Top 10 Promising & Scalable Startups In Vadodara

Top 10 Promising & Scalable Startups In Vadodara

Vadodara is becoming an emerging launchpad for startups and entrepreneurs thanks to its industrial clusters, expensive resources, and proximity to premier educational institutions. 

Gujarat has much to offer outsiders, from its food to textiles, to its cooperatives and industrial clusters, to its SEZs and emerging startup hubs.

There may not be many people in Gujarat who know Gujarat was the first state to introduce SSIP and IT & Electronics Startup Policies. However, Gujarat is currently ranked second in the country in the number of startups and innovation initiatives, thanks to state government initiatives and these support systems.

While Vadodara is commonly known for its industrial cluster, it has now brought its game to supporting startups in their early stages. As a result, the entrepreneurial route is now being taken by young professionals and students here.

Barbadians (as the natives of the city are called) seem to be similar to Gujaratis in their business sense and risk appetite.

The entrepreneurial community in Vadodara has a wide range of well-connected members and quality talent, lower commute times, and infrastructure resources. In recent years, the number of startups in the city has increased greatly due to the efforts of government agencies and the startup community.

The number of startups and the sum of funding raised by these entities show Vadodara as the state’s startup hub.

Most of the successful startups in the region indeed belong to sectors unheard of decades ago, such as education, IoT (the Internet of Things), pharmaceuticals, healthcare, AR/VR/MR, and financial technology. Newer startup ventures have emerged from Vadodara due to the Platform.

Have you been trying to find experts for your new business venture in the state but aren’t getting any results?

Starting their businesses will now be made easier with help from TiE Vadodara. According to TiE management, they aim to provide a favorable business climate in Gujarat and support entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurs struggle without much support when they want to start a business. Our goal is to offer them the expertise and advice they need. The Vadodara chapter of TiE will support as many startups as possible at all levels of incubation.

Among the educational institutions Shukla has developed a knowledge partnership with are Navrachana University, M S University, Parul University, Vadodara Start-up Studio, KPGU, and even Vadodara Marathon.

Maulik Bhansali and Rajat Singhania, members of TiE’s executive and treasurer committees, explained that established business houses are willing to support startups and that some of them have already received support.

Maulik Bhansali and Rajat Singhania, members of TiE’s executive and treasurer committees, explained that established business houses are willing to support startups and that some of them have already received support.

A global platform is needed to allow aspiring innovators and entrepreneurs to showcase their work, says Darshan Chandan, TiE Vadodara secretary.

A Vadodara Women Pitch Competition 2021 is also being undertaken by TiE Vadodara to help encourage women entrepreneurs through networking, mentoring, and funding.

Its innovative initiatives to nurture startups in Gujarat have placed Gujarat Technical University at the forefront of the Gujarat Startup Ecosystem. Moreover, its various programs ensure a zero death rate for startups.

Among its many initiatives, the Global Technology University Innovation & Startup Center – Vadodara hosts an event to assist founders with their administrative and legal woes, which are Greek and Latin for technologists. Here is their announcement. This is an opportunity for startups to learn more about procedures and discuss them with experts.

GTU Innovation & Startup Center: Vadodara is hosting a workshop on Company Formations and Legal Issues exclusively for aspiring entrepreneurs, innovators, and early-stage startups. In this workshop, you can get advice from industry experts, entrepreneurs, mentors, and academics, so your startup can have an overview of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. In addition, we will discuss company types, company formation procedures, and legal issues.

GTU has developed the program to help increase awareness of procedures within affiliated institutions around the city. In addition, GTU’s Innovation Council and StartUp Center organize various programs to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship among students.

The university will establish a state-of-the-art startup and entrepreneurship center, MSISEC (Maharaja Sayajirao Incubation Startup and Entrepreneurship Centre).

Students of universities and colleges in the region will have access to the center. Still, anyone with an innovative business idea who is interested in entrepreneurship can also benefit from it.

