At Smytten, we operate like a close-knit family, where every team member has played a vital role in shaping the journey of our company. However, as I reflect on our early days and growth trajectory, a few exceptional individuals stand out as the pillars who have profoundly impacted Smytten's evolution.
In the very beginning, we were navigating uncharted waters with nothing but a vision and a dream. At that time, individuals like Chhavi Jain (Associate Director - Founder’s Office and Business Analytics), Varun Bhattacharya (Associate Director - Consumer Business), Mihir Shah (Associate Director - Engineering), Pratiti Shah (Lead - Brand, Partnerships, Research, and Insights), Nisarg Dave (Lead - Operations Excellence), Purav Thakore (Lead - Demand and Inventory Planning), and Radhika Panchal (Lead - Customer Engagement and Experience) trusted us when even we weren’t entirely sure of where this journey would take us. Their unwavering belief, coupled with their ability to lay the foundation for their respective domains, has been instrumental. Over the years, they’ve not only built exceptional teams but have also cultivated the vibrant, inclusive culture that defines Smytten today.
As the company grew, new leaders joined us at pivotal moments, bringing their experience and expertise to elevate Smytten further. Deepak Dalai (Vice President - Engineering), Krishan Sharma (Vice President - Retail and Operations Excellence), and Khanjan Shah (Head - Finance and Accounts) came on board mid-journey and seamlessly integrated their knowledge with our vision. Their ability to harness their experience while embracing Smytten's ethos has been transformative. They’ve not only fortified our infrastructure but have also propelled us to new heights by building on the solid foundation laid by the early team.
Each of these individuals has left an indelible mark on Smytten’s story. Together, they represent the essence of Smytten—a perfect blend of trust, tenacity, and talent. Their contributions have been instrumental in turning a fledgling startup into what we proudly call Smytten today.
A Defining Moments
At Smytten, every individual brings a unique perspective and plays a vital role in shaping our journey. While each of them has their own incredible story, together, they form the pillars of Smytten. As a founder, I feel truly fortunate to have them as part of my close-knit team.
Chhavi Jain (Associate Director - Founder’s Office and Business Analytics): From an intern to a strategic powerhouse, Chhavi has been my go-to for anything related to numbers and strategy. She has this uncanny ability to spot patterns and insights that no one else can, making her an irreplaceable part of our foundation.
Varun Bhattacharya (Associate Director - Consumer Business): Varun has led almost all our product and marketing functions—an achievement that speaks volumes about his dedication. His relentless focus on understanding customers, attention to detail, and driving growth is nothing short of inspiring.
Mihir Shah (Associate Director - Engineering): Mihir started as a contractual employee, and I’d say hiring him full-time was one of the best decisions we’ve made. He laid the tech foundation for Smytten and has since become the tech visionary driving seamless digital experiences. He’s our go-to person for business knowledge, innovative ideas, and all things AI.
Pratiti Shah (Lead - Brand, Partnerships, Research, and Insights): From an intern to leading one of the most critical teams at Smytten, Pratiti’s journey is remarkable. She’s the creative force behind building meaningful partnerships and growing our brand into something truly special.
Nisarg Dave (Lead - Operations Excellence): Nisarg is more than just a leader— He’s always the person one can go to for advice or support. With his operational expertise, he ensures that everything runs like clockwork.
Purav Thakore (Lead - Demand and Inventory Planning): Fondly known as "Mr. Cool," Purav handles challenges with ease and brings an infectious positivity to his team. His precision in planning and execution is the backbone of our operations.
Radhika Panchal (Lead - Customer Engagement and Experience): Radhika has an incredible ability to connect with customers and make them feel like part of the Smytten family. Her energy lights up the workplace, and when she’s not around, one can truly feel her absence. She’s a strong, dependable individual who adds so much to our culture.
Deepak Dalai (Vice President - Engineering): Deepak has taken our tech infrastructure to the next level. His deep understanding of the business and ability to approach challenges with a tech-first mindset is invaluable.
Krishan Sharma (Vice President - Retail and Operations Excellence): The man behind our offline presence, Krishan brought a vision and confidence to build Smytten’s retail footprint. His contributions stand out as a major milestone in our journey.
