Indians have grown in just 1 generation from choosing between two makes of cars to picking from over 400 models across 30 makes. Carwale.com is India's leading automotive website, helping millions make smarter choices every month.
Carwale, backed by Seedfund, is building the new India.
"Seedfund helped me grow not just my company but my ability as a manager and a leader."
Mohit Dubey
Founder, CarWale
CarWale is a great example of a team executing well in a dynamic market. When we funded the firm in 2006, it was primarily a provider of software to car dealers. We believed together that there was an intriguing opportunity in aggregating listings of used cars on a website and charging sellers to list. So a national used-car business followed. And then, with time, a new car information business, paid for by new car advertisers, and a phone-based car sales business.
A strict focus on a great user experience, putting together a good C-level top team, a second round of funding from Sierra Ventures and smart online marketing were among the factors that ensured that CarWale quickly became India’s leading automotive website.
Eventually in late 2010, CarWale decided to sell a majority stake to Europe’s leading automotive publisher Axel Springer and India’s leading magazine publisher, the India Today group.
Proceed to the CarWale website
The inter-city bus system in India carries over a billion passengers a year. But it is fragmented across thousands of routes and tens of thousands of operators. RedBus is the leader in aggregating routes, tickets and inventory across this network, offering travelers the convenience of a modern booking system that simplifies life.
RedBus, backed by Seedfund, is building the new India.
"Seedfund is the most mature early stage investment firm that I have come across in India. It has a great set of people in the team."
Phanindra Sama
Founder, RedBus
Selling inter-city bus tickets online. Even wanting to do so sounded somewhat of a tiny prospect back in 2006, but the founders and us felt there was a market that would take shape here. We knew the issues - a deeply fragmented market, a lack of any centrally-documented information on schedules, the need for investing in relationships with the entrepreneurs who owned and ran these bus services.
But we decided to go ahead and create an offering that solved the bus travellers’ problems, one by one. It took a lot of time, a great team, a lot of travel criss-crossing India to meet with bus operators, taking the effort to get the inventory online - and offering integrated phone-and-online services for customers.
But it’s worked well - as of early 2011, RedBus had grown to selling over 10,000 tickets a day, from the 10 a day or so it sold 4 years earlier. And the trajectory’s still upward.
Proceed to the RedBus website
Thousands of brands target the Indian consumer. Close to US $7 billion is spent on media every year, overseen by the more than 200,000 strong marketing and advertising fraternity. Afaqs is not just the largest website serving this community in India, but in the world too. It is the most preferred platform for publishers and other marketers to connect with this set of decision-makers.
Afaqs, backed by Seedfund, is building the new India.
"Working with Seedfund has been a truly fantastic learning experience."
Shreekant Khandekar
Founder, AFAQS
The team behind Afaqs (earlier called AgencyFAQs) was well-known to Seedfund. One of our partners had invested in them through an earlier fund - and another was featured in a print publication the founder used to run some 20 years earlier!
As media expenditure continues to grow in India at a record-setting rate, the role of the ecosystem - the media buyers, planners, brand managers, purchasing executives and such - grows exponentially. Afaqs has been the primary publication in the media and marketing trade in India - the most valuable one for both readers and advertisers. The company has since added a well-respected print avatar, an events business and is planning to step into new verticals.
Proceed to the AFAQS website
Large cities in India are served by top-quality healthcare facilities. But smaller towns aren't. Vaatsalya is changing all that, with a model of primary and secondary care units that are economical, scalable and world-class in their service offerings across over a dozen locations. It is good business to make good quality healthcare available to all.
Vaatsalya, backed by Seedfund, is building the new India.
"Seedfund is the only fund which has built a reputation of identifying potential market disrupters in different industries and backing them from the start."
Ashwin Naik
Founder, Vaatsalya
Thank you, Sachin. If the earlier generation of Indian parents concentrated on their kids' academics, the new ones realize sports can lead to a great career too. EduSports is the leading K-12 sports education firm, working with dozens of schools across the country. The company provides world-class curriculum, equipment and trained sports instruction to an eager, growing young population.