For budding inventors, startups, and entrepreneurs who find it difficult to rent space, the university will provide a physical location where they can meet and work.

In addition, the center will offer startups and innovators equipment and services such as web and data domains, mentoring, and support activities to assist them in accelerating their growth and progress.

Syndicate members of the university approved Rs 40 lakh to set up the MSISEC, which will start civil work soon at Veer Savarkar Bhavan, MSU vice-chancellor Parimal Vyas told TOI.

He stated that another step forward is the university’s selection for setting up a center under Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) for central Gujarat, adding that it has also been informed that it has been selected as a site for a center under the Gujarat government’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM). AIM aims to promote entrepreneurship and innovation in the country through government initiatives.

The university established in October 2018 the office of career advancement for students, which includes a center for innovation, startup, and incubation, a center for an apprenticeship, internship, and mentorship, and a center for career counseling, training, and placement.

Student startup and innovation policy (SSIP) policy of the state government and as a focus area of the university led the center for startups and innovation to increase awareness among students and teachers about the support available for innovation and converting ideas into startups, according to Dr. Akash Pandey, assistant director of the center.

While the center for incubatory support extended physical and virtual activities to startups, it also provided physical and virtual incubation for startups.

Several different awareness activities were conducted across the two centers, including workshops, webinars, and invitations to participate in competitions at the state and national levels.

Currently, the office is funding 20 such projects that students and faculty have submitted; over 50 proposals have been received.

“We are actively supporting 15 startups from technical to social, IT-based to dramatic to business-based startups at our center for incubation,” he said.

1. Pintu Pro

IT entrepreneur, Piyush Mistry from Vadodara, Gujarat, has started a company called Cyberiology, which offers one-stop cybersecurity and privacy solutions in India and abroad for savvy businesses.

Under one roof, Cyberiology will be able to provide a wide range of solutions. Business organizations around the world hire professional digital marketing experts, social media enthusiasts, programmers, developers, and consultants for cyber security, information management, password management, compliance assurance, and cybersecurity audits.

“Cyberiology is the one-stop cybersecurity and privacy solution for the tech-savvy corporate organization in India and worldwide,” said Piyush Mistry, CEO of Pintu Pro, which provides cybersecurity and data privacy solutions. “We’ve been able to deliver services in various nations, including Germany, Canada, the United States, Russia, Australia, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand,” says the company. With a team of 550 cybersecurity experts, web developers, ethical hackers, and identity and access specialists, Pintu Pro currently serves more than 550 clients worldwide.

As more businesses migrate to digital platforms, cybersecurity will become increasingly important in the coming years.

He declares, “In the age of digitization, legacy data information and hardware platforms are no longer useful. The ongoing battle against a global epidemic has highlighted the value of software platforms and process automation. The demand for cybersecurity will only grow as firms choose to store their publicly available data clouds and other open digital data warehouses.”

Company Overview

2. CHARGE+ZONE

CHARGE+ZONE, an electric vehicle charging infrastructure provider established in 2018, is expanding its charging station network in India.

Electric vehicles are becoming more prevalent in an increasingly conscious world. The presence of the right infrastructure is one of the critical requirements for this transition.

A network of charging points for electric vehicles is being built by Vadodara firm CHARGE+ZONE towards this end. 

A network of electric vehicle charging points is being built by CHARGE+ZONE to strengthen the charging infrastructure in India, founded in 2018 by Kartikey Hariyani, Pavan Bakeri, Kinnari Hariyani, and Ravindra Mohan. 

Kartikey focuses his entrepreneurial efforts on energy and solar PV plants through TecSo Project Ltd, which began in 2010. CHARGE+ZONE was created as a natural extension of realizing the opportunity in the electric vehicle segment. 

At CHARGE+ZONE, we are committed to building the largest network of electric vehicle charging stations in India. That’s why we launched this startup,” says Sharma.

Founded and led by Kartikey, the startup aims to develop a network of unmanned charging stations and automate the process from start to finish. 

