Startup Street: Stressed Real Estate Manager MPowered Finds Opportunity In Covid-19 Gloom
Here’s what went on this week on Startup Street.
This week on Startup Street, a real estate asset management startup MPowered is looking to benefit from the chaos in commercial real estate amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Three young ventures from Kerala make it to the list of winners of the first edition of National Startup Awards announced in 32 categories across 12 sectors. And Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal invites startups to register at public procurement portal GeM and offer goods as well as services to the government and public sector units.
Opportunity In Pandemic Gloom For This Startup
The Covid-19 pandemic has split India's businesses in two groups: those that have borne the brunt, and those who gained from the chaos. MPowered is riding in on the gains that the second category made.
Born after the Covid-19 virus struck India, MPowered invests in B-grade stressed real estate properties and turns them into profit-making A-grade properties by providing everything from power and WiFi to maintenance. It's biggest clients are now information technology firms, pharmaceutical companies, e-commerce platforms and consultation firms—sectors that have benefited the most from the crisis.
"Retail companies have taken the largest hit so we see a lot of them closing down," Chief Executive Officer and Founder Sudeep Singh told BloombergQuint in an interview. In turn, IT companies are expanding the most as India accelerates its digital progress, he said.
IT has been the key driver of India’s office market, according to a recent Kingh Frank India report. It contributed 44% of cumulative office space demand between 2010-2019. While overall leasing of office spaces fell 50% in January to September from a year ago, the leasing was led by Bengaluru and Hyderabad—cities with the largest IT presence in India. While most tech giants in India have extended their lease already, Apple Inc has also leased a 4 lakh-square-feet office in Bengaluru.
"Tech companies are looking to expand and use this as an opportunity to hire good talent," Singh said. "More talent, requires more space."
Online retailers are another source of real estate demand for MPowered. “The unprecedented growth of ecommerce has led to a drastic demand for warehousing as online retailers look to set up last-mile warehouses to speed-up the fulfilment process, especially with festivities being around the corner. We have taken on multiple warehousing projects in the recent months,” Singh said.
Many large organisations are using this time for annual refurbishment and redesigning of the office spaces as team members continue to work from home, he said. The startup, in late September, announced that it acqui-hired an interiors firm called Cloy Infraa to tap into this opportunity.
With already a few projects in the works, Singh said MPowered is also in final stages of negotiating deals for a few more.
God has been kind. We were skeptical of launching during the pandemic but this is the time there are lots of stressed assets.Sudeep Singh, CEO & Founder, MPowered
It is also developing and testing models in the residential real estate markets, ranging from refurbishing entire apartment complexes to refurbishing individual homes to make them work-from-home friendly.
The startup expects to earn $50-100 million in the next three years in revenue.
It bagged $21 million in pre-Series A funding from a group of U.S.-based wealthy investors led by serial entrepreneurs and real estate veterans Ashok Nichani and Shelly Nichani in July, which will party be used to invest into B-grade real estate.
Goyal Invites Startups To Register At GeM Portal
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal invited startups to register at public procurement portal GeM and offer goods as well as services to the government and state-owned companies.
About 4,000 startups have already registered at Government e-marketplace, he said.
The ministry launched GeM in August 2016 to create an open and transparent procurement platform for the government, which runs in several lakh crores. "I invite all startups to list their products and start offering goods and services to government organisations, PSUs, state government bodies, hospitals, schools, and colleges run by the government," Goyal said at the National Startup Awards 2020 event.
The minister said about Rs 4,000 crore was already disbursed through Fund of Funds for startups, "giving it out to about 361 startups".
Source: PTI
Three Startups From Kerala Win National Awards
Three startups from Kerala made it to the list of winners of the first edition of National Startup Awards announced on Tuesday in 32 categories across 12 sectors.
NAVA Design & Innovation and Genrobotics Innovations, incubated by the Kerala Startup Mission, were among the awardees along with God's Own Food Solutions, also from the state. Minister for Railways and Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal declared the results at a virtual felicitation ceremony in Delhi on Tuesday.
NAVA won the award in recognition of its solar-powered device for toddy extraction. Capable of improving the efficiency of toddy-tapping by 72 times, the device facilitates cutting, beating and collection of the beverage. The machine has earned NAVA patent rights in 28 countries where it is being used.
Genrobotics earned recognition for its product named Bandicoot, billed as the world's first robotic scavenger that cleans manholes and helps stamp out manual scavenging. The 50-kg pneumatic-powered and remote-controlled robot, developed in 2018 by four young engineering graduates, can be sent down a manhole where it would remove sewage by spreading its arm capable of 360-degree motion.
The 2015-founded God's Own Food Solutions won the award in the food processing sector for its patented green flour product named jackfruit365, which the jury noticed has streamlined the organised market for Indian Jackfruits." Having created clinically-proven solutions to control diabetes and reduce chemotoxicity, the product had its test results showing a significant blood-sugar reduction in 996 out of 1,000 patients during 90 days.
Source: PTI
Bounce Places Order For 3,000 Ampere Scooters
Ampere Electric on Friday said that mobility startup Bounce has ordered for 3,000 Ampere scooters on the platform as part of the initial rollout of its partnership with the company.
The EV maker, part of the Greaves Cotton, said in a statement that it's also seeing an increased demand in retail and faster adoption of its scooters in the rideshare and last-mile delivery segments on the back of its tie-up with the platform. Bounce has been partnering with Ampere for more than two years now.
"We are thrilled to partner with Bounce as we facilitate the initial order of 3,000 Ampere e-scooters. Ampere along with Bounce is enabling safer and affordable shared mobility solutions for ride share customers and this fresh order will help them expand their market reach," said P Sanjeev, Chief Operating Officer at Ampere Electric.
Ampere Electric's scooter range is currently available across 200 cities and towns in the country and rapidly expanding, he said. The company is customising the scooters for Bounce.
The company is betting on demand for safe, affordable and environment friendly shared mobility infrastructure as well during the pandemic.
Source: PTI