That One Idea by WaterBridge Ventures

India's Next Wave of Consumption Will be Driven by Women, ft. Swetha, Neha & Navneet | TOI S04E11

FastForward@waterbridge.vc (WaterBridge Ventures) — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 06:59:14 +0000

Key moments in the episode:

(00:00): Highlights
(02:15): Neha's childhood growing up in a joint Marwari family in Bombay
(04:54): Swetha grew up playing hockey for U16 Karnataka
(07:40): Navneet's childhood growing up in a Punjabi, male-dominated society
(12:56): The 4Ms in a woman's life - Marriage, Mobility, Motherhood, Medical Care (and Menopause)
(16:35): Sisters in Sweat started with overflowing love on WhatsApp group
(19:12): Is it FinTech? No, it is FemTech
(25:52): Engagement loops that bring women back to the sports field
(30:17): Women are prolific networkers
(33:20): Are women reactive in taking care of their health?
(38:27): Women in Tier II+ towns are eager to join the formal workforce
(44:01): Rapid-fire Q&A
(48:44): An ideal coming back-to-work kit
(54:44): A no-brainer product for women that doesn't exist today
(56:30): The 1 thing Indian women need to do to change the status quo
(58:21): What excites them about the future

Relevant Links:

WaterBridge Ventures: https://www.waterbridge.vc/
HerKey: https://www.herkey.com/
FemTech India: https://www.femtechindia.com/
Sisters in Sweat: https://sistersinsweat.com/

LinkedIn Profiles:

Anjali Sosale: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pinkamma/
WaterBridge Ventures: www.linkedin.com/company/waterbridgeventures

Neha Bagaria: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nehabagariaherkey/
HerKey: https://www.linkedin.com/company/herkeyofficial/

Navneet Kaur: https://www.linkedin.com/in/navneet-kaur-80109b227/
FemTech India: https://www.linkedin.com/company/femtechindiaorg/

Swetha Subbiah: https://www.linkedin.com/in/swethasubbiah/
Sisters in Sweat: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sistersinsweat/

You can also listen to this podcast on:

YouTube: https://youtu.be/YoWJEDL7ies

Disclaimer: The information in this podcast (“Content”) is solely for educational and information purposes. The content does not reflect the views or opinions of WaterBridge Ventures and/or any of its members. The content is not intended to be legal or other expert advice or services and should not be used in place of consultation with appropriate professionals. The content shall not be reproduced, distributed, shared, or relied upon in any manner whatsoever, in whole or part, without prior written permission of WaterBridge Ventures. In no event shall WaterBridge Ventures and/or any of its members be liable for any liability, loss, injury or risk which is incurred or suffered as a direct or indirect result of the use of the contents.

Lal Chand Bisu, Founder of Kuku FM, on Scaling India's Largest Audio Platform | That One Idea S04 E10

Tue, 25 Nov 2025 06:50:04 +0000

Born in a tiny village in the district of Sikar in Rajasthan, Bisu spoke only Shekhawati (a Rajasthani dialect) till Class X. He learnt Hindi during his +2, and English after he joined IIT Jodhpur. Learning a new language accompanied every

His was the first student intake batch, in 2008. The institute entrusted him to set up the labs, fests, competitions and culture. Initiative and institution was ingrained in him from a very early age.

Entrepreneurship for him was a natural choice. Today, Kuku is the largest audio platform in India, streaming 1.4B minutes of content every month, created by 50K+ creators in 10+ languages.

Key moments in the episode: :

(00:00): Highlights
(01:50): Growing up amidst storytelling in Sikar, Rajasthan
(06:26): Setting eyes on being the first entrepreneur from IIT Jodhpur
(10:10): Latching on to audio content before it became a global rage
(15:30): India does not listen to podcasts
(18:57): How to build an enduring audio platform
(22:02): Subscription vs micro-transactions - who wins?
(26:50): Kuku's first customer was a shopkeeper, listening to Bhagavad Gita
(32:30): Power users compound - hold 'em close
(34:50): GenAI first, since 2022
(38:25): People are loyal to specific form factors
(41:24): Scaling what matters - high-quality, original, exclusive content
(44:53): Managing without a marketing team
(50:12): For young founders who are raising their first VC dollars
(52:27): Never give advice unless asked

Relevant Links:

WaterBridge Ventures: https://www.waterbridge.vc/
Kuku FM: https://kukufm.com/

LinkedIn Profiles:

Anjali Sosale: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pinkamma/
WaterBridge Ventures: www.linkedin.com/company/waterbridgeventures

You can also listen to this podcast on:

YouTube: https://youtu.be/2GkffkDkUhc

Storytelling That Beats TikTok with 2X Engagement ft. Ranjeet Singh, Co-founder of Pratilipi | That One Idea S04 E09

Tue, 25 Nov 2025 06:21:14 +0000

Born in a very small village near Rae Bareilly, Ranjeet used to read 100+ books a year. Language to him was a tool to unite minds.

But millions of (non-English speaking) Indians lacked a place to read and write in their own languages with dignity, discovery, and community. Ranjeet wanted to give every storyteller a voice in their own language

Today, Pratilipi has created a language-first storytelling ecosystem across formats - stories, comics, audio, proving that regional and vernacular aren’t niches anymore.

Relevant Links:

WaterBridge Ventures: https://www.waterbridge.vc/
Pratilipi: https://www.pratilipi.com/

LinkedIn Profiles:

Ranjeet Pratap Singh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ranjeetpsingh/
Anjali Sosale: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pinkamma/
WaterBridge Ventures: www.linkedin.com/company/waterbridgeventures

You can also listen to this podcast on

YouTube: https://youtu.be/sMYGvNB1K_4

Inside AppsForBharat: Building a Category-Creator in $60B Faith Market with Prashant Sachan | That One Idea S04 E08

Tue, 25 Nov 2025 06:12:32 +0000

Prashant was born in an agrarian family in a village near Kanpur. His tryst with entrepreneurship started at the age of 18, when he started a customised T-shirts business.

Prashant started AppsForBharat / Sri Mandir App in 2020, following his deep insight that Indians are culturally bound together by their faith. Yet, nothing existed in India's $60B FaithTech/Digital Devotion market that could bring them closer to their deities daily.

Today, AppsFor Bharat has 40M+ downloads, and has raised $36M+ from marquee VCs to continue penetrating this consumer category.

Key moments in the episode:
(00:00): Highlights
(01:09): The meaning of "Faith", and its importance in our lives
(05:50): Sifting through experiments to discover Sri Mandir's value proposition
(10:04): Hitting PMF with profound user love
(12:25): Why choose an unproven market as a second time founder?
(14:59): Nudges that improve engagement - Punyamudras
(19:50): Scripting monetisation: the users will tell you what they want to pay for
(27:45): Bridging the trust gap between Indians and their devotion
(32:50): Understanding how temples make money
(36:30): Being online helps temples be top of mind
(39:36): 8X more people go to Varanasi than Goa
(43:16): Attracting investors in an unproven category

Relevant Links:

WaterBridge Ventures: https://www.waterbridge.vc/
AppsForBharat: https://www.appsforbharat.com/en

LinkedIn Profiles:

Prashant Sachan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prashantsachan/
Anjali Sosale: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pinkamma/
WaterBridge Ventures: www.linkedin.com/company/waterbridgeventures

You can also listen to this podcast on

YouTube: https://youtu.be/CpYTCI7nLsc

Making Learning Addictive with Seekho, India's First Edutainment OTT ft Rohit Choudhary of Seekho | That One Idea S04 E07

Tue, 25 Nov 2025 05:47:59 +0000

After graduating from IIT Kanpur, Rohit joined Toppr, where he shaped one of India’s pioneering EdTech successes. Rohit eventually joined Lal Chand Bisu, his colleague at Toppr, at Kuku FM as a Product Lead.

In 2020, while in lockdown, Rohit started Seekho, which now has over 20 lakh paying subscribers, and on its way to becoming Bharat’s ‘Netflix for Learning’.