Unlike a gas station or petrol pump, there is no attendant at these charging stations. EV charging stations, however, will not need to have a person on-site,” he adds.

Current customer cities include Noida, Delhi, Gurugram, Patna, Nasik, Lucknow, and Ahmedabad. This company delivers about 30K units of electricity every day and services about 2000 electric vehicles each day through its network. 

Users can book charging slots online, find charging stations near them, and pay using the mobile application (available on both Android and iOS phones).

As well as fast charging and battery swapping stations, it provides SaaS-based end-to-end solutions named Charge+Cloud. In addition, the company provides the SaaS solution to e-mobility players and cab aggregators to manage the charging network.

Large vehicles can also be serviced. For example, in December, CHARGE+ZONE announced a fast-charging network for Ashok Leyland electric buses across Ahmedabad, Patna, and Chandigarh, where more than 125 busses are using seven fast-charging hubs managed by CHARGE+ZONE.

According to Kartikey, CHARGE+ZONE got access to the required talent pool by starting in Vadodara, with many electrical engineering colleges. CHARGE+ZONE currently has a staff of 45 people.

He claims that the startup uses B2B marketing tactics to get out to users in terms of marketing. It is also working to establish a dealer and franchisee network across India.

When it comes to the business strategy, Kartikey adds that the charging stations work in the same way as gas stations, except that electricity is available at the stations instead of gasoline or diesel.

For its SaaS platform, CHARGE+ZONE charges a monthly fee to its corporate clients, who include BluSmart, Ashok Leyland, EEE-Taxi, SmartE, Shuttl, and Bajaj Auto, among others.

CHARGE+ZONE has previously secured $3 million in a pre-Series A round led by Venture Catalysts in November 2020. Other main investors in the round were Mumbai Angels, Keiretsu Forum, and the Ramakrishnan Family Office. Before this round, it had also received money from Mumbai Angels for an unknown amount.

The company is also looking into wireless inductive charging options to build a nationwide network of 10,000 electric vehicle fast-DC charging stations.

According to a report by Mordor Intelligence, the Indian electric vehicle industry is estimated to reach $47 billion by 2026, with a CAGR of 44 percent.

Kartikey says the business competes with companies like Energy Efficiency Services Limited, Rajasthan Electronics & Instruments Limited, and others in the EV charging infrastructure space.

“However, we hope that we will all be partners in constructing the nation’s electric vehicle charging infrastructure, rather than rivals,” he concludes.

Company Overview

3. TechoKids 

 TechoKids will offer an educational platform for children in Vadodara. In the present Corona pandemic situation, online education is the only safe way to learn, and the Indian government promotes it until schools open. Companies that provide better learning modules are shaping students’ careers and learning.

The Vadodara-based startup ‘TechoKids,’ established on March 10, has carved out a market for itself in the UK, USA, and India in less than three months of its establishment while supporting the government initiative of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.’

A unique EduTech startup, TechoKids, has been launched by two young Vadodara entrepreneurs. Soon, this startup will become one of the world’s leading education platforms with long-standing roots in India and rapid progression throughout developed countries. The online learning platform TechoKids allows children to receive individual coaching from expert faculty members and create apps, websites, and games.

The startup venture has received market analysis & strategy, ecosystem network, and incubation support from Vadodara Startup Studio, a startup incubator and accelerator in Central Gujarat, powered by the city’s prestigious Parul University. In addition, Dr. Devanshu Patel, the President of Parul University, played an inspirational role in the inauguration of the new workspace for TechoKids, encouraging the young entrepreneurs and their team with best wishes for the future.

According to Nimish Gopal, one of the Co-Founders of TechoKids, the main goal of creating this educational platform is to allow 21st-century students to gain knowledge about technology development and develop the culturally relevant skillset needed to contribute to the nation’s ongoing modernization. As part of India’s new education policy, coding has been made compulsory in schools for students to keep up with the rapidly changing world.