Khanjan Shah (Head - Finance and Accounts): Khanjan is the financial guardian who ensures stability and growth with meticulous planning. The trust and reliability he’s built are truly remarkable and give me peace of mind. Each of them has brought their own strengths, vision, and resilience, which have been instrumental in making Smytten the thriving organization it is today. Together, they exemplify the spirit of trust, tenacity, and teamwork that defines our journey.
Advice for Fellow Founders
Finding and empowering individuals who can make a meaningful impact starts with recognizing potential beyond just skills—look for passion, alignment with your vision, and a willingness to grow with the company. From my experience, one of the most critical steps is identifying individuals who resonate with the purpose of your startup.
For example, when I first met some of Smytten’s key team members, it wasn’t just their resumes or technical skills that stood out—it was their hunger to take ownership, their curiosity, and their drive to solve challenges creatively. For founders, I’d say the key qualities to prioritize when hiring or nurturing talent are adaptability, resilience, and a sense of ownership. These traits often outweigh technical expertise because skills can be taught, but the right mindset is innate.
Lastly, give them a clear path for growth. The biggest impact comes when individuals feel their personal development is tied to the success of the organization. Offer mentorship, guidance, and opportunities to lead. When people see the impact of their work and feel empowered to take charge, they don’t just follow—they build alongside you.
Mayank Patel first met us at our booth during EDI's annual fest when IndiaBizForSale.com was still just a discovery platform.
What stood out about him was his deep understanding of our vision. He appreciated the economic value we were trying to preserve by connecting buyers and sellers of businesses—helping businesses continue their legacy rather than shutting down.
At the time, Mayank was a professor of corporate finance, and he generously offered his support in any way we might need.
A Defining Moment
Initially, we avoided providing business valuation reports as a service, fearing that we couldn't maintain the quality we aimed for.
When Mayank offered to help, we decided to test his expertise on valuing our own family business. The result was incredible—not only was the valuation spot on, but it also helped us successfully sell the business at that price. Inspired by this success, we gradually started offering business valuation reports to our audience, led by Mayank.
Over time, this service became a game-changer. It significantly reduced deal failures caused by unrealistic asking prices, generated substantial revenue, and laid the foundation for our investment banking division, IBGRID.
Advice for Fellow Founders
Say "yes" to opportunities and be open to external support. Often, the right person may come with fresh ideas that challenge your initial assumptions.
Look for individuals who align with your mission and are willing to contribute beyond their immediate role. Empower them by creating an environment where they can innovate and grow.
For us, Mayank’s support not only launched a new service but also set a benchmark for quality. Today, we're fortunate to have him as part of our management team, where he leads IBGRID with the same passion that first drew us to him.
One person who’s made a huge impact on 7Span’s journey is Bhavik Vachhani, our Partner. He is an Alumni of IIMU and Ex-EY Parthenon. From day one, their passion, out-of-the-box thinking, and ability to tackle challenges head-on really stood out.
Back when 7Span was growing from a small agency to a more recognized player in the industry, Bhavik stepped up in a way I’ll always remember. He wasn’t just about doing the job—he cared deeply about 7Span’s vision, treating the company as if it were his own. Whether it was solving client challenges, building internal processes, or mentoring team members, their contributions were always top-notch and game-changing.
A Defining Moment
There’s this one moment I’ll never forget. We were working to streamline different processes, including L&D, Appraisal, and Recruitment, which is super important for 7Span’s growth.
Instead of stressing out, Bhavik took charge. He pulled the different team together, crafted a detailed process, and then presented it to us with total confidence and clarity. The way he handled the whole process—especially answering those tricky questions during the meeting—left us all super impressed. Not only did we implement the processes, but it also set a new standard for how we come up with transparency in our process and what we can achieve as a team.
That win wasn’t just about revenue; it boosted morale across the board and helped us land even bigger milestones down the line.
Advice for Fellow Founders
Finding someone like Bhavik isn’t easy, but here’s what I’ve learned:
1. Hire for passion and ownership. Look for people who genuinely care about the mission, not just their job description. These are the ones who’ll go above and beyond.
2. Give them space to lead. When you trust someone with responsibility, they’re more likely to take ownership and show you what they’re capable of.