Relevant Links:

WaterBridge Ventures: https://www.waterbridge.vc/
Seekho: https://seekho.in/

LinkedIn Profiles:

Rohit Choudhary: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohitchoudharydm/
Anjali Sosale: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pinkamma/
WaterBridge Ventures: www.linkedin.com/company/waterbridgeventures

You can also listen to this podcast on

YouTube: https://youtu.be/MgQz9y2qa-s

Life Lessons from 4X Entrepreneur Srikanth Iyer, Co-founder & CEO, HomeLane

FastForward@waterbridge.vc (WaterBridge Ventures) — Fri, 2 May 2025 03:32:27 +0000

HomeLane is India’s premier end-to-end home interiors platform for Urban India, disrupting an $18B market using technology and predictable, cost-efficient execution. Buying a home is hard enough, but with HomeLane, setting that up wouldn’t be.

So far, HomeLane has delivered 45K+ homes in 29 cities across India, working with 600+ in-house designers. With $114M raised in capital from marquee investors such as WestBridge Capital, Accel and Peak XV, HomeLane is on track to close ₹1400Cr in revenue in FY25, growing at a 50% CAGR over the last 5 years.

Srikanth Iyer was born and brought up in Bangalore. He tried his hand at entrepreneurship after he quit his first job at Wipro in just 90 days. He founded Edurite (TutorVista), sold it to Pearson for $200M cash exit, and was appointed the CEO at Pearson. Now at his 4th stint as an entrepreneur, Srikanth co-founded HomeLane after discovering a deep problem plaguing the Indian home-buyers.

Key Moments in the episode:

(00:00) Namaskara to 4X entrepreneur Srikanth, co-founder & CEO of HomeLane
(03:00) it's not about right or wrong, it's just about choosing the path that
(7:35): Stint 1 - Making a quick buck assembling PCs imported from China & Taiwan
(10:48): Lesson on evading bankruptcy by the skin of his teeth
(12:53): Moonlighting as a cyber-cafe owner
(14:04): Cutting through the Chakravyuh of debt
(16:01): The accidental entrepreneur strikes again, with Edurite
(20:52): Showing a new trick every few months
(24:45): Extra dose of transparency sets the foundation for a stronger relationship
(26:37): Starting up again, because elephants can't dance
(31:57): Everyone agreed that doing up your home is a pain
(35:30): HomeLane getting rejected by 148 investors
(39:30): Success in startups often boils down to just refusing to die
(42:30): Advice for a 1X investor from a 4X entrepreneur
(49:11): Homelane's philosophy of org and culture building

Relevant Links:
WaterBridge Ventures: https://www.waterbridge.vc/
HomeLane: https://www.homelane.com/

LinkedIn Profiles:

Srikanth Iyer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iyersrikanth/
Anjali Sosale: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pinkamma/
WaterBridge Ventures: www.linkedin.com/company/waterbridgeventures

You can also listen to this podcast on

YouTube: https://youtu.be/K4BmG4qQzaQ

Cross-Border Exchange for Companies to Hire $8.5T Talent Globally ft Gautam & Divya of CBREX

Thu, 1 May 2025 19:08:03 +0000

CBREX orchestrates enterprise talent acquisition by digitizing and automating recruitment agency partnerships globally. It enables companies to hire niche and specialised talent at an unforeseen speed and scale, even for roles open across geographies, at benchmark-defying price points.

Gautam is a 2X entrepreneur, having built TVA Infotech to become India's largest IT recruiting company. TVA was acquired by Allegis Global Services in 2008. He served as the CEO of the combined entity, before branching out to start CBREX in 2015.

Divya started her career at TVA Infotech, eventually rising to become the Head of Internal Talent Acquisition at the Allegis Group. She leverages her rich experience to spearhead all product developments at CBREX.

Key Moments in the episode:

(00:00): Welcoming Gautam and Divya, co-founders of CBREX to S04 E02 of That One Idea podcast
(01:10): Recruiters then and now - from manual tracking to AI-based matchmaking
(04:20): Helping clients with agency-led hiring, vs going directly to candidates
(07:10): Making recruitment platforms become magically fungible
(11:04): Hiring in Barcelona, from Mexico
(14:01): C-TALK streamlines coordination with multiple agencies
(15:57): Talent is the most important constraint, after capital
(19:00): CBREX - an ally to TAs
(22:24): Upgrading suppliers to embrace tech and get access to high-profile recruiting
(30:55): Evaluating a candidate using C-Screen
(33:55): Launching C-Lightning - Hire at scale and speed!
(35:00): Power of the platform triumphs over individual vendors
(36:31): Audacious plans for 2025

Relevant Links:
WaterBridge Ventures: https://www.waterbridge.vc/
CBREX: https://www.cbr.exchange/

LinkedIn Profiles:
Gautam Sinha: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gautamtva/
Divya Chethan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/divyachethan/
Anjali Sosale: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pinkamma/
WaterBridge Ventures: www.linkedin.com/company/waterbridgeventures

You can also listen to this podcast on
Youtube: https://youtu.be/xpLRs0JetWE

How to Sell SaaS to Banks for $1.3T Digital Lending Market, with D Venkatesh, CEO of Lentra

Thu, 1 May 2025 10:26:11 +0000

Founded in 2019, Lentra digitizes end-to-end lending processes for banks and NBFCs. The company has empowered 50+ financial institutions in India, including HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Tata Mutual Fund, through API-driven modular architecture that creates unique customer experiences, prompts increased access to new client bases, reduces NPAs and improves operational efficiencies.

Lentra's 24/7 platform uptime, ISO 270001 compliance and Zero Trust Security (ZTS) protocols offer guaranteed reliability and minimal turnaround times.

With Lentra's zero-risk, instant-lending solutions, India's topmost financial institutions have already stepped to leapfrog into the future!

DV brings more than three decades of work experience as a successful business leader in the technology domain. He has helped establish Lentra as a trusted technology solution provider to leading banks and financial institutions. Prior to this, DV was a co-founder and board member of Softcell.

As a part of the Encore Entrepreneurs Series, we're delighted to bring DV's experience to our viewers!

Yellow Metal offers gold loan disbursal at your doorstep, primarily operating in Tier II+ towns in South India. Rahul is the Co-founder of Yellow Metal.

Key Moments in the episode:

(00:00): Highlights
(02:10): From Softcell to the accidental birth of Lentra
(06:18): DV's childhood in Hubli
(09:32): Left to fend for himself, DV joins a TV company
(15:45): Starting Softcell in 1991
(22:10): Scaling Softcell to ₹7Cr of PAT by early 2000s
(26:22): Even B2B sales needs brand building
(28:33): If you sustain for long enough, you'll make money
(30:10): Golden playbook to crack banking partnerships
(36:20): Focus on your first customer, and excel at it
(41:41): That One Idea - Building Lentra
(46:00): Investors not backing DV - a 20-year-old on the inside
(50:20): If you're scared to rewrite your code, don't start a SaaS company
(54:15): Unhelpful advantage - people who run banks are all DV's friends

Relevant Links:

WaterBridge Ventures: https://www.waterbridge.vc/
Lentra: https://lentra.ai/
Yellow Metal: https://www.yellowmetal.co/

LinkedIn Profiles:

D Venkatesh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dvenkatesh/
Lentra: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lentra/
Rahul Boggaram: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulboggaram/
Yellow Metal: https://www.linkedin.com/company/yellowmetal/
WaterBridge Ventures: www.linkedin.com/company/waterbridgeventures

You can also listen to this podcast on
YouTube: https://youtu.be/rG7xGlx2hVM

From Writing Blogs to Launching a Mutual Fund with Deepak Shenoy, Founder of Capitalmind

Thu, 1 May 2025 09:56:25 +0000

Deepak brings a refreshing perspective to the world of public-market investing with his humour, sharp analyses and candid opinions. To many, market commentary is as exciting as a mutual fund’s T&C. Deepak Shenoy is the antidote.

He turned a humble blog into a ₹2,000+ crore asset management powerhouse, serving returns of 27%+ annually to 1400+ PMS and AIF clients. Deepak also authored “Money Wise”, a best-selling book for people who hate jargon but love money.

Most recently, Capitalmind Financial Services received the final approval from SEBI to launch the Capitalmind Mutual Fund, joining a concentrated industry having fewer than 50 players.