Developed countries, such as the United States and the UK, use technology to educate and develop the skills of their youth. When they saw this, the duo came up with the idea of developing an Indian platform. Despite starting with just two people, the company has grown to 50 people in just three months. In addition to alumni of IITs, IIMs, and Parul University, over 50 young professionals work for TechoKids.

Company Overview

4. Indiaohyes

Vadodara’s ‘Indiaohyes’ startup offers a novel approach to the problem. During the Corona era, a government policy prescribed that people stay in their homes and away from public places. This also included religious activities and rituals. During this time, Maulik Dhruv and Bindesh Bhatt, two young entrepreneurs from Vadodara, started an online venture to offer religious prayers, rituals, tarpana, katha, and brahman bhojan, pind daan, and Uttar kriya. The startup platform started as an attempt to follow the religious rituals of Brahmins at holy shrines.

Bindesh Bhatt, the co-founder of Indiaohyes.com, explains that the platform helps conduct religious rituals with Brahmins from religious places like Siddhpur, Chanod, and Varanasi through video conferencing. Also, you can book a puja ritual at home and call the Brahmin after performing the Corona test through this platform. With the online medium, people from all over the world can join you, and you can watch it live,” he added.

Remarkably, thousands of people in the country and beyond have benefited from this virtual worship through these platforms relatively quickly. “Corona phase is a blessing in disguise for us because it provides a forum for those who have lost family members to this dreadful virus to pray and perform rituals. We’ve been providing internet solutions to consumers, particularly NRIs, since 2018, but our business grew during Corona. “Bindesh contributed to the conversation. In the year 2020, they will be recognized as a startup.

The Vadodara Startup Studio, a startup accelerator center managed by Parul University in the city, provides all of the essential support and direction to the India oh yes business and offers startup incubation support.

Company Overview

5. All That Dips

A global pandemic makes it difficult to run a business successfully. That became evident in 2020. Life as we knew it ceased to exist.

Businesses and operations were closed overnight by many companies. In the Great Depression, ordinary people lost their livelihood; societies retreated to home confinements.

Despite the pandemic in Vadodara, a food startup has achieved 10 times business growth in such a challenging time. The product launch and business decisions needed to be well-timed.

Lockdowns forced people to stay at home for over ten months while restaurants and food chains closed. So everyone started experimenting and trying to cook restaurant-style dishes at home to spice up their lives. Ordinary people tried to become home chefs – food lovers, bachelors, mothers, and rookies.

Founded in 2011, All That Dips leverages people’s craving for healthy, nutritious, delicious food at home. Recently, the company launched its Bechef line of products. There are over 50 gourmet cooking sauces from a wide variety of cuisines worldwide; all the ingredients are fresh; no color, flavor, or harmful chemicals are added.

Dr. Deep Lodhari, Founder & Director of All That Dips, told me, “Food is a special business since what we consume directly affects our health.”

There are a lot of culinary sauces available from Bechef. These include Harissa Sauce from North Africa, Jamaican Jerk Sauce, and Kung Pao Sauce from China. Quality is stressed over quantity at this company. Our Bechef sauces are prepared only using farm-fresh ingredients purchased at farmer’s markets. Using small batches ensures the freshness and authenticity of ingredients. Moreover, the nutritional value of products remains intact.

Over 1000 supermarkets in 13 Indian states sell Bechef cooking sauces, contributing over 50 percent to All That Dips revenue.

Through social media interactions, regular online cooking contests, and other fun, engaging activities, All That Dips promotes the Bechef brand with the best chefs in India. Founders are also planning to soon expand to international markets in South East Asia and the Middle East by sampling and tasting their goods in retail stores, malls, and societies.

As the fastest-growing company in the healthy foods and condiments category by 2021, All That Dips aims to consolidate its presence across countries, territories, and cities to be a household name. Dr. Deep Lodhari and Dhaval Patel began their business story in 2017 when they prepared a special batch of Hummus & Fresh Salsa and sold 50,000/-worth of products within two days in a local market!

