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Millions of start-ups mushroom in the lanes of India every day.
Very few of them are successful.
And even fewer become unicorns.
The backbone of any successful start-up is its founder.
Such promising founders,
who have the ability to turn their start-ups into unicorns,
are being pursued by our three investors.
In 2010, people used to laugh at the idea of an online shopping business.
This guy wiped that laugh off their faces.
Kunal Bahl, co-founder, Snapdeal and Titan Capital.
Kunal loves to back companies whose ideas make people go,
"This will not work."
The three things I look for in founders
are intelligence, energy,
and most importantly, integrity.
Next up is serial entrepreneur, former CEO and founder of mydala,
and now, She Capital.
Anisha loves backing women founders because she believes,
"Why should boys have all the funds?"
I really believe the start-up ecosystem
will bring equality and remove the gender gap.
Women being behind men,
the start-up ecosystem will solve that problem.
And it will happen from India.
And we have Manish Chowdhary from Wow Skin Science.
India's leading and digital-first wellness and beauty brand.
Manish believes that India's Jeff Bezos
will not be found in the coffee shops of big cities
but in the lanes of small cities.
As an entrepreneur, I've always kept it simple.
"Fail fast, fix fast" has always been my mantra.
From among thousands of start-ups,
the investors have chosen ten exciting start-ups
that have the potential to scale.
But do these founders have it in them
to turn their start-up into a unicorn?
At JioVio, our main objective is to save every mother
with the use of technology.
We already have 36 lakh customers on our platform,
and we want to reach out to 2.5 crore mothers.
In the last seven or eight months,
we have onboarded 1.5 lakh customers on Pension Box.
We've already built 96 stores in one and a half years.
We also have tie-ups with Indian Railways and Delhi Metro.
From April 2023 to now until June,
we've been doing a crore per month.
So, we've done in three months,
what we did in the whole of last financial year.
Before investing their time and money,
the investors want to test the founders' entrepreneurial skills
through some challenges.
In every episode, there will be a challenge.
After the challenge, the investors will give their feedback.
Their start-up has raised the highest amount of money.
They've raised two million dollars.
And on the basis of their performance, the investors will decide
which founder should be eliminated.
So, the founder leaving today...
We just stopped seeing the fight in you.
And we really wanted to see it.
After six challenges,
only five founding teams will be left.
These founders will get a chance
to secure investments from our investors in the finale.
I think, 32 crores and one crore in...
Another 50 lakh from my side.
We're representing the two lakh women who are on the Basis platform.
We owe it to them to be here till the end.
If you take this deal, I'm not investing.
-I think it's a very fair offer. -What say, Kunal?
I think we have a deal.
-Hi, this is Masaba Gupta. -And I'm Cyrus Sahukar.
And we will be taking you on the journey
of finding and funding India's next big founder.
-This is Mission Start Ab. -This is Mission Start Ab.
MISSION START AB
When we came to Mumbai, we had no idea what the word "chauffeur" meant.
We met this "chauffeur" for the first time at the airport.
We searched online. We weren't sure if it was "chauffeur" or "chopper."
When we reached Film City, they showed us our vanity van.
We were shocked that we had our own vanity van!
-Is this called a vanity van? -Wow! This is it.
It was fun to see that board outside. I knew it was special.
There's air conditioning as well. Will they be doing our makeup here?
Yes, they'll do our makeup here. Look at all these lights.
Day zero.
This is where our journey will start and end. Awesome.
Mumbai, the city of dreams.
Upon reaching Mumbai, the founders were given their first challenge.
Their first challenge is "Critic Se Tick."
"The founder's product makes no sense whatsoever."
"It will never work."
That's what the critics believe.
Our founders' first challenge will be
to convert the critics' "no" into a "yes."
The founders will present a demo,
after which the critics will ask them questions.
How are you going to compete with companies
who basically offer the same thing?
So, you must be charging the vendor for this?
How many jobs are you stealing?
What's new? I don't see anything new about it.
Those who speak too much, get less work done.
My question was not answered.
And after this intense question-answer session,
the critics will vote.
A red light would mean "no."
And green light would mean "yes."
The first challenge on Mission Start Ab will decide
who will leave our investors impressed,
and who will just leave.
The ten critics...
So, selling a business to them requires
a very different skill set from having to sell to investors.
Were you waiting for us, all day?
-Excuse me. -Yes, sir?
What are you going to do? Will you be waiting?
Sorry, I don't understand, sir.
-So... -So, you...
In the morning, when you dropped us...
Yes.
You... We... Okay.
Did you leave afterward, or did you stay?
After dropping us off in the morning?
-Yes... -So, you went back.
Will you go back now or stay?
Do you want me to stay?
Yes.
Do you want me to wait at the hotel?
-You'll wait, is it? -Do you have to wait at the hotel?
-Who, me? -Yes.
-Okay, I'll wait. -No.
I think he thought we were asking him to wait.
-No. -No, we are...
No buddy, let's not confuse him.
You need not wait.