Key Moments in the episode:

(00:00) Highlights
(01:30) Welcome & Introduction of Deepak Shenoy, Founder of Capitalmind
(03:09) Deepak's decision to become an entrepreneur
(08:42) Learning business the hard way
(11:51) Navigating funding through the dot-com boom and bust
(13:55) Deepak's introduction to Finance 101
(18:51) Maggi, Mutual Funds and Macros
(22:40) Meeting Nithin Kamath (Zerodha), and starting an algo-trading company
(26:15) Satyam Scam and Bernie Madoff
(29:15) Starting Capitalmind
(37:07) Joe Rogan-ing the finance world
(39:09) Domestic consumption drives domestic investments
(45:40) Long way to go for retail participation
(51:07) Blossoming into a coveted Mutual Fund House
(56:20) The Future of SIPs
(1:03:20) Loans against Mutual Funds & Securities
(1:06:43) Reform Recommendations

Relevant Links:

WaterBridge Ventures: https://www.waterbridge.vc/
Capitalmind: https://www.capitalmind.in/

LinkedIn Profiles:

Deepak Shenoy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepakshenoy/
Anjali Sosale: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pinkamma/
WaterBridge Ventures: www.linkedin.com/company/waterbridgeventures

You can also listen to this podcast on
YouTube: https://youtu.be/lRiWhuOupVA

Fixed Deposits, Bonds, Portfolio Construction and Building Wealth with Saurabh Jain of Stable Money

Wed, 2 Apr 2025 04:56:08 +0000

Founded in Oct '22 Stable Money is one of India’s leading fixed-income companies through which retail Indians can invest in safe instruments that also give high returns.

Backed by marquee investors, Stable Money raised $15M in Series A in 2024. Today, it has over 1 million downloads on Google Play and offers fixed deposits and bonds to customers.

Born in a small town in Maharashtra, Saurabh always knew that he wanted to be an entrepreneur. But it was not until he went to IIT Bombay, that he could give wings to his ambitions.

After spending years working in Europe, dabbling with entrepreneurship in his early career, working in Swiggy’s leadership, functioning as the CEO of Navi Mutual Funds, he finally founded Stable Money - a platform that aims to make sure that no Indian loses their hard-earned money.

Key Moments in the episode:

(00:00) Highlights
(01:20) Welcome & Introduction of Saurabh Jain, co-founder of Stable Money, to S04E05 of TOI
(01:56) Saurabh's childhood in Aurangabad and early career
(05:00) Learning to think long-term at Stable Money, with Harish as co-founder
(07:24) Advice to founders starting up today
(08:56) About Stable Money - safe investments platform with high returns
(11:00) Fixed Income 101 - Debunking Fixed Deposit myths
(16:40) Building trust as the cornerstone of business
(21:30) Mining through 470K minutes of customer talk time
(23:03) Broad trends in macro
(28:15) Only 1% of 25 Cr FDs in India earn more than 8%
(32:05) Secret sauce for WealthTechs to succeed
(39:25) Fundraising advice

Relevant Links:

WaterBridge Ventures: https://www.waterbridge.vc/
Stable Money: https://stablemoney.in/

LinkedIn Profiles:

Saurabh Jain: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saurabhjain1099/
Anjali Sosale: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pinkamma/
WaterBridge Ventures: www.linkedin.com/company/waterbridgeventures

You can also listen to this podcast on

YouTube: https://youtu.be/M_5NnZkpMx8

Designing the One-Stop Shop for $160B Home & Decor Market ft Abhik, Anushka & Varun of Trampoline

Mon, 27 Jan 2025 03:34:12 +0000

We’re excited to have Abhik Ghosh, Anushka Mahanti and Varun Deo, co-founders of Trampoline, with our host Anjali Sosale, Partner at WaterBridge Ventures, to kickstart Season 4 of That One Idea! Trampoline is B2B cross-border home decor platform, delivering a full-stack experience across the value chain – from curation, design, sourcing, consolidation and quality control to logistics. Trampoline raised $5M in seed funding from us at WaterBridge Ventures and Z47 (fka Matrix Partners India) earlier this year, to disintermediate and streamline the procurement value chain for retailers in UK and Europe. Prior to starting up, Abhik spent 8+ years at Amazon and Wayfair, leading their UK & EU home decor business. Varun has 7+ years of experience across Wayfair, (Head of the UK Decor business), and Amazon, (launched Amazon’s speciality retail stores in the UK). Anushka has 8+ years of experience across Amazon UK, where she worked as the head of brand and marketing at Freevee, and Arla Foods (a $12B Danish FMCG major), where she headed product launches globally. Key Moments in the episode: (00:00): Welcoming Abhik, Anushka and Varun, co-founders of Trampoline to S04 E01 of That One Idea podcast (00:15): Anushka’s eclectic Parsi/Odiya upbringing across Bangladesh, Cambodia and India (06:00): 2X Bharat Vapsi Varun’s childhood centred around his love for Chemistry (09:02): Abhik’s childhood growing up in a Navy family (11:04): 2X founder Abhik’s experiences at GE, Philips, INSEAD, Amazon & Wayfair (14:01): Anushka's switch to Amazon's ad-supported streaming (15:57): Varun finally letting go of chemistry, for Amazon Luxembourg (19:00): Amazon - the common thread tying Abhik, Anushka and Varun (22:24): Learning to find customer love for Home & Decor at Wayfair (25:00): Trampoline - the name inspired by a cafe in London rehabilitating Syrian refugees (30:55): Anushka driving Trampoline's penchant and passion for design (33:55): Trampoline in a nutshell (39:00): Learnings from the first few months (41:46): Building up the team during the first 100 days post $5M seed funding (46:31): Audacious plans for 2025 Relevant Links: WaterBridge Ventures: https://www.waterbridge.vc/ Trampoline: https://trampolinestore.uk/ Linkedin Profiles: Abhik Ghosh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhik-ghosh-a722459/ Anushka Mahanti: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anushka-mahanti-64669213/ Varun Deo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/varun-deo-21a29317/ Anjali Sosale: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pinkamma/ WaterBridge Ventures: www.linkedin.com/company/waterbridgeventures You can also listen to this podcast on YouTube: https://youtu.be/MFFTmXKB8pk Disclaimer: The information in this podcast (“Content”) is solely for educational and information purposes. The content does not reflect the views or opinions of WaterBridge Ventures and/or any of its members. The content is not intended to be legal or other expert advice or services and should not be used in place of consultation with appropriate professionals. The content shall not be reproduced, distributed, shared, or relied upon in any manner whatsoever, in whole or part, without prior written permission of WaterBridge Ventures. In no event shall WaterBridge Ventures and/or any of its members be liable for any liability, loss, injury or risk which is incurred or suffered as a direct or indirect result of the use of the contents.

Stitching the Ideal Fit for India's ₹15K Cr Western Wear Market for Women ft Ayushi Gudwani, Founder & CEO of FS Life | That One Idea S03 E09

Fri, 26 Apr 2024 07:55:13 +0000

In this episode, we have Anjali Sosale, Partner at WaterBridge Ventures, chatting with Ayushi Gudwani, founder and CEO of FS Life. FS Life, (previously @FableStreet ) is a house of brands running three brands: FableStreet - a premium western-wear clothing brand for women, Pink Fort (@PinkfortByFableStreet ) - a modern Indian wear brand reimagining traditional clothing for women, and March - a sterling silver and semi-precious jewellery brand.

Ayushi ventured into entrepreneurship when experienced the difficulty of finding well-fitted and comfortable western workwear for herself in the Indian market. She started as a digitally native, vertically integrated brand. Today, FS Life has evolved into a multiple category western wear brand, having served 100K+ customers, including prominent CEOs/CXOs and celebrities.

Prior to starting up, Ayushi spent 7 years at McKinsey, where she consulted various organizations on strategy, growth and scale. Ayushi is an engineer from NSIT, Delhi and an MBA (silver medalist) from IIM Calcutta. She has been recognised at BW 40 under 40 (2022), Fortune India 40 under 40 (2021), titled the ‘Queen of Workwear’ by India Today group (2022), and awarded the ‘Incredible Women Achiever’ by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (2022).

Saving India's 13 Million Kirana Stores from Irrelevance ft. Neeraj Menta, Co-founder of SuperK | That One Idea S03 E08

Fri, 19 Apr 2024 09:29:51 +0000

In this episode, we have Abhinav Adlakha, part of the investment team at WaterBridge, chatting with Neeraj Menta, co-founder of SuperK.