They believe that good food can change the way we live; they are driven by craziness and passion for good food. All That Dips was born out of the initial success with Hummus. This company quickly became one of the biggest in the industry.

A few years ago, it provided 16 yummy dips in 16 different flavors to premium supermarkets across 10 states, such as Fresh Hummus, Salsa, Guacamole, Cheese Dips, Aiolis, and Yogurt. After that, it launched covid 19. They had to close stores and supermarkets and lock down their thriving business.

However, ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit enabled All That Dips to survive this pandemic attack, launching its gourmet cooking sauce brand Bechef as a solution for those seeking to cook healthy, delicious dishes at home.

Company Overview

6. The tea station

While sipping tea, you could stay connected to friend circles, loved ones, and acquaintances using social media based on their real-time locations. Vadodara has become the first city to launch the smart chai station incubated by MS University. Tea and refreshments are sold on the social media platform for it to generate revenue. 

It is also the first retail location to accept digital currencies like Bitcoin & Dogecoin. “Yesterday, there was a need for a place-based social media app for the Indian market, and there is currently no indigenously developed well, designed social media platform. Therefore, we developed Gossip as Twitter’s better cousin,” explained Shubhra Saha, who founded the social networking site with Shyam Sunder.

During their tenure at Maharaja Ranjitsinh Gaekwad Institute of Design at MSU, the students introduced a GPS tool for group chats, allowing people in your vicinity to get instant notifications of your whereabouts.

The location-based and interest-based applications also offered a Covid chat feature to connect service providers and those seeking ambulances, hospital beds, oxygen cylinders, and medicines during the peak of Covid-19-induced pandemics.

A real-life social media platform has been launched with Gossip smart tea station. The social media platform offers physical locations in different parts of the city where you can meet for tea and conversation,” Saha said.

Every social media platform aims to increase its subscribers as a first step. However, users eventually tire of the endless stream of promotions and advertisements. So, as a result, we will earn revenue from tea, and no ads,” Saha explained.

According to Saha, accepting cryptocurrencies is meant to raise awareness and have a discussion surrounding them. Cryptocurrencies are highly debated and fluctuating, he added.

There is no regulation on how we should use cryptocurrencies, but in the coming years, cryptocurrencies might become as widespread as e-wallets and digital wallets,” he said.

Company Overview

7. I Online Doctor

This startup connects rural Indian patients with doctors through secure video calls via an app that makes it easy to work on their health problems—selected it as one of the top 15 Kobe 500 Accelerator Programme companies. 

Several startups make things easier daily. Hey, need groceries? That’s Bigbasket Hungry? That’s Swiggy. Need someone to help you around the house? That’s UrbanClap. Want something delivered? That’s Dunzo!

When everything is available online, why should the sick go to a clinic? Enter telemedicine, which lets us stay at home when we don’t feel like going. As rural India remains dependent on nearby cities to get medical care, players such as Practo, mfine, DocsApp, and Lybrate are important in urban areas. I Online Doctor, a Vadodara-based startup, connects patients with doctors through video call consultations via an easy-to-use mobile app to tap into this market.

Deepak Patel, Founder of I Online Doctor, says, “Small towns and rural areas have embraced technology more quickly due to the affordability of smartphones and high-speed internet available there. We want to help our users access affordable and accessible solutions.”

This flagship program is run in conjunction with 500.Co of San Francisco, US, and Kobe City, Japan. Selected online Doctor from 15 companies worldwide for the 500 Kobe Accelerator program in Japan.

Deepak was born and brought up in Vadodara and has worked in the mechanical and general contracting industries for over 25 years. Physicist and lawyer, he holds a bachelor’s degree in both disciplines and a business master’s degree in HRM.

She has 15 years of experience and previously worked at Horizon Industrial. Meghna Patel is a co-founder and engineer with a post-graduate certificate in computer programming. As a result of these experiences, Deepak decided to return to his native India and help meet the healthcare needs of people living in small towns and villages.