3. Watch for potential, not just results. Often, the ones making quiet but meaningful contributions are the ones ready to step up when given the chance.
4. Invest in their growth. Help them learn, grow, and take on challenges. When people see they’re valued, they give their best.
5. Celebrate the wins. Recognize their efforts publicly and privately—it’s a small thing, but it goes a long way.
When you create an environment like this, you’ll not only find amazing people but also empower them to do their best work and help your company thrive.
We have been in business for nearly 21 years now. It all began with the opening of our first store in Juhapura. None of us had any prior experience in retail or the FMCG industry, yet I had unwavering faith in Sabir Bhai, our first employee at Hearty Mart. His integrity and dedication stood out to us from the very beginning. Sabir Bhai has been with us since day one and, through his relentless hard work, commitment, and loyalty, he has risen to become the Managing Partner of the Juhapura store. Under his leadership, the store has grown into a thriving, profit-making outlet, embodying the success of our journey together.
A Defining Moment
After nearly four years of relentless effort and trying every trick in the book, the Juhapura store still hadn’t turned into a profit-making outlet in 2008. This was a major blow to Sabir Bhai and his team, who had worked tirelessly to achieve success. Despite their dedication, the outcome left them feeling demoralized.
After a thoughtful discussion with Sabir Bhai and his team, we decided to refurbish the store with brighter colors, hoping to lift the gloom that had crept into the team’s mindset and infuse them with renewed positive energy. The strategy worked, and the team regained their enthusiasm and drive.
What stood out to me most during this challenging period was Sabir Bhai’s remarkable composure and leadership. He played a pivotal role in motivating his team, even in the face of adversity. Thanks to his efforts, by the end of the 2009 financial year, the store finally turned a profit, and we achieved our goals.
Advice for Fellow Founders
Finding the right employee for a business is as crucial as finding the right venture capitalist or investor. My approach to hiring is straightforward: I prioritize virtues like integrity, honesty, and commitment over other skills. These moral qualities are deeply ingrained and cannot be taught, unlike technical skills or communication abilities, which can be developed with time and effort.
An honest and committed employee possesses the foundational qualities needed to lead a team effectively. With the right support and empowerment, such individuals can grow into invaluable assets for any entrepreneur.
MealPe: Digitizing and Simplifying Daily Orders for Corporate Offices, Universities, and More
What We Do
MealPe transforms food search, discovery, ordering, and collection (Dine-In, Takeaway, Delivery) for captive audiences across industries like:
Hostels, Student Housing, Coliving Spaces, PGs
Coworking Spaces, Commercial Buildings, Corporate Parks
Hospitals and Healthcare Centers
Theatres and Multiplexes
Universities, Colleges, Schools
Food Courts, Shopping Malls, Amusement Parks
Clubs, Golf Courses, Hotels
Events, Stadiums, Airport Lounges, and Waiting Areas
MealPe enables these B2B spaces to monetize their captive audiences by digitizing their food operations. Our enterprise food ordering solution combines personalization and automation to create seamless dining experiences while optimizing efficiency for businesses.
How It All Began
The idea for MealPe came from our own frustrations. Back when we were building RoomPe, we noticed how inefficient meal systems were, especially for students or professionals. Imagine being stuck in a queue when all you want is a quick bite between work or classes! That’s when we thought—what if we could use technology to make this process smarter? That was our “Eureka!” moment, and MealPe was born.
What Makes us Tick
MealPe is unique because it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. We’ve designed it to adapt to the needs of different industries. For example:
In a theatre, the app lets users pick their seat and screen while ordering snacks.
In a hospital, it links meals to the patient’s bed number.
This level of personalization makes MealPe truly special. No other platform offers this level of customization while addressing so many industries at once.
Traction So Far
We’re still at an early stage, but the response has been overwhelming. Without spending a single rupee on marketing, we’ve secured LOIs (Letters of Intent) and EOIs (Expressions of Interest) from over 50 campuses across India. It feels great to see people resonate with our vision even before we’ve officially scaled!
Meet the Team
Our team is a mix of energy, experience, and expertise.
Maharsh Shah (24, CEO): He’s the tech brain behind MealPe, bringing fresh ideas to the table.
Satya Mehta (34): A pro in sales, business development, and marketing, with experience scaling businesses.