SuperK is a franchised grocery retail chain for small towns with a population between twenty thousand and five lakhs. It empowers unorganised kirana stores to offer modern retail experiences to small-town shoppers and allows entrepreneurs to easily own and operate supermarkets using its data-driven, tech-enabled operating model. SuperK started as a single store in Anantapur. Today, it has expanded to 130+ supermarket stores across 80 Tier 3,4,5 towns in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, with an ARR of ₹100 Cr.

The co-founders of SuperK, Anil and Neeraj, began their adventure in college at BITS Pilani. After graduating, Neeraj worked with Future Bazaar, Flipkart and Zeta, before starting SuperK. Neeraj's co-founder, Anil, was very bullish on franchising. He tried to scale the multiple growing franchises such as FirstCry, McDonald's, ZoomCar and DriveEasy. Both Neeraj and Anil took inspiration from this concept and set their hearts on solving for the modern and general trade industry.

Key Moments in the episode:

(00:00): Welcoming Neeraj Menta, co-founder of SuperK to S03 E08 of That One Idea podcast
(00:18): Finding a shared passion for building a business in his co-founder, Anil Thontepu
(04:44): Identifying aspirational Bharat's consumer behaviour that kiranas need to fulfil
(08:40): Kirana stores today are the same as they were 30 years ago
(11:22): Iterating on multiple ideas before arriving at a full-stack solution
(14:39): Scaling from a single store to 130 stores across 80+ Tier 3,4,5 towns
(17:13): Raising external capital, from seed to Series A
(21:49): Neeraj's expectations from his investors
(27:31): Building sustainably and frugally, while optimising for the long term
(33:36): The road planned for SuperK
(35:57): Advice for entrepreneurs looking to raise capital

Relevant Links:
WaterBridge Ventures: https://www.waterbridge.vc/
SuperK: https://www.superk.in/

Linkedin Profiles:
Neeraj Menta: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neerajmenta/
Abhinav Adlakha: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhinav-adlakha/
WaterBridge Ventures: www.linkedin.com/company/waterbridgeventures

You can also listen to this podcast on
Youtube: https://youtu.be/26EL9nuZgmg
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7BeLAja3kTWXWaF6SN3eQD?si=mGvX7ZC4SZeZ1-Su4y0ppg
Apple Podcast: https://rb.gy/iqwoft

From 50 to 20,000+ EVs - Powering India's Last Mile EV-as-a-Service ft. Akash Gupta, Co-founder & CEO of Zypp Electric | That One Idea S03 E07

Sun, 7 Apr 2024 11:09:27 +0000

In this episode, we have Anjali Sosale, Partner at WaterBridge Ventures, chatting with Akash Gupta, co-founder and CEO of Zypp Electric.

Zypp Electric is India’s leading tech-enabled EV-as-a-service platform, making last-mile delivery and logistics in India sustainable and emission-free. The company currently counts leading consumer internet companies such as Amazon, BigBasket, Zepto, among its clientele. Today, Zypp has deployed 20K+ EVs and Pilots (delivery executives), saving 31K tonnes of CO2 and avoiding greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to planting 1.5 million trees. Zypp has also grabbed the #1 position amongst high growth companies in APAC, ranked by Financial Times and Statista.

An alumnus of IMT Ghaziabad, Akash founded Zypp in 2018. Prior to that, Akash was a vice President at MobiKwik, and led acquisitions and alliances at Snapdeal. Before Snapdeal, Akash led the 4G launch and nationwide acquisitions for 4G at Airtel. He is a Business World 40 under 40, an angel investor and a TEDx speaker.

Key Moments in the episode:

(00:00): Welcoming Akash Gupta, co-founder & CEO of Zypp Electric to S03 E07 of That One Idea podcast
(00:27): Writing down a 100 things that Akash wanted from life
(02:01): Finding a co-founder in his wife, Rashi
(06:43): Winning over inexperience in EVs through ambition and hard work
(09:38): Condensing learnings from Airtel, Snapdeal and MobiKwik into T.R.I.B.E.
(14:13): Emerging out of Covid with a fleet of 18,000 EVs
(17:08): Powering last-mile delivery for Swiggy, Zepto & more with 20,000 gig-economy workers
(23:27): Navigating investor expectations from seed to Series B
(27:34): Hiring playbook of Zypp
(32:30): Public policy driving EV adoption
(34:38): Staying asset-light in a Capex heavy industry
(36:10): Emphasis on safety of the drivers
(38:35): India's push for a 100% green last mile delivery
(40:10): Marching towards a $150M ARR and 60,000 fleet size

Relevant Links:
WaterBridge Ventures: https://www.waterbridge.vc/
Zypp Electric: https://zypp.app/

Linkedin Profiles:
Akash Gupta: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akashg/
Anjali Sosale: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pinkamma/
WaterBridge Ventures: www.linkedin.com/company/waterbridgeventures

You can also listen to this podcast on
Youtube: https://youtu.be/DfoipQMvKgs
Spotify: https://rb.gy/mivm8w
Apple Podcast: https://rb.gy/s61pt4

Connecting a Billion Indians on its Journey to Become #1 Entertainment app in India ft. Saurabh Pandey, Founder & CEO of Eloelo | That One Idea S03 E06

Wed, 27 Mar 2024 11:34:35 +0000

In this episode, we have Anjali Sosale, Partner at WaterBridge, chatting with Saurabh Pandey, co-founder and CEO of EloElo.

Eloelo is a live social entertainment platform, offering live video chat, live streaming, and live games, where users can interact with hosts through comments, gifts, emojis, audio and video. EloElo’s vision is to become the most trusted space for content creators on the internet and redefine live, interactive, and on-demand entertainment for a mobile-native generation.

An alumnus of St. Xaviers and JBIMS, Saurabh has more than a decade of experience across Product, P&L, Marketing, & BD, and has thrived in diverse roles from Category Lead at Flipkart to Sales & Trade Marketing at P&G.

Key Moments in the episode:

(00:00): Welcoming Saurabh Pandey, founder & CEO of Eloelo to S03 E06 of That One Idea podcast
(02:51): Finding traction with the vernacular Bharat audience
(07:03): From GenZ to shop-owners - catering to a diverse archetype of users
(10:44): Ayushmann Khurrana's Dream Girl 2 triggering the creation of audio rooms
(14:41): Being topical and relatable ingrained in DNA
(16:39): Building for trust to improve retention and engagement
(19:49): Enabling creators to become stars and micro-influencers
(23:14): Power-users spend more than 75 minutes/day on the platform
(28:05): Building connected micro-communities, digitally
(30:33): Technological guardrails ensuring platform safety
(35:44): Recruitment and team-building playbook
(39:27): Dhakka laga laga laga. Hu ha, hu ha!
(43:49): Kunwar Diwas, Bigg Boss 17 Winner - what's next?

From 2 Failures to ₹836Cr Revenue in Wakefit, India's Largest D2C Sleep Co ft. Chaitanya Ramalingegowda | That One Idea S03 E05

Mon, 26 Feb 2024 06:34:20 +0000

In this episode, we have Anjali Sosale, Partner at WaterBridge Ventures, chatting with Chaitanya Ramalingegowda, co-founder of Wakefit.

Chaitanya graduated from the National Institute of Engineering, Mysore in 2002 and did his MBA from ISB Hyderabad in 2005. Wakefit is an innovation-driven sleep and home solutions company, aiming to revolutionize the quality of sleep among Indians. After building a successful line of sleep products, Wakefit has launched a line of home products, ergonomically designed for the modern Indian household. Till date, Wakefit has serviced over 800K customers, sold over 1800K products and spent 1500+ hours in R&D.

We dive into Chaitanya's childhood, his tryst with failures in two startups, how his indomitable spirit to be an entrepreneur got him to give Wakefit a shot, his team and customer love that kept him going despite rejections from the initial 42 investors, how Ankit and his middle-class upbringing made the company focussed on building from first principles and his learnings from managing the diverse Wakefit board.