This is so confusing.
This is so funny!
As easy and smooth as that conversation was,
it is going to be just as easy to convert our critics.
Maybe that's why our founders are prepping really hard.
Your time starts now!
Time's up!
Now, let's switch to serious mode. Okay?
Okay, done. I'm serious.
-Please don't make me laugh now. -I'm very serious.
-Watch me score a perfect ten. -Yes.
Please meet my beautiful and talented co-founder, Shivangee Sharma.
Hello, critics! Please meet my dynamic co-founder, Gaurav Rana.
Critics, at some point, you must have been on a highway...
I told you not to stop.
Just don't stop. Okay?
Hi, we are Basis.
-I'm Hena. -I'm Dipika.
And we're excited to get started.
When we got to know that we're on Mission Start Ab,
we were happy, yes.
But we also, sort of, knew
that we would be selected.
We were very excited but also nervous.
Because we knew it was a huge commitment of our time.
We'd love to have you experience a day in the life...
When we saw the pitches of other participants,
we felt nervous.
And as you can see...
Pratik got a bunch of fairly silly,
practically useless rewards and zero cashback.
Everyone... Everyone was speaking English, right?
When people speak in English during a pitch,
it creates a different impact. I mean...
No matter how much we say
that it doesn't make a difference and it's all about better communication,
our audience is like that.
I used to feel on a daily basis that...
You know, it has a different impact when people speak English.
It gives you that "wow" feel.
Hello and welcome, everyone, to our show, Mission Start Ab.
Please give a round of applause for our three investors.
We also have our three experts on the panel.
Please welcome, Punit Shah.
Debarpita Banerjee.
And Arjun Vaidya.
The most important people in this room, our critics.
And now, please welcome on stage
Gaurav and Shivangee from Yatrikart.
Yatrikart's panel comprises seven professionals from their sector
who know the A to Z of the industry.
Their questions will be tough,
and converting them will be tougher.
Hello, critics!
Please meet my super-talented
and beautiful co-founder, Shivangee Sharma.
Hello, critics! Please meet my dynamic co-founder, Gaurav Rana.
And we are from Indore.
As soon as we entered,
we couldn't see where the judges were.
Then we saw the rings around the seats -all red!
The critics were sitting there. There was an unknown pressure.
I can't describe it.
But the pressure was unlike any other.
Critics, all of you, at some point,
have bought something from a traditional store
on a highway or any transit station in the city.
Critics, like you, even our consumer is smart and educated.
But our last-mile retailer is not able to deliver
the good experience expected by the consumer.
To solve this problem, we bring to you, Yatrikart.
The smart shop of New India.
In today's ever-changing, growing digital India,
last-mile retailers have smartphones but no "smart" shops.
They have products, but no profit margin.
They have brands, but they're fake.
We've given them our Smart Post,
with which they manage their entire business.
It's a simple kiosk. We spent a year with them,
understanding their business, and then built this.
On the Dashboard, they can manage
their weekly and monthly sales payment breakdowns.
Apart from that, if you click on Inventory,
they'll get information about their products.
Whether they're fast-moving, slow-moving, or non-moving.
If they face any problems,
here is the help desk where you can change the green color,
and both the options of Hindi and English are available.
Thank you very much.
I see one critic has turned green.
Like a consumer, when I'm traveling,
I'll buy whatever I find at the access point.
So, I don't get the consumer pull.
For instance, when you take stock of any big brand in the market,
50 percent of the high-selling SKUs are duplicates.
-They're B-products -And in today's post-Covid era,
people are very concerned about what they're buying,
and from whom they're buying.
When you see the "Yatrikart" brand,
you automatically trust it, and you'll buy from here.
And you'll get more kinds of products.
They've just got two greens so far.
So, I don't know if they have time for all ten.
But I love their energy.
In the manufacturer-to-retailer chain,
how many jobs are you stealing?
We aren't stealing any jobs.
All of the extra margin that's generated
goes directly into the brand's marketing.
-Even I can do that. -Right.
The main difference is that...
One store looks dull and ordinary,
while the other one is all decked-up and more attractive.
So, you must be charging the vendor for this?
-We are not charging anything. -Nothing.
So, you provide all of this for free to the vendor?
Imagine that he doesn't have enough money.
The retailer neither gets a loan nor does he have money.
-That's the problem. -He's a man of the soil.
-Exactly. We solve this problem. -Yes.
We advise him not to get involved in buying or selling.
Give us one lakh as a safety deposit or whatever amount you have.
In return, I'll provide goods with a commission for you.
And you will make more money.
This is worse than pitching to investors, right?
Critics, we aren't doing this just for profit.
We are here to support these last-mile retailers.
I don't think Gaurav will get ten green rings today.
It's not just the products. We have a micro-ATM,
charging solutions, free Wi-Fi.
People can lounge here.
-They play mobile games. -Wow!
His dreams are coming true.
We are building for tomorrow and for the future.
And we are not just a company, we are creating a social impact as well.
