Startup Street: How LiqHub Launched Its Liquor Delivery Business Amid Covid-19 Pandemic
Here’s what went on this week on Startup Street.
This week on Startup Street, how the pandemic helped a liquor delivery business to takeoff in India. Delhi and Bengaluru made it to the list of top cities for startups; Mumbai showed up on a list of emerging spots. And Bharti Airtel Ltd. picked up a stake in an edtech startup to further its ambitions in the space. Here’s what went on...
The Story Of Incidents, Accidents And A Blessing In Disguise
Enjoying a glass of whiskey at a party with friends sowed the seeds of a new business idea.
Founders of LiqHub, Aryan Solanki and Shashank Chandel wanted to build a 'Wikipedia' of sorts to increase knowledge about alcohol and remove the social taboo around it.
Then Solank’s friend met with an accident. “He was hit by a car driven by a drunk man,” he said. One serious accident occurs every minute due to binge drinking and most of these are because a drunk person is driving to a liquor shop to get a bottle, Solanki said. “We can surely avoid these mishaps by delivering at doorstep.” He also cited the untapped demand for home delivery of liquor as consumption among females rise.
The final push was the more than two-month lockdown to contain the Covid-19 outbreak. “The pandemic has been a blessing in disguise for us. We have been pushing for a permit for liquor delivery for past four years, showing the advantage for society plus the revenue advantage for government,” he said.
LiqHub is now operating in Kolkata and a few other cities in Odisha. It is also in talks with other states such as Jharkhand, Delhi and Maharashtra.
India confined its 1.3 billion citizens to their homes, effective March 25, as the coronavirus cases escalated in Asia's third-largest economy. That shut all businesses, barring essential activities. Sale of alcohol, which account for a large chunk of tax revenue for most states, too, were banned.
Some chief ministers, including Amarinder Singh of Punjab, objected the move. Some states allowed standalone liquor shops to sell alcohol as part of initial relaxations even as the lockdown was extended. Maharashtra collected Rs 11 crore in revenue on just day one of liquor sale after relaxations, PTI had reported in May citing an official aware of the matter.
But large queues started to form in front of these shops and people started to flout social distancing rules. In May, the Supreme Court asked states to consider alcohol delivery, paving the way for startups like LiqHub.
"The team at LiqHub has prior experience in delivery of liquor, hence we understand the different excise policies of states. And based on our knowledge and experience, the app is designed to function differently for each state," Solanki said.
The startup operates partly on Zomato-like partnerships with delivery personnel. The rest are freelancers. Having started in the middle of the lockdown, LiqHub expects to earn a revenue of Rs 7 crore in financial year 2020-21. This should increase to Rs 50 crore in the next fiscal, Solanki said.
“India despite being among top five in liquor consumption, still is very low in per capita consumption," Solanki told BloombergQuint. "This needs to be seen as a big opportunity luring in front of us to be captured.”
Currently self-funded, the startup expects to raise funds within the year.
To be sure, large-scale restaurant aggregators and online delivery platforms like Swiggy and Zomato, too, have started alcohol delivery, among other knick-knacks. On May 28, the two announced that they had begun delivery in West Bengal and Odisha and are in talks with others.
Solanki, however, said it's a good sign as this will help the industry to grow much faster than analysts expected. "Swiggy and Zomato have been in the food and grocery delivery business for some time now, this validates the idea for an exclusive app for liquor delivery, as the content and info and services that LiqHub will provide will not be available on any other app," Solanki said.
Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai Make It To Global Startup Ecosystem List
Two Indian cities have made it onto the top 40 of the world's most favourable ecosystems to build a globally successful startups, topped by the Silicon Valley in California.
Bengaluru was ranked 26th and Delhi 36th in 'The Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2020' by Startup Genome, with Mumbai topping a parallel 'Top Emerging Ecosystems' ranking.
The Startup Genome report analyses cities around the world where early-stage startups have the best shot at building global success.
Bengaluru stood out for high access to funding and Delhi ranked well for the volume and complexity of patent creation in the analysis, which found London and New York tied for second spot. Access to capital, investment and global talent has fueled London's ascent to number two, up from number eight in 2012 when the first rankings were released.
(Source: PTI)
Edtech Startup Aims To Train 10 Million Entrepreneurs In Six Months
Education technology startup Bada Business has said it aims to train 10 million entrepreneurs over the next six months as part of its 'India Revival Mission' for micro, small and medium enterprises.
Addressing a virtual press conference, Bada Business founder and Chief Executive Officer Vivek Bindra said the company plans to double its presence to 150 offices in the country by the year-end from 75 offices now.
The 'India Revival Mission' offers hand-holding solutions to MSMEs and skill training for digital transformation to lakhs of such businesses. "Our objective is to train 10 million people over the next six months in reinventing their businesses for the new normal. A series of top business leaders from multiple sectors are also a part of this knowledge programme," said Bindra.
The initiative will continue to address relevant business points for MSMEs through a series of business training sessions. The subjects are likely to include digital transformation, product lifecycle, business canvas, marketing and leadership in the post-Covid world.
(Source: PTI)
Bharti Airtel Picks Up 10% Stake In Edtech Startup Lattu Media
Telecom operator Bharti Airtel acquired has a 10% stake in Mumbai-based edtech startup Lattu Media as part of its Airtel Startup Accelerator Program.
Lattu Media (Lattu Kids) specialises in digital learning tools for children, and focuses on improving English vocabulary, English reading and Mathematics skills for children under the age of 10 years through animated videos and games.
"The investment will enable Bharti Airtel to add edtech to its premium digital content portfolio and give distribution scale to quality learning material from Lattu Kids," a statement said.
Bharti Airtel has over 160 million monthly active users across its digital platforms Airtel Thanks app, Airtel Xstream app and Wynk Music, it said.
While the financial details of the deal were not disclosed, Bharti Airtel, in a regulatory filing, said the acquisition of the equity shares of investee company is done at a mutually agreed pre-money enterprise valuation. "The said valuation is not material and not disclosed herein due to reasons of confidentiality," the filing said.
(Source: PTI)