Key Moments during this podcast -

(00:00): Introduction of Chaitanya, co-founder of Wakefit
(00:18): CR’s nomadic childhood across 16 schools
(2:15): Finding the courage to start again after two failed startups
(06:55): Customer love convincing CR to go all-in on Wakefit
(11:03): Building Wakefit from first principles - sustainability, profitability and consumer focus
(15:02): Relationship with Ankit, CR's co-founder
(17:04): Finally convincing the 43rd investor on an “irrational” idea
(20:10): Wakefit is a consumer-led product company
(24:08): Why go offline, when online can give a non-linear scale?
(26:59): Kumbhakaran’s LinkedIn, sleep internships and other marketing campaigns
(30:24): Character traits that fit into the Wakefit hood
(34:13): To listen, or not to listen, that is the question
(36:27): Founder-to-founder ties form strong support systems
(40:47): The real board meeting happens before the board meeting
(43:23): What's in store for Wakefit in 2024?

Relevant Links:

WaterBridge Ventures: https://www.waterbridge.vc/
Wakefit: https://www.wakefit.co/

Linkedin Profiles:

Chaitanya Ramalingegowda: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chaitanyar/
Anjali Sosale: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pinkamma/
WaterBridge Ventures: www.linkedin.com/company/waterbridgeventures

You can also listen to this podcast on
YouTube: https://youtu.be/Q8_szqrtilk
Apple Podcast:

That One Idea | Vimal Sharma, Founder of SMOOR Chocolates

FastForward@waterbridge.vc (Vimal Sharma, Raj Nayan Datta, Anjali Sosale) — Thu, 4 Jan 2024 13:06:30 +0000

In this episode, we have Anjali Sosale, Partner at WaterBridge, chatting with Vimal Sharma, founder of SMOOR.

SMOOR opens up a world of True Couverture Chocolates made with authentic and high-quality ingredients concocted by master chocolatiers from around the world. Vimal’s passion for crafting SMOOR’s premium range of products stems from his extensive travels across the globe and exposure to best-in-class international products & experiences. Today SMOOR has world-class chocolate lounges and stores across Bengaluru, Mumbai and Gurgaon, and the brand is available in 50-plus cities in India.

We dive deep into Vimal's childhood in Fiji Australia and Tasmania, his journey building and scaling SMOOR as an EBO-led premium chocolate brand adapted to suit India, his advice to founders, his support system and his plans for a SMOOR 2.0 in 2024.

Key Moments -

(2:08): Childhood and early days of Vimal in Fiji, Australia and Tasmania
(3:45): How building a chocolate brand in India became That One Idea
(6:09): Why Vimal chose to position SMOOR as a premium chocolate brand
(8:11): Tailwinds for Smoor in the initial days
(10:05): Assembling the early team, at a time when India lacked skilled chocolate artisans
(14:24): Phenomenal growth story since 2013
(16:50): How offline first, EBO-led business model elevated Smoor to a luxury brand
(19:10): Smoor’s resilience in the face of challenges posed by Covid
(24:07): Footprint of Smoor, two years after the pandemic
(25:53): How consumption patterns have evolved over the years
(28:21): Adapting the chocolate business to suit India
(32:16): Vimal’s robust support system
(35:37): Vimal on the dream team that built SMOOR
(37:17): Vimal’s advice to founders
(43:33): SMOOR 2.0 in the works for 2024

That One Idea | Akshay Singhal, Founder & CEO of Log9 Materials

FastForward@waterbridge.vc (Akshay Singhal, Anjali Sosale) — Thu, 28 Dec 2023 21:34:25 +0000

In this episode, we have Anjali Sosale, Partner at WaterBridge, chatting with Akshay Singhal, founder and CEO of Log9 Materials.

Log9, founded in 2015, is India's leading battery technology company, the only one to have ground-up developed Lithium-ion cell (both LFP and LTO) technologies for gigafactory production. Log9 is pioneering the development of specialised battery technology from cell to pack level with an advanced digital stack for applications in the tropical belt and is poised to be a battery leader across India, South East Asia, Middle East, Africa and LatAm. Log9 has India’s largest battery R&D team of 125+ members, and has a 250 Mega-Watt-hour Battery pack production capacity, which is equivalent to batteries for 40,000 3-wheelers.

Akshay is a 2019 Forbes "30 Under 30 Asia" Awardee - with a mission to solve the pressing global issue of climate change with the power of nanotechnology and innovation. He has spearheaded Log9 to make it a significant player in the EV battery space.

Akshay graduated with honors in Materials Engineering from IIT Roorkee in 2015 and completed his Ph.D. in Nanotechnology at IIT Roorkee in 2021. He has research experience from University of Alberta, Canada and has published more than 6 scientific articles and filed 50+ patent applications. As an active supporter of progressive action on Climate Change, Akshay has begun angel investing in startups that positively impact the planet, through Climate9ers Capital. Incidentally, he is also a seed investor in Loopworm - a WaterBridge Ventures portfolio company.

That One Idea | Rajiv Kumaar, CEO & Ketan Chandak, CPO of Adster

Sat, 23 Dec 2023 16:26:37 +0000

In this episode, we have Anjali Sosale, Partner at WaterBridge Ventures, chatting with Rajiv Kumaar, CEO of Adster, and Ketan Chandak, CPO of Adster.

Adster focuses on helping mobile app & web publishers monetize better through hyperscaling their revenue from Ads. With over 2 decades of experience in building Ad Tech platforms, the Adster founding team has a unique understanding of challenges faced by publishers.

Rajiv has previously worked in product management roles across Vizury, Truecaller, DailyHunt, and Melorra, and had served as the product and tech head for ads at Truecaller. Ketan gained extensive experience across data engineering during his stint at Truecaller, in addition to software and ML experience at Twitter in the Search and Home Timeline engineering teams.

We dive deep into Rajiv's journey that led him to meet his co-founders Ketan, Girish and Ranga, his learnings from Vizury, the work that he and Ketan did at Truecaller, Ketan's days at Twitter, the problem statement of Adster, and their grand plans for 2024.

Key moments in this episode:

(2:05): Childhood days and inspirations of Rajiv and Ketan
(5:21): Pioneering the practice of re-targeting ads, at Vizury
(7:11): Ketan’s learnings about scalable, productised Ads business at Truecaller
(9:17): How Rajiv pulled together the founding team of Adster
(11:04): Adster in a tweet
(16:10): Adster building solutions for programmatic as well as direct ads
(19:40): Top problem statements faced by publishers today
(23:02): What would publishers need today to set up a direct ads business
(25:52): Typical revenue split between programmatic and direct ads
(28:49): Adster products that are helping publishers and advertisers
(31:36): How Adster turbocharges revenue for advertisers and publishers
(35:50): Adster ICP
(41:33): Sneak peek into the Adster product pipeline
(43:16): Building the Adster org culture
(46:12): Goals for 2024

That One Idea | Varun Sadana, co-founder of Supertails

Fri, 15 Dec 2023 20:57:17 +0000

In this episode we have Anjali Sosale, Partner at WaterBridge chatting with Varun Sadana, co-founder of Supertails. Supertails.com’s full-stack platform offers pet supplies, online vet consultations, and online behavioural training. Varun, who is a pet parent himself, has always felt that the industry has not paid enough attention to the pet parenting journey and that there is a lack of an organised and easily accessible ecosystem for pet care needs. With Supertails.com, Varun is building a holistic pet care platform for India's growing pet care industry.

We dive deep into Varun's childhood, his learnings from Licious, Snapdeal and Unilever, his relationship with his co-founders, the journey to PMF at Supertails and the culture of friendship that he has built at Supertails.

(1:53): Childhood, early days and student life of Varun

(6:17): Varun's first tryst at starting up

(13:04): Varun's relationship with his co-founders Vineet and Aman

(16:40): How Nifty, Varun's cat, made Varun think about Supertails as That One Idea

(18:36): The problem statement of Supertails

(25:13): Co-founder relationships are akin to professional Hammams

(29:44): Raising capital in 2021

(31:28): What changed from the Seed round to the Series A round?

(35:38): Continuous experimentation in search of PMF at Supertails

(39:48): Retention is the only north-star metric

(41:09): Expectations from the board and investors

(46:14): The culture of friendship and camaraderie at Supertails

(51:07): What does it take to be a pet parent?