If we don't score a perfect ten,
the entire world will notice. People will judge us.
If you talk about margin, all the start-ups are working up to the mid-mile.
No one is working up to the last mile in India.
Once you enter the last mile, your margin gap there also increases.
I don't remember the last three minutes.
-The questions and the counter-back... -We remember nothing.
It's all a blur.
-Thank you very much. -Nine.
I had hoped for all green.
Nine!
-We got nine, it doesn't feel good. -Out of ten.
-We wanted ten out of ten. -Yes, we did.
It's okay, it's not your mistake.
Oh, dear.
If facing the critics was like walking on fire,
then the debrief session with Anisha, Kunal, and Manish
would be a slow moonwalk on fire.
-How are you both doing? -Good.
-Doing good with an unknown stress. -Yes.
Look, there are actually a lot of things that I like about you.
In our country, fake products are a significant problem.
Especially in smaller towns when it comes to food and beverages.
Because now, we will bring genuine products, and you emphasized this,
I believe it resonated well with the critics.
Yes, but you know, we realized that in any business,
a very important factor is timing. Your start-up idea can fail
if it's too far ahead of its time, or past it.
So, timing is very important, right?
The transit retail market that we have today is worth $2.2 billion.
And research says that it'll be $21.7 dollars by 2030.
Gaurav and Shivangee, I must tell you one thing.
I loved what you all did.
I love both of you as a team
because of your authenticity and your chemistry.
-Thank you. -That's your plus point.
-Thank you so much. -Gaurav, you have a hustler attitude.
-Keep that going. -Thank you.
Dipika and I have been friends now
-for two and a half decades or more. -Yeah.
We grew up together in Bangalore.
We are building a women-centric fintech platform
and a financial services ecosystem.
The very strong purpose behind all of this is to have women
have control, autonomy, and privacy over their money.
The target group of Basis is women, and so is their entire critics panel.
Can Basis convert all of them?
Hi, investors! Hi, critics! Hi, experts!
We are the co-founders of Basis, India's financial app for women.
Today, we are so excited for you to experience
the Basis prepaid Power Card.
India's first payment card curated for women from the ground up.
To help you understand this a little better,
I would love to invite you on the stage, ma'am,
to go through a shopping experience with us.
Ma'am, I think this red bag will look great with what you are wearing.
And to help you make this purchase,
I'm going to make your payment with the "other card,"
and let's see what happens here.
-Ma'am, your name please? -Archana.
So, Archana, as you can see, you got hit with no cashback.
And what looks like a pretty useless reward
-that you'll probably never use-- -Can you please speak in Hindi?
In Hindi? Well, my Hindi is not that great.
As you can see, you haven't got any cashback.
Ma'am, this time I'll make your payment with the Power Card.
Let me tap this card.
Archana, as you can see,
after this transaction, you've got a goldback.
And an extremely useful reward
that is relevant to you as a woman,
and that you would probably redeem.
What they did here is that both of them spoke in both Hindi...
-As well as English. -Exactly.
Still, they are not...
-Come on. -But they're fluent in both.
They can speak both languages fluently.
Archana, after this experience,
which card would you use, the next time you go shopping?
Actually, I'm a beautician.
I've been in this profession for 20 years now. I earn quite well.
-And I'm the breadwinner for my family. -Wow.
I've been hearing about this app since this morning,
watching everyone talking about it in English,
which I am unable to follow.
So, is this card useful to me?
Oh, no! They've had it.
Absolutely, ma'am.
At Basis, we are on a mission to make personal finance
highly relevant for 100 million urban Indian women.
Her question was not answered.
Interestingly, Kunal, look whose light went green first.
How are you going to compete with such huge financial institutions,
and digital wallets that basically offer the same thing
and carry a lot more credibility and expertise?
Ma'am, currently all of these
institutions have a
large majority of male customers in their user base.
Women are always looked at as what we call an "afterthought."
The question was on credibility and expertise.
So, we know the industry. We've built products in the industry.
We know our market the best. Probably, the best in this country.
I think one comment specifically questioned our credibility...
-Yeah. -...and expertise.
And if we came off as a little arrogant then...
We're... Like, women are almost penalized for doing that as well.
So, we have to balance. We still have to be polite,
we still have to be nice, we still have to please.
I went to the top finance school in the world.
Right? I went to Wharton. I'm building a financial platform.
No one speaks money like Dipika does.
Collectively, we have over 30 years of experience
in building technology and financial services.
I don't think that question would have been asked to a man.
Since you mentioned trust and learning, the USP of the app is that
it is aimed at giving lessons to women in financial literacy.
But at the same time, your product
-is a prepaid card at the moment. -Yeah.
And my money in my bank account, which was growing,
is going into your bank account, where it's going to do the same thing.
How is it benefiting me in any way?
-That's an A-plus question! -Very good question.
Absolutely an A-plus question.
You transfer a limited amount to this card.
So, as a woman, you are spending on stuff anyway, right?
You are spending on personal care. You are spending on...