Deval (34): The finance and operations guru, keeping everything running smoothly.
What makes us click is our shared vision of building something impactful while having fun along the way.
Tapping Into Emerging Trends
The way companies are now investing in team meals and employee experiences is amazing. It’s no longer just about food; it’s about creating a sense of community and culture. This shift aligns perfectly with MealPe’s vision, as more organizations now want to digitize their cafeterias and food courts. We’re excited to help businesses create better food experiences for their teams.
Challenges We’ve Overcome
Selling software to businesses in India isn’t easy—especially when it comes to B2B enterprise sales. The process is slow, and convincing businesses to pay for software solutions can be tough. But we’ve learned to manage our cash flow wisely, keep multiple leads active, and remain patient. Persistence is the key!
Where We're Headed
We want to build a complete food digitization ecosystem for enterprises. This includes:
Hardware like kiosks and POS systems.
Software to manage food operations.
B2B food supplies and logistics.
Campus delivery services for food courts.
Ultimately, we want MealPe to be the backbone of food tech for businesses across India and beyond.
How the eChai Community Can Help
We’re looking for two things:
Funding to take MealPe to the next level.
Introductions to potential partners, especially coworking spaces and other industries where our solution can make an impact.
Transform Your Website into a Marketplace with ShipTurtle
What We Do
ShipTurtle is a powerful SaaS platform that empowers users to create their own marketplaces, similar to Amazon, Airbnb, Uber, or Fiverr. Designed as an extension for website platforms like Shopify, Shipturtle seamlessly integrates to provide dedicated dashboards for sellers and suppliers. The app streamlines key processes such as onboarding, catalog management, order processing, and payouts, making it a comprehensive solution for managing multi-vendor marketplaces.
How It All Began
I co founded www.mybageecha.com, a popular gardening marketplace in India. Scaling up vendors on the platform needed a robust solution which gave the idea of Shipturtle.
What Makes us Tick
Shipturtle is helping realize the dreams of thousands of entrepreneurs who want to build a marketplace and were held back by the prohibitive costs of building the tech stack. What needed at least $100,000 to build is now available at <$5000 annual cost.
This has led to an explosion of businesses focused on communities, sustainability, better supply discoverability and a huge reduction in CAC for D2C brands specifically.
Traction So Far
Founded in 2021, we achieved a PMF fit very quickly and are currently on a 1-10 journey backed by marque investors. We work with over 1000 marketplaces today and witnessing a diverse clientele in 50+ countries.
Many of our clients have gone on to raise significant funding and scale. We process over 20,000 orders per day.
Meet the Team
We have a pretty young team of go getters who were enthusiastic about building a world class SaaS company out of Ahmedabad. The work is fast and furious, with lots of fun baked in. We love to unwind every other weekend with a game of Mafia or cricket.
While a large majority is tech, we are developing strong capabilities in Product, GTM and Content.
Tapping Into Emerging Trends
We are excited that the D2C world is increasingly getting connected with many of them wanting to partner. Also the startup world is booming like never before and many aspiring entrepreneurs are looking to build sustainable and curated options to incumbent giants.
Challenges We’ve Overcome
As a founder, it’s been a pretty incredible journey and feels like a roller coaster ride (never-ending). Iv navigated super tough challenges in building a tech product as a non-tech solo founder, bootstrapping the company for many years and struggling to achieve GTM fit – often at the expense of work-life balance.
I am currently on a learning journey to build high-performing and happy teams, after receiving concerning feedback from many members around goal setting, stress, and burnout.
My other learning is to constantly challenge the speed at which we grow and remove walls that tend to have us “settle”.
Where We're Headed
To help scale at least 100 marketplaces over a $10 million mark in the next 2 years.
How the eChai Community Can Help
Innovative sales strategies to achieve a GTM across 20 key countries, how to build a sales team which can constantly innovate and push the boundaries.