(57:06): Varun's plans for 2024

Founder Foreward | EP04: Shruti Kapoor | Wingman

FastForward@waterbridge.vc (WaterBridge Ventures) — Thu, 29 Jun 2023 06:55:29 +0000

In this episode of Founder Foreward, we have Anjali Sosale, Partner at WaterBridge Ventures, in conversation with Shruti Kapoor, Founder and CEO of Wingman. Having been a VC for most of her career, Shruti took the plunge into the arena from the sidelines when she decided to found Wingman. Her passion and enthusiasm resonated strongly with Murali and Srikar as they quit their fancy jobs in Silicon Valley and moved halfway across the world to align forces. Hearing Shruti's journey and experiences was truly a delight. She speaks about her unconventional journey of gathering a founding team and inculcating a high-trust and candid culture at Wingman. Being first-time founders, she speaks about the numerous learnings, trials, and tribulations they encountered on their path. Although their impressive backgrounds led them to procure funding even prior to incorporating their company, the path to product perfection was arduous, convoluted and long-winding. Shruti's learnings from various stakeholders such as VC's and even her own product Wingman are truly enriching. Shruti's path from multiple product iterations to achieving PMF to the point of less than 24 hour sales cycles is a testament to her and team Wingman's resilience and grit. Godspeed to Shruti and team Wingman as they continue to crush it and empower sales reps. Thank you for sharing your journey so candidly as we are in the middle of our FastForward seed program. Your insights, learnings and wisdom will enable early-stage founders to make more informed decisions as they power through from one day to day one.

Disclaimer: The information in this podcast (“Content”) is solely for educational and information purposes. The content does not reflect the views or opinions of WaterBridge Ventures and/or any of its members. The content is not intended to be legal or other expert advice or services and should not be used in place of consultation with appropriate professionals. The content shall not be reproduced, distributed, shared, or relied upon in any manner whatsoever, in whole or part, without prior written permission of WaterBridge Ventures. In no event shall WaterBridge Ventures and/or any of its members be liable for any liability, loss, injury or risk which is incurred or suffered as a direct or indirect result of the use of the content.

Founder Foreward | EP03: Girish Redekar | Sprinto

FastForward@waterbridge.vc (WaterBridge Ventures) — Thu, 29 Jun 2023 06:43:55 +0000

In this episode of Founder Foreward, we have Anjali Sosale, Partner at WaterBridge Ventures, in conversation with Girish Redekar, Co-Founder of Sprinto As they embarked on a new beginning in the same market, Girish and his classmate cum co-founder Raghuveer consciously decided that this time they wanted to be on the revenue side of the equation for clients v/s the cost side. It was a pleasure speaking with Girish on his journey building out Sprinto. With the pandemic hitting just a few weeks after their seed raise, he speaks about building a remote company ground up and inculcating a culture of transparency and ownership. He elaborates on his unconventional initial approach of being auditor-obsessed as opposed to customer-obsessed given their critical role in the compliance value chain. He speaks about his focus on product and productising user journeys to make them as seamless and low-touch as possible. Being a second-time founder, his experience in entrepreneurship is reflected in his calm and determined demeanour.

Disclaimer: The information in this podcast (“Content”) is solely for educational and information purposes. The content does not reflect the views or opinions of WaterBridge Ventures and/or any of its members. The content is not intended to be legal or other expert advice or services and should not be used in place of consultation with appropriate professionals. The content shall not be reproduced, distributed, shared, or relied upon in any manner whatsoever, in whole or part, without prior written permission of WaterBridge Ventures. In no event shall WaterBridge Ventures and/or any of its members be liable for any liability, loss, injury or risk which is incurred or suffered as a direct or indirect result of the use of the content.

Founder Foreward | EP02: Nisarg Shah | Affable.ai

FastForward@waterbridge.vc (WaterBridge Ventures) — Thu, 29 Jun 2023 06:39:00 +0000

In this episode of Founder Foreward, we have Anjali Sosale, Partner at WaterBridge Ventures, in conversation with Nisarg Shah, Founder and CEO of Affable.ai. Affable is a data-driven influencer marketing platform. He co-founded the company with Swayam Narain in 2007 as a part of Entrepreneur First Singapore. The platform leverages advanced machine learning and big data analytics to help brands find influencers, manage campaigns and measure campaign performance. The company claims to track more than 3 million influencers across Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok. Last May, it raised $ 2 million from Prime Venture Partners, Decacorn Capital, and SGInnovate, a follow on to the previous $750K in seed funding in 2018.

Disclaimer: The information in this podcast (“Content”) is solely for educational and information purposes. The content does not reflect the views or opinions of WaterBridge Ventures and/or any of its members. The content is not intended to be legal or other expert advice or services and should not be used in place of consultation with appropriate professionals. The content shall not be reproduced, distributed, shared, or relied upon in any manner whatsoever, in whole or part, without prior written permission of WaterBridge Ventures. In no event shall WaterBridge Ventures and/or any of its members be liable for any liability, loss, injury or risk which is incurred or suffered as a direct or indirect result of the use of the content.

Founder Foreward | EP01 : Pankaj Vermani | Clovia

FastForward@waterbridge.vc (WaterBridge Ventures) — Mon, 12 Jun 2023 10:02:02 +0000

As a part of the fourth edition of Fast Forward, we are thrilled to launch Founder Foreword, a captivating series of conversations that takes you on a remarkable journey through the minds of industry leaders who have transformed their seed-stage ventures into scalable businesses. Founder Foreward offers an exclusive peek into the stories, experiences, and invaluable insights of these trailblazing entrepreneurs.

In this episode, we have Anjali Sosale, Partner, WaterBridge Ventures, in conversation with Pankaj Vermani, Founder and CEO, Clovia

Clovia is a premier a premier fashion, lingerie and personal care brand in India that successfully exited to the Reliance Group. Beyond Clovia, Pankaj actively advises startups in the internet, mobile and ecommerce spaces and regularly writes for technology blogs on team building, scale and business strategy. His actively practices meditation and is a theatre buff performing in the professional theatre circle.

Key segments within the podcast:

0:50: The story of 5 founders starting a fashionable lingerie brand

4:35: Raising the first round

7:00: First 100 days post funding

9:12: Taking unconventional bets

11:43: Expanding the industry width

13:44: From internet to storefront

16:40: Lessons in Marketing

18:05: Moving beyond seed

21:27: Building the culture at Clovia

25:50: Work-life balance

28:47:Investor-market fit and his exit to Reliance

31:32: Game-changing decisions

37:55: About WaterBridge Ventures

Disclaimer: The information in this podcast (“Content”) is solely for educational and information purposes. The content does not reflect the views or opinions of WaterBridge Ventures and/or any of its members. The content is not intended to be legal or other expert advice or services and should not be used in place of consultation with appropriate professionals. The content shall not be reproduced, distributed, shared, or relied upon in any manner whatsoever, in whole or part, without prior written permission of WaterBridge Ventures. In no event shall WaterBridge Ventures and/or any of its members be liable for any liability, loss, injury or risk which is incurred or suffered as a direct or indirect result of the use of the content.

Yellow Metal | Rahul Boggaram and Nikhil Boggaram

FastForward@waterbridge.vc (WaterBridge Ventures) — Sat, 25 Feb 2023 08:42:52 +0000

In this episode, we have Anjali Sosale, Partner at WaterBridge Ventures, in conversation with Rahul and Nikhil Boggaram of Yellow Metal.

Yellow Metal is an asset-backed credit company that disburses gold loans in less than 30 minutes in the privacy of your home. Focused on rural India, Yellow Metal seeks to provide low-cost loans to small farmers and business owners who are otherwise not part of the formal credit eco-system.

We dive deep into their zero-to-one journey in building Yellow Metal.

Key Segments:

(1:18): The last 15 months building Yellow Metal

(3:19): Trust factor in the rural markets

(4:33): Building for the Bharat markets

(6:50): Understanding the users

(9:26): Leveraging tech to serve the users

(10:51): Designing the application

(14:30): An omnichannel model of distribution

(17:34): $4 Million AUM from $500k in funding

(19:11): The gold loan market

(21:42): The Yellow Metal playbook

(27:07): From brothers to co-founders

(29:44): Nikhi's favourite annual report

(30:31): $3 Million round

Paavan | Sankalp Jain, Mohit Mittal and Nitin Agrawal

FastForward@waterbridge.vc (WaterBridge Ventures) — Thu, 9 Feb 2023 04:43:28 +0000

In this episode, we have Ashish Jain, Partner at WaterBridge Ventures, in conversation with Sankalp Jain, Mohit Mittal and Nitin Agrawal, Founding team at Paavan.