Whatever it is. Monthly groceries...
The incentives are aligned with that. So you are saving more.
But 10,000 rupees could still be growing with the interest on my bank account.
And I also get discounts from other platforms.
The point on your interest...
The amount you'll save on our card will make up for that and more.
I think the problem they are solving
is a relevant problem.
But I'm not sure about their approach.
And I think they are beating around the bush a lot.
That's the thing.
In my opinion, they'll have to be a little agile
or open towards saying,
"Yes, we can explain in Hindi.
"We have some clear bullet points about how we're going to solve this."
I think they missed that.
Oh, look at that. Finally.
-Thank you. -Thank you.
I had to switch to Hindi during the demo, which was a little throwing off
but I think we...
we reacted pretty well.
They're a hard bunch, the critics.
Dipika and Hena,
if you went back to that moment in time,
would you do something differently?
-Yes. -Yes.
What would that be?
We deliberately took the approach to focus on the star product,
which is the Power Card.
What might have happened there,
the aspects of the learning and the community,
and what else a woman could gain out of Basis didn't come out...
It wasn't very apparent.
And...
I think her name is Archana. She...
So, yes. I think in hindsight we would have
maybe, politely asked her to take a seat
and asked one of the other panelists to come up and do this.
Guys, do you not believe that Archana is in your target group?
Not right now.
Interestingly, you know, who gave you the green ring?
-From Archana. -I know.
She is in your target group.
She is the one with the 10,000 rupees limit for you.
Because she was really keen.
It was almost like she wanted to learn.
-I'm sorry, and I am taking your feedback. -If she wanted to learn...
-Yeah. -Then maybe when you were presenting,
there should've been a little more back and forth in Hindi.
-I'm just saying. -We don't speak the language.
-We don't do business in Hindi. -Oh, come on!
I just think, maybe you need to take a little more feedback.
-Agreed. -Just take a little more feedback.
We do, right? And that's why we are not...
We are saying we are getting to that, right?
We'd rather build a product that a few users love,
than one that a lot of users feel neutral about, right?
-Okay. -We've picked
an urban English-speaking woman today
because that itself is a massive market, right?
We've estimated, in our market sizing,
that it's a 35 to 40 billion dollar market.
Like that's how much money financial services are leaving on the table.
That market is huge--
But that's only going to come from the masses.
If you are very focused on niche and luxury,
towards one cohort, you can't build a big business.
We were told there would be a debriefing session
with the investors.
It was quite an intense atmosphere.
The room was so intense,
and the focus lights were on you, and we were sitting on the chairs,
and the three judges were seated in front of you.
Sumedh, according to me, you spoke a lot.
You over-pitched, according to me.
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Sumedh.
I'm the founder of Daybreak, which is India's first oral beauty brand.
These products are to be used in conjunction.
The whitening pen is for the person on the go.
The person who leads a fast life,
and drinks enough caffeine to keep up with it.
You just pop the pen out of the pack.
This is what the pen looks like. Take the top off.
You twist the pen a bunch of times.
Just apply it on your front teeth like so.
Smile for 30 seconds, wait for the gel to dry,
and just go about your day.
When I look at your product's pricing, it's rather high.
Why should I buy a product that costs 625 rupees?
The real challenge is inducing a trial.
Once you induce a trial, the results speak for themselves.
The results are more visible than
just health and hygiene-related results.
Do people currently spend a limited amount on oral care?
Absolutely yes. That's where most of the market is.
Including me, before I started the company.
When Bilal asked you, "I use an inexpensive toothpaste brand."
You went off on a tangent instead of explaining to him...
-Yeah. -...that this was
a low-cost alternative to going to a dentist
and getting your teeth whitened.
Didn't you feel as if you were trying to do too much?
Okay. So, for the next part of our presentation,
we would like to show you some of these products--
Can we invite somebody else to just...
And check out how these patterns--
So you can go to some of them.
-Yeah. -and I'll show her.
I felt we could've focused more on the tech we have built
for content creators. Instead of that,
I began showing the physical products.
And we tried to do that together, simultaneously.
So, through today's IP, we are going to present
how any of you, a non-creator, or non-designer, can use Re-Desyn
and convert your design into a product
and launch it in your e-commerce store.
For me, your demo was a mess.
-The feedback felt like a cannonball. -Yes, we felt bad.
The actual experience, the meat of your product
wasn't defined by you. Arjun, who is a critic,
explained what you do better than you did.
So, basically, most of the people here,
the biggest money spinners, are creators. They have a huge audience.
And they make merchandise. We already know that.
If a creator has designed a T-shirt,
you would earn your profit from the creator.
So, I want to understand what's the stickiness for the creators.
How do you do that?
As we said, Re-Desyn is not just a platform to create merchandise.
It's sort of an all-in-one place, where as a creator,
you're able to monetize, engage,
participate in brand deals, launch your merchandise,
and upload shoppable content.
So, there's a lot that comes together.
You should be able to tell your story and your pitch instantly.