EduSports, backed by Seedfund, is building the new India.
"Seedfund has been a champion of our vision to develop a generation of healthy and fit school-going children - all via the medium of sport."
Saumil Majumdar
Founder, EduSports
Smaller companies want to look as professional as larger ones – even though they might not have the advanced documentation and printing facilities that the big boys have invested in. Printo started India's print shop revolution - one that has already found traction in more than a dozen outlets, and is growing fast, bringing top-quality documents, brochures and presentations within reach of a large segment of businesses.
Printo, backed by Seedfund, is building the new India.
"Seedfund remains the only fund that has the gumption of making a genuine early-stage bet. They have been personally involved in helping us navigate choppy entrepreneurial waters and they continue to enjoy our trust and respect, even as we have grown in size."
Manish Sharma
Founder, Printo
India's strength in information technology has traditionally come from software services, but schools and students are now thinking beyond. ThinkLabs is the leading robotics education business in India, with its own kit and training sessions that have touched thousands of school students and opened them up to a world beyond Visual Basic.
ThinkLabs, backed by Seedfund, is building the new India.
"For a young enterpreneur like me, Seedfund was much more than just an investor. I was glad to receive mentoring in various aspects of business, while getting enough space to learn and run my firm on my own without undue interference."
Gagan Goyal
Founder, ThinkLabs
In a country of a billion plus people, it’s not surprising that databases are far from perfect. One location can be referenced through multiple addresses and names are widely misspelt, just for starters. Ixsight is a leading master data management firm solving extremely tough data quality issues for India’s largest telecom, banking, pharma and retail firms.
Ixsight, backed by Seedfund, is building the new India.
"Seedfund has been instrumental in helping us on strategy, business development and even operations. They have made us think big and aim to convert our thought leadership into market dominance."
Uma Venkataraman
Founder, Ixsight
Photographs are no longer about just capturing the scene and the moment – but also about sharing them socially and building a shared narrative around them. Lifeblob lets amateur snappers share their photographic ‘lifestream’ with their friends, family and social connections – bringing a shared experience that stand-alone photo albums do not allow.
Lifeblob, backed by Seedfund, is building the new India.
"Seedfund is perhaps the only real early stage fund in India. They don't just provide the crucial capital at a very nascent stage but also guide you through the intricacies of running and growing the business at each step. Their support and advice has been invaluable in helping us realize the potential of our ideas."
Pranav Bhasin
Founder, LifeBlob
Growing all-round awareness and competition is pushing the Indian healthcare system from a profit-centered approach to a more patient-centered point of view. Healthizen is firmly on the side of the consumer on this one, letting them manage their health records, keep tab of their own key health indicators, inform them of news, their choices and more.
Healthizen, backed by Seedfund, is building the new India.
"As an entrepreneur, money is important, but I guess the people behind the money are equally important. The team at Seedfund made a significant difference during our formative years at Healthizen; always willing to contribute their experience and access to their business network. It helped that all of them have created and nurtured companies in the past."
Anand Anupam
Founder, Healthizen
The Indian consumer is spoilt for choice with an army of banking and financial services firms vying for her rupee. What she lacks, though, is a place that provides comparisions, reviews and an unbiased guide to the choices available. Rupeetalk provides just that - and in turn provides financial brands access to consumers who are in the midst of their buying decisions.
RupeeTalk, backed by Seedfund, is building the new India.
"A fund which can support you, even when your business plan is literally on a piece of paper, if it's good enough."
Satkam Divya
Founder, RupeeTalk
Scaling up to a larger presence is something most businesses look forward to. But being able to work as a single, well-coordinated, nimble entity as one grows in the number of people, offices and time zones is a serious challenge. Uhuroo provides a robust web-based collaboration environment that helps companies connect wide-spread teams so they can work together as one.
Uhuroo, backed by Seedfund, is building the new India.
"Seedfund is a great team to have on your side. They are great investors, with diverse industry experience and the perseverance required to help build great things."
Kaushal Sarda
Founder, Uhuroo