As young IIT Delhi graduates, the team at Paavan is leaning upon 1000 years of well-researched Indian knowledge systems to extract valuable lessons. The company's vision is to solve our day-to-day problems using these lessons and help us lead better lives.

Key Segments:

(1:22): From college friends to co-founders

(4:36): Working with friends

(6:23): Why this space?

(10:33): Ancient text and spirituality

(14:03): Building a business around this space

(19:05): Unbundling of Youtube

(21:01): The target audience

(26:34): Long-term roadmap

(29:42): Defining scale

(32:07): Getting expert advice on the platform

(34:38): The marketing efforts

(38:16): Building the product

Loopworm | Ankit Bagaria

FastForward@waterbridge.vc (WaterBridge Ventures) — Wed, 1 Feb 2023 16:37:30 +0000

In this episode, we have Ashish Jain, Partner at WaterBridge Ventures, in conversation with Ankit Bagaria, Co-Founder, Loopworm. Loopworm specializes in extracting proteins from insects. Yes, you heard it right, protein from insects. The team wants to solve a sustainable, traceable, and scalable supply of protein alternatives. The team wants to solve a sustainable, traceable, and scalable supply of protein alternatives. Let's hear from Ankit on what it takes build, when both the space and venture is at an early nascent stage.

Key Segments:

(2:20): Ankit and Abhi as a team

(7:15): Research behind the business

(12:54): Raising money for an unconventional business

(18:55): Understanding the alternate protein space

(23:40): Environmental benefits associated with insect protein

(29:50): Challenges associated with being category creator

(43:50): Defining scale

Muvin | Mukund Rao and Vineet Gupta

FastForward@waterbridge.vc (WaterBridge Ventures) — Wed, 25 Jan 2023 05:31:23 +0000

In this episode, we have Ashish Jain in conversation with Mukund and Vineet, co-founders of Muvin. Muvin has identified a lack of financial awareness and access to financial products amongst Indian teens and young adults as a key problem statement. The Muvin team is building a digital first neo bank to fill this white space and provide their TG a full stack financial solution.

We dive deep into their journey and the series of experiences and events that led to him building Muvin.

Key Segments:

(1:20): Early days at Mindtree

(4:37): Second-time founders

(8:54): Origin of the name 'muvin'

(12:31): The problem statement and the TG

(18:24): Late entrant in the neo-banking space

(22:40): Building a full-stack solution

(28:07): Rebranding exercise

(34:09): Getting Hardik Pandya on board

(37:04): Vision 2030

CBREX | Gautam Sinha

FastForward@waterbridge.vc (WaterBridge Ventures) — Sat, 14 Jan 2023 17:34:39 +0000

In this episode, we have Gautam Sinha, Founder & CEO of CBREX talking to Anjali Sosale Partner at WaterBridge Ventures. CBREX is a HR-Tech company that enables enterprises to source and deploy talent at scale anywhere in the world. CBREX is set up as a B2B platform with over 4,000 recruiting agencies using the platform to view job openings and upload CV’s. The CBREX platform is well positioned to address these pain points and make the hiring process for global enterprise companies simple, on-demand and cost-effective.

We dive deep into Gautam’s journey and the series of experiences and events that led to him building CBREX.

Key Segments:

(1:59): Early days and decision to join XLRI

(3:52): Recruitment at Wipro

(8:07): The Aha moment to start TVA

(11:08): Getting the first customer

(11:57): Scaling up the business at TVA

(14:34): Meeting Sanjeev and his role

(16:00): Allegis's acquisition of TVA

(19:51): The ideation of CBREX

(22:14): Global recruitment landscape

(25:13): Sourcing talent globally

(27:59): Stickiness of the suppliers

(30:12): Job boards and recruitment agencies

(33:44): Pivot to American markets

(36:37): Driving product innovation

(38:28): The team at CBREX

(40:55): Raising money for the business

(43:11): Why the time is right for CBREX?

BimaKavach | Tejas Jain

FastForward@waterbridge.vc (WaterBridge Ventures) — Mon, 19 Dec 2022 12:02:52 +0000

Anjali Sosale of Waterbridge Ventures chats with Tejas Jain of BimaKavach. BimaKavach is disrupting the Indian general insurance industry with an MGA-like model, which would enable them to customize and co-create policies with general insurers. BimaKavach can underwrite, price and distribute insurance exclusively to small Indian businesses.

We dive deep into Tejas’s journey and the series of experiences and events that led to him building BimaKavach.

Key Segments:

(1:50): Early childhood and breakfast and dinner table board meets

(3:28): Learnings from father and grandfather

(5:43): Decision to start an e-commerce startup

(7:50): Importance of founder market fit

(9:09): Journey from Indore to Bangalore

(11:03): Decision to go back to insurance

(13:27): Selling insurance to small businesses

(18:40): Initial days building BimaKavach

(25:16): New risks that threaten businesses today

(31:49): Regulatory landscape around general insurance

(35:50): Underwriting general insurance

(45:48): Rising demand from the MSME sector beyond metro cities

(50:05): The hardest thing to crack in the insurance business

(52:42): Future of general insurance

Yellow Metal | Rahul Boggaram and Nikhil Boggaram

FastForward@waterbridge.vc (WaterBridge Ventures) — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 11:19:27 +0000

Anjali Sosale of Waterbridge Ventures chats with Rahul Boggaram and Nikhil Boggaram of Yellow Metal. Yellow Metal is an asset-backed credit company that disburses gold loans in less than 30 minutes in the privacy of your home. Focused on rural India, Yellow Metal seeks to provide low-cost loans to small farmers and business owners who are otherwise not part of the formal credit eco-system.

We dive deep into Rahul and Nikhils's journeys and the series of experiences and events that led to them to building Yellow Metal.

(1:09) Upbringing and early years

(3:14) Why gold loans for rural india?

(5:04) Rahul's journey after leaving home at 16

(7:10) 0 to 1 at Flipkart, Treebo, Groww and Myntra

(9:51) How has consumer app design changed in the last 10 years?

(11:36) UPI as the game-changer for rural India

(12:41) How did Rahul and Nikhil's paths converge during the pandemic in 2020?

(15:41) Early challenges in transitioning from a corporate job to a startup?

(17:15) The role of empathy in the goal loan business

(18:44) The story behind the name "Yellow Metal"

(20:22) Yellow Metal's customer service ethos since day zero

(22:43) Company culture at Yellow Metal

(24:37) How to hire people when solving for rural India?

(26:07) Parents' view on starting up

(27:43) A day in the life of an early-stage startup founder

(28:32) Transparency in gold loans pricing

(30:46) Building a tech platform for rural India

(33:12) 2022 and beyond

Downtown Club | Jaydip Biniwale and Abhishek Doshi

FastForward@waterbridge.vc (WaterBridge Ventures) — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 11:05:00 +0000

Anjali Sosale of Waterbridge Ventures chats with Jaydip Biniwale and Abhishek Doshi of Downtown Club. Downtown Club is an e-commerce platform for discovery of D2C brands. The Downtown app enables users to browse new brands and products every day through a personalized virtual shopping experience.

They dive deep into Abhishek and Jaydip's journeys and the series of experiences and events that led to them to building Downtown Club.

Sections:

(1:11) Born and raised

(5:58) Rejecting IIT and dropping out of Purdue

(8:33) The first startup bug

(12:29) The CEPT experience and finding each other

(20:13) Flirting with entrepreneurship

(23:11) The decision to finally start up

(28:11) Pandemics, plans and pivots

(31:39) 3 steps to epiphany

(35:04) The story behind the name "Downtown"

(37:02) From idea to initialization - Downtown’s early days

(40:05) Building Downtown’s MVP

(48:29) Conscious culture building

(50:53) Abhishek’s & Jaydip’s sleepless nights

(52:44) A day at Downtown

(54:52) Downtown - then vs now

CuriousJr | Amit Shekhar, Janishar Ali and Mridul Sahu

FastForward@waterbridge.vc (WaterBridge Ventures) — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 11:00:44 +0000

Nilesh Balakrishnan of Waterbridge Ventures chats with Amit Shekhar, Janishar Ali and Mridul Sahu - the founders of CuriousJr. CuriousJr is a mobile-first, vernacular-based coding platform that helps kids learn the fundamentals tenets of coding. Powered by strong product innovation, the CuriousJr app democratizes coding for students who might not have access to a desktop by focusing on the mobile phone user interface and using a combination of gamified and experiential learning to make coding fun. They dive deep into their founder journeys and the series of experiences and events that led to them building CuriousJr

Sections -

(1:27) - Early years

(5:01) - The IIT Connection(s)

(12:01) - How early struggles moulded the founding team

(16:33) - The journey from civil engineering to coding

(19:20) - MindOrks & building a 2M+ Android developer community

(22:45) - The birth of Curious Jr.