That is a core skill for the founders.
Re-Desyn came here for a funding check.
Are they staring at an early checkout?
Can DTown convert all their critics?
Can DTown beat Yatrikart's score of nine on ten?
Can DTown... Okay, let's just see the pitch.
Winning Mission Start Ab is very important for us.
The reason is we've been in many competitions.
And this is a big TV show.
So, we want to create history on our first try.
His marriage is already finalized.
But mine isn't.
A nice girl will marry me, only if we win.
As soon as we went there and saw all the cameras,
we whispered to each other that we were going to become stars!
-Hello, everyone. My name is Manas. -I'm Avinash.
We are the co-founders of DTown Robotics.
DTown Robotics helps combat the "3D" problems faced by farmers and soldiers.
The 3Ds are Dull, Dangerous, and Dusty. We help them complete such operations.
I'd like to introduce "Rh1no."
Did you see that? This is Rh1no.
Its main focus is to work on the first line of defense,
which includes fire-fighting, patrolling, security, and surveillance.
These things usually cost lives and harm human resources.
So, we've brought Rh1no to life
in order to cater to the same and replace human beings.
This product is 90 percent Made-in-India.
We make most of the things in-house and manufacture them ourselves.
Many people ask, "Where's Make-In-India?"
Here you go.
So that was for the soldiers.
Now, let's talk about our dear farmers.
When we spoke to the farmers, we found out that they needed two hours
and 100 liters of water to spray an acre of land with pesticides.
They don't find labor on time, and pesticides cause diseases.
However, if the pesticides aren't used on time,
then the crops get ruined, and the farmers incur huge losses.
So, as a solution to all these problems, we present to you, "Agrow."
"Agrow" is an agriculture drone.
This can cover an acre of land in just 12 minutes
and uses 10 to 15 liters of water.
So, our motive and mission are to ensure that
a king's son can choose to be a king or not,
but a farmer's son must choose to be a farmer.
Thank you so much.
One.
You are creating different products to save our soldiers' lives,
and it's heartening to see that. Thank you for that.
Let's keep that aside for a moment.
Coming to the farmers, when they cultivate the fields,
over time, farms get divided
between the children, thus getting smaller and smaller.
-Yes. -So, why would a farmer pay
-for such an expensive product? -Okay.
We are just one-third of the cost
of the agricultural drones available in the market right now.
We've seen that small-scale farmers don't have much space
to operate bigger drones and cover more areas.
That's why we decided on smaller models,
so that they can easily penetrate through trees and bushes and work efficiently.
-Two. -At 25 degrees temperature
-and 45 percent humidity... -Yes.
...around 8:00 or 9:00 p.m.
We usually start spraying around 9:00 p.m.
If there are ten liters of water
and we have to cover the entire land, the droplet size
-must be below ten microns. -Yes, it's ten microns.
So, can we spray at night by calculating the Delta T?
You just have to create four points here.
You create your boundaries. You make grid lines.
The drone won't go outside these lines.
You can make your plan during the day,
and at night, take the drone to your farm, press "Start,"
and it will automatically take off and complete the task.
Labor in India isn't very expensive, compared to other countries.
-Absolutely. -Right.
Should I use a drone, or should I use a human?
You should use a human, but he should use our drone.
Good one.
Full house.
Thank you so much.
-Manas and Avinash. -Yes, sir.
You guys are the shining examples of a new India.
You've got green rings from all ten of the critics.
-Yes, sir. -Yes, sir.
-Congratulations. -Thank you so much, sir.
-Thank you. -Your attention to detail.
You faced those minute questions from the farmer.
You had a good answer to every question.
DTown has scored a perfect ten on ten.
Or as my parents would say, "Please learn from them."
We came up with the Magic Mirror idea last year,
and Shivam has to execute it in five days.
What about the hackathon?
We did the hackathon.
So, out of ten people, I'm guessing there will be one person
who is not going to get convinced.
-My name is Kuldeep. -My name is Shivam.
We are brothers, and we're building Pension Box.
India's first pension app that will show you your future.
That will help you plan your future step-by-step
and show you how to achieve it.
With this, you were able to imagine your future.
But with Pension Box, you can imagine, plan, track, and invest
all together in one place.
Let's start saving and retire right.
You have AI,
which personalizes your retirement dreams.
-Correct. -Right? However,
when I typed in my dream retirement location on the app,
whether it's Coorg or Navi Mumbai,
it gave me the same pension plan, retirement savings goal,
and expenses for both locations.
-The value of it? -Right.
Correct. So our AI has not been programmed for the location living index yet,
and that's a fact, but it will be added.
You show us a future through this Mirror.
But I'm living in this future. I've retired at the age of 40.
You don't have an AI for the location living index today.
These fly-by-night apps come and go.
What you are showing is a fake AI. I don't see it as AI.
What's new about it? I don't see anything new.
If this weren't new,
everyone present here would have had a retirement plan, just like you.
I do agree that there's no location index.
