India suffering from the condition, it is time PCOS was addressed properly and not just treated with contraceptive pills and curt orders to lose weight. Women suffering from PCOS often find themselves being shamed for their obesity and shy away from getting the help they deserve and Ava decided to step in and turn the focus on the condition for good measure. The Bengaluru-based startup that was founded in 2019 by Evelyn Immanuel, promotes a disciplined and holistic approach by offering curated programs and personalized plans to help women deal with conditions such as PCOS and thyroid.

With a team of doctors, nutritionists, dermatologists, psychologists and fitness coaches, Ava encourages women with PCOS to adopt a holistic approach to managing their condition — all with a better understanding of PCOS. Started with an initial investment of ₹10 lakh, Ava raised additional funding through 100x VC in 2020.

PregBuddy

[caption id="attachment_8537" align="aligncenter" width="548"] Sivareena Sarika, founder of PregBuddy[/caption]

Launched as a WhatsApp group in 2016 by Sivareena Sarika and IIT-Kharagpur alumnus Subhadeep Mondal, PregBuddy soon grew into a peer-to-peer platform that offers personalized care for expectant mothers. The AI-enabled continuum platform brings together doctors and health experts to guide women right from preconception to the early years of motherhood. Incidentally, Sarika came up with the idea for PregBuddy when she saw the lack of information and support for pregnant women in the country after a cousin miscarried in the fourth month of her pregnancy.

Initially, the startup was complete bootstrapped with an investment of ₹10 lakh, however it raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding from Indian Angel Network in 2018.

Carmesi

[caption id="attachment_8539" align="aligncenter" width="675"] Carmesi Founders Rikshav Bohra and Tanvi Johri, founders, Carmesi[/caption]

One of the most common problems several women face is that their sanitary napkins (with their synthetic ingredients) often leave them feeling uncomfortable and with rashes. This is where Carmesi steps in. Launched in 2017 by Tanvi Johri and Rikshav Borah, Carmesi aims to make periods a ‘safe’ time of the month for women while promoting menstrual hygiene. The sanitary napkins that come packed in a vanity case are made with all natural ingredients such as bamboo fiber and cornstarch. Women can tailor the delivery schedule of the products based on their period cycle and the products are a 100% biodegradable. The company is also working to ensure that their packaging is also biodegradable.

In 2017, Carmesi raised a seed round of funding from Sunil Kalra, Arun Venkatachalam, and Startup Buddy Ventures.

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