(28:27) - The intersection of mobile tech and vernacular education

(29:36) - Putting together the dream team

(35:37) - Skills vs counter-skills

(37:09) - Story behind the name “CuriousJr”

(38:48) - Entrepreneurship Ups and Downs

(41:15) - The Covid19 push to education

(42:37) - From MindOrks to CuriousJr - building products for children

(46:44) - Culture & learning at CuriousJr

(58:32) - Why is Curious r “That One Idea”?

(1:01:07) - Conviction around the market for learning code

(1:03:06) - Mridul’s experience with OYO

(1:04:58) - Experiential learning via Curious Jr

(1:06:57) - Entrepreneurship isn’t as romantic as it sounds

(1:08:03) - When did you want to be a founder?

OneCode | Manish Shara and Yash Desai

FastForward@waterbridge.vc (WaterBridge Ventures) — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 10:47:51 +0000

Nilesh Balakrishnan of Waterbridge Ventures chats with Manish Shara and Yash Desai - the founders of OneCode. OneCode is a hyperlocal network of direct sellers for digital-first brands. Through their unique phygital approach, OneCode is building a demand funnel for brands by acting as a bridge for end-consumers that need physical touch points and in-person interactions before buying a product or service.

They dive deep into Manish's and Yash's journeys; the series of experiences and events that led to them to building OneCode.

Sections -

Backgrounds: (1:15)

Dineout : Journey (8:59)

OneCode : The Genesis (11:20)

Leaving DineOut (14:15)

Family Reactions (16:06)

Raging Pandemic (20:48)

Offline distribution in an online world (29:46)

Bharat Market Drivers (31:50)

Tech Levers at OneCode (34:38)

Culture at OneCode (38:33)

Running India's Largest sales team (42:38)

A day in the life at OneCode (46:21)

OneCode : The name (49:20)

BitClass | Gunjan Kejriwal and Utsav Tiwari

FastForward@waterbridge.vc (WaterBridge Ventures) — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 10:30:28 +0000

Anjali Sosale of Waterbridge Ventures chats with Gunjan Kejriwal and Utsav Tiwary of BitClass. BitClass is India’s largest platform for live-learning for the passionate and curious. With over 1 million learners on the platform, they were recently crowned App of the Year by Google Play.

They dive deep into Gunjan’s and Utsav's journeys; the series of experiences and events that led to them to building BitClass.

Where Gunjan and Utsav grew up - (1:10)

How Gunjan & Utsav met - (6:05)

Third time lucky - (7:34)

While everyone was partying, we were starting up - (11:38)

Biggest challenges in the early days - (17:22)

Unique customer insights - (21:07)

Building to create impact - (23:59)

A Hogwarts culture - (27:24)

BitClass, today - (31:30)

Early influences - (33:52)

Breaking out of the mould - (35:45)

War and Marriage: co-founder relationships - (40:31)

Sneak peak into 2022 - (42:16)

Eloelo | Saurabh Pandey

FastForward@waterbridge.vc (WaterBridge Ventures) — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 10:26:41 +0000

Anjali Sosale of Waterbridge Ventures chats with Saurabh Pandey, co-founder and CEO of EloElo. EloElo is an app that enables live-social experiences through games and entertainment. it is currently among the top 10 Apps on the Google Play Store in India, with over 2 million downloads in 2021. Anjali deep dives into Saurabh's journey and explores the series of experiences and events that led to him building EloElo.

(4:32) Discovering himself and his love for studying human behaviour while being a college student at St Xaviers, Mumbai

(5:36) Wearing skull ties and shiny shirts at his first sales job

(12:14) Why his co-founder Akshay and him are like yin and yang

(13:00) "Pandey Ji, Bungee Jumping Banta Hai" - the advice he got from Kunal Shah

(14:02) Managing his Mom's Yoga YouTube Channel

(16:30) How and why they quit Flipkart together on the same day

(18:08) Why you need a solid support support around you to start-up and work 16hours a day

(24:00) Pivoting away from beauty recommendation videos to live-gaming and solving for creator fan engagement and monetization

(27:00) Creating the Bharath Metaverse

(28:00) The name EloElo being inspired by the famous "Ole Ole" song from

(34:00) The Creator Economy Landscape in India

(35:11) Why fast-eating Chicken Wings live is actually a popular game on EloElo?

(42:00) What gives him shivers and sleepless nights

(47.40) Keeping up with the Kukrejas! How a family of three live stream their daily life on EloElo

(51:00) Creating a happiness company

Legitquest | Karan Kaila

FastForward@waterbridge.vc (WaterBridge Ventures) — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 09:22:20 +0000

Anjali Sosale of Waterbridge Ventures chats with Karan Kalia of Legitquest. Legitquest is a data-as-a-service platform, unlocking the huge potential of litigation data in India. With a repository of 80m pages that continues to grow by 1m pages a day, LegitQuest uses deep-tech to bring on-demand insights that allow businesses to proactively take real-time, data driven decisions while engaging with any stakeholder.

We dive deep into Karans's journey getting to this point in his life, from Ram Jethmalani’s law chambers to the University of Pennsylvania and the series of experiences and events that led to him building Legitquest.

Nymble | Rohin Malhotra

FastForward@waterbridge.vc (WaterBridge Ventures) — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 08:54:36 +0000

Nilesh Balakrishnan of Waterbridge Ventures chats with Rohin Malhotra of Nymble. Nymble builds smart kitchen appliances using Robotics, artificial intelligence and IoT that automates the mundane task of daily cooking. Nymble’s innovative home cooking robot Julia has perfected an impressive repertoire of dishes catering to global audiences.

They dive deep into Rohin's journey and explore the series of experiences and events that led to him building Nymble.

(0:50) Early childhood in Delhi

(3:36) College influences

(6:30) Entrepreneurship origin story

(9:28) Nymble - the official story

(11:40) Nymble - the unofficial story

(12:48) That One Idea: Idea to Business

(14:59) Unique challenges in the hardware businesses

(18:53) Life @ Nymble

(21:15) Rohin's favorite dish(es)

(22:23) Covid supply chain issues and rethinking Nymble

(25:26) Super alpha trials in SF

(26:58) How to demo Nymble today

(28:18) Culture and distributed teams @ Nymble

(30:38) Julia the cooking robot

(36:57) The highs and lows of entrepreneurship

(38:36) Family cooking review

BigFatPhoenix | Anand Ramachandran

FastForward@waterbridge.vc (WaterBridge Ventures) — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 06:25:38 +0000

Anjali Sosale of Waterbridge Ventures chats with Anand Ramachandran of BigFatPhoenix.

BigFatPhoenix builds first party video games for kids to help them build their social, emotional and life skills. Through their Fairside Stories app, they've built video games that give kids an online social safe space to play games and interact with their friends and peers.

We dive deep into Anand's journey and explore the series of experiences and events that led to him building BigFatPhoenix:

(3:49) Dropping out of college

(6:56) Always wear your passion on your sleeve

(13:05) Why every child is a game designer

(15:07) Breaking into Zynga without formal training

(17:22) College dropout in a pre-internet world

(27:40) BYJU's first game designer for kids

(30:25) Meeting the founding team and conceptualizing BigFatPhoenix

(33:18) Not shying away from love

(36:03) Video games as a positive influence on kids

(37:08) The slow epiphany of BigFatPhoenix

(44:48) Feedback should take you by surprise

(54:46) Creative energy in a remote work environment

(01:00:28) Why we should trust kids more