That's because the data available in the market
would show incorrect values even if we had used it.
So, we decided to figure out our own location index
as the number of users increases.
If someone tells you that an AI has been installed on the very first day,
they are either using someone else's database or lying to you.
But I've told you the truth that we don't have the AI,
and we will add it as the number of users increases.
I think the critics were harsh on them.
No regular person retires at the age of 40.
There are people working in their 60s and 70s, right?
So, that's the problem. If you want to retire at 40,
then you should start your own Pension Box
and teach people how to retire at 40.
Our start-up is called Alippo.
Through this, we teach different skills to women,
like baking, making candles at home, and making incense sticks.
We got this idea because of our mom.
There was a pattern during the lockdown.
She was learning new things through YouTube,
and we realized that she was really interested and passionate about learning
and doing something on her own. This led us to think
that there would be many such ladies in similar cities.
That's how Alippo started.
I want to learn new things. I want to start a business at home.
Over 30 crore Indian women see such dreams every day.
With your help today, we'll see a similar story of success.
But it will be in a fast-forward mode.
Alippo has trained over 1.5 lakh women
in different skills, in the comfort of their homes.
Out of these, over 1300 women
have created businesses from their homes.
I don't know about their scoring and the green light stuff,
but the founders are really amazing.
With the help of Alippo, your logo, and your menu card
will be popularized on social media.
It's such a simple pitch.
They've explained it so easily, in a simplified way.
It's brilliantly done.
With that, Ms. Chetna has opened an online shop from her home!
This is called quality storytelling.
So, Alippo acts as a digital co-founder and helps these solopreneurs.
We not only help you start the business, we also help you grow it.
There are so many other tutorials available for me to learn from.
-Because they are iconic-- -Great question.
It's not a library of videos without any sequence
that you would just watch while lounging at home.
It is a relatively more formal way of educating yourself.
So, the Alippo community has women with similar interests.
They talk to each other and help one another.
This is an environment that wasn't available earlier.
Ayushi and Nikhil, for me at least,
that was by far the best demo of the evening.
-Okay? -Thank you so much.
-Thank you... -Sometimes simplicity is what's needed.
-And you guys did it with perfection. -Thank you so much.
I'm always confident, whether it's my business or personal life.
So, I'm very confident over here as well.
It's a friendly atmosphere. We're well taken care of.
So, I'm not at all uncomfortable, and I don't feel any different.
I'm very confident.
Which herb is Mr. Devkar going to use
in order to convert the health and wellness professionals?
Wow! The food looks amazing! Such a nice aroma!
I feel like eating it.
Oh, but my acidity!
This piles! It has ruined my life.
What should I do? I have to figure out something.
I need to find a solution.
Hello? Is this Shri Chyawan Ayurveda?
I've got piles, and I've been suffering for the past six months.
Oh, will it be cured completely? I see.
In just 600 rupees? Okay.
I'll order the medicine right away. Thank you.
Now, there won't be any barrier between this food and me.
In India,
around 20 out of every 100 people have piles.
Vitiligo is another such disease.
Our products have produced amazing results for that as well.
In the last four years,
we have provided good quality medicines to more than one lakh people.
Thank you.
Devkar Saheb, you speak very well.
-Thank you. -But it's often said that
those who speak too much, get less work done.
Oh, no!
In my opinion, Ayurveda is suitable for skin care products
or products for maintaining external beauty,
but you mentioned vitiligo and other diseases.
Ayurveda has no role to play in those cases.
I thought to myself, "How can it not treat diseases?"
It can treat piles, joint pain.
Ayurveda is a traditional form of medicine.
It is not new.
It has been developed and used in our country for thousands of years.
The government has passed an act
known as the "Magical Remedies Act."
That means any medicine or over-the-counter product
that claims to cure diseases, cannot be advertised.
You touched upon two or three points.
One was that piles could be cured in 600 rupees.
-Yes. -During your enactment.
-Yes. -So has that claim been verified anywhere?
That you have cured piles?
Yesterday, someone here told me
that my products had shown good results in treating his piles.
Your passion should not prevent you from listening to the questions.
So, he needs to calm down. Maybe, it's nervousness.
I want to help people of the lower class, middle class, and the poor.
That's my vision. I also want to take
the Ayurvedic products manufactured in our country to the global market.
I have dedicated myself to that cause.
Thank you so much for your time.
Thank you so much.
-He's feeling demotivated. -Yes, he is.
It's showing on his face.
When the critics asked you questions
related to the clinical effectiveness and certification of your products,
you did not give them any clear answers.
You see, Mr. Devkar,
before healing comes trust.
You were unable to elicit trust in people.
Well, I was actually
a bit disappointed because...
I should've been able to convince everyone.
But when things don't turn out the way we thought they would,
I think it's natural to feel
a bit... Because we are...
-You are a founder, right? -Yes.
You are a storyteller
and to some extent, a showman.
By all means, be a showman.
But don't go so far that people stop believing you.
You have to be a little mindful
about when to be an entrepreneur and when to be a showman.
