How tech enabled start-ups are tapping the fragmented markets of India

A large component of the Indian economy is still in the unorganised (or informal) sector. With the three-fold increase in the smartphone users and Government initiative - Digital India have accelerated the adoption of technology, the emergence of new intermediaries leveraging the Internet has contributed significantly to organize the unorganized sector.

Where tech-enabled startups revolutionised various sectors like healthcare, education, e-commerce, financial services, travel and tourism among others.  India barely touched a few sectors such as second hand automobile, student accommodation, logistics (last-mile delivery), etc. Thanks to the sudden burst of interest from industry giants, aspiring entrepreneurs, and international investors. Today there are startups working hard toward organizing these sectors as well.

Here are a few tech startups who are organising the fragmented market in their respective industry:

Student accommodation- University Living

Say goodbye to dirty PG’s and say hello to your new home away from home

Witnessing the void in the segment, University Living is an innovative, customer-focused managed marketplace committed to ensuring that international students are happily accommodated in their new environment away from home. To deliver on its mission, the company is building a dedicated, end-to-end ecosystem that caters to every need of students pursuing higher education at top global institutes. It currently offers 1 million beds in 12,500 verified properties, with a global presence in more than 180+ international cities across markets such as the UK, Australia, USA, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, and Singapore, among others.

Online Automobile marketplace - Droom

Buy certified pre-owned/new vehicles online and bindaas ghoom with Droom

Droom is the 3rd largest E-commerce company in India in terms of GMV and the largest online auto marketplace for buying and selling new and used automobiles with over 80% market share of the automobile transactions online.

Droom is headquartered in Gurugram, India, with a team size of 480+. Droom has four marketplace formats i.e. B2C, C2C, C2B and B2B, and three pricing formats - Fixed Price, Best Offer and Auction. The platform offers a wide range of categories from bicycle to plane and all automobile services such as warranty, RSA, insurance and auto loan.Droom has in-built tech and data science tools to create the entire eco-system around used automobiles, including OBV (pricing engine), Eco (1,000+ points vehicle inspection), History (200 million vehicle history records), Discovery (dozens of pre-buying tools) and Credit (India’s first and only marketplace for used vehicles’ loans). The company is currently generating $1.2 Billion in annualized GMV and growing at a rate of 150% Y/Y. Droom has a presence in 830+ cities across India (India’s largest hyper-local marketplace), 300K+ auto dealers (largest auto dealer platform in World), 55 Million+ monthly visitors, nearly 12 Million+ app downloads and 6.5 Million+ Facebook followers.

Logistics- Shiprocket

Are you a social seller who wants a hassle free shipping solution? Log in to Shiprocket and ship your products

Shiprocket is a tech-enabled logistics platform which connects merchants, consumers and supply chain partners to create delightful shipping experiences. Shiprocket optimizes existing logistics infrastructure using data and AI to offer seamless shipping solutions for every online seller. Shiprocket has partnered with over 15 logistics providers enabling sellers to ship products across 26,000+ pin codes in India and to over 220 countries globally. Our offerings such as Shiprocket360 and ShiprocketSocial also provide online sellers with end to end ecommerce solutions to help them grow their business.

Online test preparation for Govt & UPSC Exams- Adda247

Want to fulfil your dream of applying for Govt jobs? Adda247 helps you with 24*7 assistance & test preparation

Adda 247 is one of the largest education-technology companies in India, focused on helping every student access quality education and training to become capable of cracking the most intensive competitive examinations. The mobile app, which currently holds the position of being the second largest ed-tech platform in terms of paid users, has been focusing on the growth and proper training of the brightest minds in the country. The company houses multiple platforms to serve millions of students across India such as Adda247 mobile app, Adda247 YouTube channel, bankersadda.com, sscadda.com, ctetadda.com and Career Power.

Experiential Travel- Zostel

Looking forward to an experiential stay with the local authenticity? Plan your stay via Zostel

Committed to revolutionizing the idea of travelling and socializing in the country, Zostel is a community-led, experience-driven ecosystem carrying a variety of service offerings under its belt. These include providing social and private accommodation, conducting outdoor activities, and curating original entertainment events, among others. Originally incepted as a hostel chain for backpackers, the company’s mission is to mobilise local communities across India and establish a robust, accessible, and trustworthy travel ecosystem. Zostel aims to achieve this objective by leveraging a strategic blend of technology, capital, and regional resources.

Zostel is the brainchild of Dharamveer Singh Chouhan, who wanted to resolve the infrastructural inadequacies plaguing the Indian travel industry. Encouraging and enabling new-age travel-seekers to have an eclectic, safe, and rewarding experience, the company currently offers over 2,000 beds in 36 locations across India and Nepal. Zostel is present in premium tourist hubs such as Jodhpur, Dalhousie, Mysore, Gokarna, and Jaisalmer as well as several less-explored destinations such as Spiti, Mukteshwar, Wayanad, Pokhra, and Vagamon, among others.