Authindia- A startup saving rich heritage of India & offering livelihood to handicraft makers

Handicrafts play very important role in representing the culture and traditions of any country or region. Handicrafts are a substantial medium to preserve rich traditional art, heritage and culture, traditional skills and talents which are associated with people’s lifestyle and history.
Handicrafts are unique expressions and represent a culture, tradition and heritage of a country. The Handicraft Industry is one of the important productive sector. Various attempts have been made to define this broad and diversified industry. The following definition strives to cover diversity and complexity of Handicraft Industry.
In this industrialized world, people always look out for branded products. Apart from this, some people also buy quality hand made products called as Handicrafts. The handicraft business is growing popular at many parts of the globe. For example: Handicrafts in India, such as dolls, designed clothes, embroidery materials, wood works, hand painting, gifts, furniture, toys and a lot more, are much popular worldwide. Even though handicraft products are considered as traditional work, there are many advantages and benefits in it.
Meet Kush Verma from Authindia a startup dealing with authentic handicrafts in India. This start-up is not only preserving the rich cultural heritage of India, its traditional values but also offering livelihood to many people engaged in this traditional business thus saving this art as well as prospering Indian art in national as well as international market. Lets see this amazing start-up and find the moto behind such wonderful startup.
1.What is the Name of Your Venture?
Authindia – A place to find Authentic Handicrafts of India.

2.Who is your target Audience?
Target audience is the one who loves Art & Craft. Any one who would like to buy handmade products, understands its uniqueness & would like to support local Artists/Craftsmen.
3.Where is your venture based ( city, state, country) & What are your target areas?
We are based out of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
We are delivering products PAN India & looking forward to start shipping globally very soon.
4.What problems does your venture solve? What are your products or services.
We are trying to help local Artists/Craftsmen sell their handmade products online. We provide them with an online shop to Showcase and Sell to masses.
Currently we have handicrafts relating various categories as in Home Decoration, Accessories, Handmade Jewellery, Handloom Clothing and usable artistic goods. Traditional handicrafts like Bastar Art, Metal & Wooden Crafts, Meenakari work, Chikankari, Madhubani Art, Kalamkari and many others. Besides all of these we are striving everyday to add up more such traditional crafts.
5.Share the idea or story behind the venture. How did it come to an existence?
The idea of Authindia came to me on one of the getaway to Varanasi, the Art & Crafts hub. It has been a quite amusing & intriguing journey so far. We are always exploring the treasure crafts which lay in various regions of our country & guarded by indigenous people.
6.How did you identify your co-founder?
We needed people who can contribute towards the idea of helping local craftsmen & reviving their heritage for masses.
7.What expansion plans are you looking for the next 2 years, next 5 years?
Next 2 years we plan to register around 1000+ Artisans on our website.
Next 5 years, Authindia will become one stop destination for Indian Handicrafts for everyone.
8.Where do you want to see yourself in next 5 years?
In next 5 years I would like to see Authindia as the top Indian Handicraft Marketplace & myself as a successful entrepreneur.
9.Have you raised any funding? Or have any plans for the funding?
Currently we are bootstrapped. We are planning to raise our seed funding very soon.
10.What were the problems you faced during the starting days and how did you resolve them?
In the starting days we faced the problem to convince & getting on-board Artisans from different part of India. Now we have 35+ Artist associated with us & numbers are increasing everyday.
11.Are you married, single or in a relationship?
I’m single.
12.What are your hobbies? What do you do in your non-work time?
In non-working time I generally sketch, go for a drive or watch movies.
13.Whats your favourite food & holiday destination?
I’m a foodie & an avid traveller. So I like to taste local delicacies of places I travel.
14.Whom do you consider your idol or biggest motivator?
I’m a self motivated person. But I admire Steve Jobs as an entrepreneur who started from scratch & build a multi-billion company.
15.What do you feel is the major difference between entrepreneurs and those who work for someone else?
Entrepreneurs are the breed who loves to think out of the box. Working for others is like working on the mindset of those people.
16.If you had the chance to start your career over again, what would you do differently?
It would be a travel blogger.
17.How has being an entrepreneur affected your family & Social life?
I spend pretty good time with my family & friends. Entrepreneurship have given me the opportunity to spend some quality Social life.
18.Anything, you would like to say to our readers or upcoming entrepreneurs?
I would like to say that no one should hold oneself from doing something noble & creative for the fear of being criticized. Live by your conscience, it never tells a lie.
19.Tell us something about your education & family background.
I’m a B.Tech graduate with 3 years of working experience in Operations & Project Management. My Father is a Rtd. Government Employee, Mother is a house wife & my younger sister is working for an MNC in Delhi NCR.
20.What is your USP which makes it unique & different from other start-ups in similar domains.
Our USP is that we are working along with the Artists & trying to simplify the process for them to sell online.
21.Please share complete name, address, phone number, email id & website of Your Business & Contact Person
Kush Verma
Co-founder & CEO
Authindia.com
Lucknow – India
Company Phone: +917619979902
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://authindia.com/