One can only do as much as they're capable of.
I'll be happy if investors come on board.
But even if they don't, it's not like I can't build a business without them.
I will. I will launch an IPO.
Of course! This is not a joke, I mean business.
I will launch IPOs.
Next up are Rohan and Royal from Delhi.
Their start-up, Spur,
bridges the communication gap between customers and brands.
So, Mr. Vaidya. This is the social media page of a brand.
Can you take a wild guess as to how many DMs
and comments they might be getting in a day?
Since I've been a D2C founder myself, I'd say
-at least 500. -Wrong.
More than thousands.
Replying to so many price requests,
comments, and DMs might take all day.
And the customers won't get a reply on time.
That's where we come in.
While scrolling, you come across a product that you want to buy
but you want to know its price first.
So, 80 percent of Indians
would go to the "comments" section
and ask for the price.
As soon as you do that, two things will happen.
First, Arjun will get a reply to his comment
that will ask him to check his DM.
Next, on clicking, he gets
all the products that were linked with his post.
From what I understand about Instagram,
even if a customer reacts to a post...
From what I understand, an automated message
or link is sent to them.
-Only for comments. -Okay.
Instagram has set specific rules.
There are ten or twelve companies
that do the exact same thing.
How will you differentiate yourselves from them?
-Sir-- -You can answer
both our questions together.
This is a feature.
-Where's the product? -The market is fragmented as of now.
Okay? So...
There's no clear leader, and the reason we believe
is that everyone is building features,
but no one is providing success to the customer.
My question hasn't been answered yet.
Does your service attract customers?
Do they come back to you again and again,
or do you have to pull them towards you every time?
That's why I'm asking for an example
because you still haven't answered my question.
Okay.
What do you think is going to happen next?
-Hi, guys. -Hey.
-What do you think? -Yes.
Did you "kill it" or "get killed" out there?
No. Our pitch was, you know, exceptional
according to me, but I think we went more into the--
Royal, one minute.
Do you know how many green rings you got?
Yes, we got one green ring.
Are you confident or over-confident? I don't get it.
Are you not being realistic? What's going on?
Okay. I mean...
-It was never said that-- -Just a minute. Again,
you're repeating what you did over there.
Listen.
-Listen to what he's saying. -All right.
Yes, please carry on.
Rohan, do you believe that your pitch was exceptional?
Overall, it wasn't a good pitch.
-Because the critics' answers-- -I think...
you both are definitely confident,
but you're also over-confident and in denial.
Will the final performance by JioVio be able to match DTown's ten-on-ten?
We'll explain the whole thing, and why it matters. We'll make sure that
-all of them are convinced. -We'll convert them.
-I am Senthil Kumar. -And I am Dhinesh Pandian.
We are the founders of JioVio Healthcare.
Our mission is to save every mother and reduce
preventable maternal and infant mortality
using our advanced AI tool and wearable technology.
Traditionally, doctors usually
are able to identify a high-risk pregnancy
only in the third trimester, that is, in the eighth month.
So, the pregnant mother does not have enough time
to recover from a high-risk to a low-risk pregnancy.
At JioVio, we have built this AI tool,
which is developed for hospitals.
With one click, the doctors will be able to see all the high-risk mothers.
This AI is built with data collected from more than three lakh pregnant women,
which include lab reports, blood tests, urine tests,
ultrasound scans, and all the vitals needed to simulate this model.
The system continuously monitors all their vitals
and other parameters.
The lab flags the high-risk mother in the second trimester.
That is, in the fifth month.
So, you have five more months
to reverse the high-risk parameters for the pregnant mother.
Other than that, we have developed this wearable device.
It is completely different from a smartwatch,
which uses a light to measure all the parameters.
We use a different technology.
That means you don't need the device to touch your skin.
Okay? You can wear it around your neck,
or wrist, or in some cases,
we even attach this main sensor to the mangalsutra,
so that the mother keeps the device for emotional reasons.
When the mother is monitored by JioVio technology,
they go to the labor ward as a low-risk mother.
They can be happy about meeting their newborn baby
without any pressure.
In rural India, Anganwadi workers and ASHA sisters have been working.
It takes a long while for that behavior change to come around.
And the feet on the street that you'll need
for such kinds of influence and reach,
what's your plan there? Because that's a huge investment.
For doctors and healthcare workers,
one of the challenges is typing the data.
So, our idea is to digitize it with the help of innovation.
So, we give this device to the health workers.
One device can measure up to ten vitals,
and digitally transfer this data to this portal.
The system identifies high-risk mothers.
To reverse the high-risk pregnancies to low-risk, we give this device.
I'm a gynecologist, Dr. Punit Bhojani.
How accurate is the machine for measuring blood pressure?
Because that's one of the leading causes of mortality.
And what about the baby monitoring? What we call fetal well-being.
Are you also monitoring the baby?
The indicator for us should be this gynecologist.
If he turns green.
We work with the Andhra Pradesh state government.