The distribution of doctors in rural and small towns was vastly different from that in urban areas. Due to the size of the cities, most doctors reside in them; however, primary care doctors are not available after clinic hours or on holidays.

In the US and Europe, telecommunications companies have been addressing this issue for many years. However, the industry in India is at an infancy stage, Deepak says. I Online Doctor’s team currently consists of 12 employees after Deepak bootstrapped the company with personal savings of $1.1 million.

Patients and doctors are connected through a video call consultation platform | Online Doctor. In addition, patients and doctors can select doctors based on specialization, experience, ratings, and fees through the I Online Doctor app, which is available for Android and iOS users.

To make an appointment with a physician, patients must fill out a health questionnaire, pay consultation fees, and schedule a private video consultation with the latter. In addition to receiving an electronic prescription and diagnostic lab requisition, patients can send messages privately to the Doctor after the consultation. 

The fees charged by doctors and clinics vary according to their specialization and experience. Lastly, patients can submit health queries, which certified providers handle.

An amount of the fee is charged as a commission by the startup, and the balance is transferred to the health expert/doctor. Over five lakh downloads have been made of mobile apps since they were launched in August 2018.

We see a lot of Indian patients. But, Deepak explains, “Our app allows patients worldwide to connect with doctors.”

There are only Indian doctors in the clinic. More than 2,000 doctors on the platform, including over 45 doctors from different healthcare fields, including family physicians, Ayurvedic physicians, and homeopathic physicians. The journey has not been easy, however.

A few of the key challenges Deepak faced were resistance to change, a lack of awareness, and social misconceptions.

Through proper education, exposure, and marketing practices, we have been able to turn these challenges into opportunities for Online doctors.

In Gujarat, Limda and Madheli villages have benefited from free digital medical camps on previous occasions organized by the startup in collaboration with MS University of Baroda. Similar camps for senior citizens from DMC Old Age Home, Vadodara, have been conducted for the city’s underprivileged residents.

The telemedicine market was valued at more than $38,3 billion in 2018, according to a Global Market Insights study published in March 2019. The market is expected to grow at more than 19 percent CAGR between 2019 and 2025.

Practo, DocsApp, and Lybrate are among the competitors of I Online Doctor. In addition, a vertical, Care.fit, has been launched by Cure.fit recently as well. Deepak is convinced, however, that there is much potential for startups like his in the Indian telemedicine market. 

Every home and village should be able to access the I Online Doctor service. Seed funding is currently being sought, and further investment is welcome. 

In a world of increasing competition, I Online Doctor provides a marketplace solution that includes live, online video consultations with our pool of experienced and verified doctors. Moreover, the entire virtual clinical experience, including follow up after consultations, a secure messaging feature between provider and patient, puts us in a league of our own.”

Company Overview

8. Delfoo

The company has partnered with restaurants to provide users with an online directory of restaurants through which users can place orders for food. The company collects the requested products from the restaurant and delivers them to the customer after receiving the order from the user over the platform. In addition, the company has released a search engine that allows its users to reserve tables and gives details such as the number of reservations, timing, etc. Currently, the app is available in Vadodara and Surat and has partnered with 200+ restaurants.

Company Overview

9. TruckGuru 

The company offers inter-city and intra-city logistics services through its on-demand truck booking portal. In addition, the company offers businesses and individuals cargo and logistics services and transportation services, and packers and movers. Besides verified drivers, transparent pricing, real-time tracking, and scheduled reports, the company provides periodic SMS/Email alerts, real-time SMS/Email alerts, and automatic reporting. They are operating in Gujarat as of August 2017.

Company Overview

10. SAPAS Telematics

Fleet management solutions are provided by this company via the Internet. Among the technologies offered by the company are live vehicle tracking software and hardware, speed management, fuel management, working hours & attendance management, and more.

Company Overview