We tested it on approximately three lakh pregnant mothers.
For every iteration, we've done a calibration.
So now it is well calibrated and has a CE and CDSE certification,
which is the Indian version of FDA certification.
And for fetal monitoring,
a lot of doctors prefer ultrasound data.
So, we ensure that the mother goes
for ultrasound scans at least once every trimester.
But they're not going to the lab regularly, right?
-This is given to the District Magistrate. -No woman
in the village or the Panchayat is missing her regular check-ups.
If they do, there's a notification system to alert the District Collector.
Suppose, in this month, seven mothers have missed their check-ups.
End of the month, we ensure that all mothers get their ante-natal check-ups.
And you put your people,
-your feet on the street-- -No, we provide the technology.
We utilize government resources
or private hospitals.
Using their resources in a digital and effective way.
That's a smart answer.
Six green rings.
So, it's not continuously monitoring the baby's heart rate.
See, you don't need to monitor the baby's heart rate continuously, right?
It disturbs the pregnant woman. Okay?
You need a periodic reading. If anything goes wrong,
there's a system in place that will take you to their home
and make sure the emergency is taken care of.
One of the reasons why we chose the government channel was that
it increased the scope for mass adoption.
We'll go to private hospitals as well.
We can add some additional premium features for that later on.
This portal has 30 lakh women onboard already.
So, we have massive pregnancy-focused data.
Okay, the gynecologist has gone green.
During every delivery, two new lives are born.
The baby and the mother.
We want to ensure that every woman who enters the labor ward,
enters confidently and joyfully to see their newborn baby,
irrespective of their financial condition.
That is our bigger mission. Thank you so much.
Oh! It's a full house.
Everybody was like, "Wow!"
I told them I was at a loss for words. That says everything.
-English, please. -He has no words to explain.
Critics' verdicts were out, but now it was time for the investors' verdict.
Manish, Anisha, and Kunal will decide
who will be the top performer
and who will leave Mission Start Ab.
Before we begin, I would like to tell our investors
that only Senthil is here from JioVio.
Dhinesh is not feeling very well.
So, you are representing JioVio.
So, now it's time for your verdict.
Who is your top performer?
For obvious reasons,
JioVio is the top performer.
You did excellent on the demo.
Your passion
and your care for what you're building really came through.
Thank you, sir.
All right, founders. A fun fact.
The top performer will get immunity
from going to the bottom three in the next challenge.
So Senthil,
you are immune, and you can now go up to the safe zone.
Thank you.
Investors, now you need to tell us
who our safe founders are.
DTown. Manas and Avinash, you are safe.
Sumedh.
Pension Box.
Nikhil and Ayushi.
Gaurav, you've got amazing energy.
I think we'll have to pull the reins in.
You guys are safe today.
Mr. Devkar.
The critics...
You couldn't convince them
whether your products are certified
-and effective. -Yes.
However, you took the feedback very well
-and very gracefully. -Yes.
Because of this, you are safe.
Congratulations.
All right, guys.
You are the bottom three.
Which means, one of you
will be eliminated.
However, before we get to that,
as you can see, there are three rockets here.
There are three boosters placed below each of these rockets.
These three boosters represent our three investors.
Whichever founder lands in the bottom three,
will lose one booster.
Which means, losing an opportunity to deal with an investor.
So, after six challenges, the number of boosters you're left with
will be equal to the number of investors you get to deal with.
You only realize when you are present
in the situation. The heart starts racing.
-Then you realize that... -Yes.
...this is actually happening.
Who will that founder be?
It's time for the investors to tell us.
The founders who are at the bottom...
By no means do we believe that your journey is ending here.
We just believe that your journey on the show is ending.
And that is...
Basis.
Hena and Dipika, I'm sorry, but the thing is,
you were pitching your 10,000 rupee card
to an urban woman.
But it seems that your target group
and your marketing and communication aren't in sync.
And as founders, in general, we need to be
open to feedback
and be flexible about doing stuff.
So, I really hope you take that back with you.
This is not a failure, but a learning for you all.
Wishing you all the best.
Every setback is a setup for a comeback.
Wish you all the best.
-Thank you. -Thank you.
We understand our business the most.
Right? We live and breathe this every day.
But, clearly, something didn't resonate
and so, I wouldn't say this is completely unexpected.
So, we weren't shocked to hear it.
But, obviously, we thought we'd lose a booster,
not just go out of the show.
So, I think that was a little bit of a bummer,
but we'll take this in our stride.
A collaboration opportunity
could change the future of your company.
Come on, let's go.
Take a left turn ahead.
I don't think this is a very attractive proposition.
Aim higher.
I'm trying to recollect a word I've forgotten, I'm sorry.
I'll take the risk, sir. If it doesn't sell, I'll take it back.
There's a difference between my product and yours.
You almost contradicted your co-founder.
I don't understand the correlation.
One shock after the other.
The competition is getting tougher.
You might not be here tomorrow.
All this and more in the next episode of Mission Start Ab. .