As we look ahead to 2025, our vision is driven by three ambitious goals:
1. Doubling our Headcount
2. Tripling our Revenue
3. Expanding to a New Market by Opening Another Office
To bring this vision to life, we are leveraging the power of a Flywheel Effect. Being in the services industry, we know that growth in one area fuels momentum in others. Here's how our Flywheel works:
· More Clients lead to More Work
· More Work demands More Employees
· More Employees drive More Revenue
· More Revenue enables Stronger Marketing, which attracts More Clients
This cycle creates a self-sustaining loop, and our goal is to spin this Flywheel faster than ever before. By focusing on its acceleration, we aim to build the momentum necessary to achieve our boldest aspirations.
With unwavering commitment and a clear strategy, we are confident that 2025 will be a transformative year for our organization.
Seizing the Opportunity
Navigating Change: Embracing AI and Adapting to Global Challenges
The most significant shift in our industry today is the growing influence of AI, which is reshaping the workforce landscape. While AI is replacing certain jobs, it is simultaneously creating new opportunities. As a company, we are committed to being early adopters of AI—leveraging its potential to enhance operational efficiency in our day-to-day activities and to deliver superior value to our customers.
Another challenge we face is the uncertainty caused by fluctuating global economies, driven by geopolitical instability. This volatility directly impacts job creation across industries. To navigate this, we are dedicating significant resources to identifying patterns and predicting early trends of economic recovery. By spotting these "green shoots" early, we aim to proactively target emerging sectors and industries, ensuring we stay ahead of the curve.
Our focus on innovation and adaptability positions us to thrive in a rapidly changing world while continuing to serve our clients and communities effectively.
Evolving as a Founder
As the new year begins, I have set clear and meaningful goals in three key areas of my life:
1. Health: Over the past few years, my health has taken a backseat due to erratic work schedules and the demands of running a startup. This year, I am prioritizing my well-being by striving to achieve my ideal weight and fitness levels. To do this, I’m bringing more structure and balance to my daily routine, ensuring I dedicate time to focus on my health and regain my full vitality.
2. Family: Running a bootstrapped startup means being in "work mode" 24/7, which has left little room for personal time with my loved ones. Although my life partner is also my business partner, we rarely switch off from work. We haven’t had a proper vacation in 2.5 years. This year, I’ve made a promise to my family—to spend more quality time with them, take meaningful breaks, and finally plan a well-deserved vacation.
3. Hobbies: I’ve always believed in lifelong learning and nurturing my passions. Currently, I average about one hour of reading per day, but this year, I aim to double that to two hours. Beyond reading, I want to dive into learning music, play more cricket, and reconnect with the childlike joy I once had. This year is all about rediscovering and embracing the hobbies that make me feel alive.
2025 is a year of transformation and balance. By focusing on these goals, I hope to create a more fulfilling and enriched personal life alongside my professional journey.
Dicot: Linking Machines to the Cloud for Smarter Factories
What We Do
As India rises as a global manufacturing powerhouse, digital transformation in factories has shifted from being a luxury to an absolute necessity. While many businesses focus on refining ERPs and CRMs, the heart of the challenge lies in bridging the gap between humans and machines—unlocking critical production and process data. This data fuels the backbone of manufacturing, helping industries generate insightful reports, conduct audits, enable remote monitoring and control, and carry out timely maintenance.
Consider something as simple yet vital as manufacturing an ice-cream cone. Achieving the perfect baking temperature isn’t just a technical requirement—it’s a commitment to quality. If something goes wrong, having the data to trace back ensures accountability and improvement. Whether it’s pharmaceuticals, food production, textiles, foundries, or ceramics, industries depend on precise control of parameters like temperature, pressure, humidity, and speed to maintain excellence.
Yet, industrial software today is often overwhelming—complex to operate, expensive to maintain, and inaccessible without extensive training. It creates unnecessary hurdles for industries striving to modernize.
At Dicot, we’re changing this narrative. Our mission is to humanize industrial software—making it intuitive, fast to implement, and truly user-friendly. By automating repetitive tasks, stripping away unnecessary complexity, and prioritizing what genuinely matters, we’re helping industries save time, cut costs, and embrace digitalization with confidence and ease.
How It All Began
During my first year of college, I developed a fascination for understanding how things are made. I spent much of my free time visiting factories in and around Ahmedabad, an opportunity made possible by my father’s connections in the industry. On these visits, I noticed a recurring issue—most factories relied on manual systems or bookkeepers to record data and control processes. These methods not only left room for error but also made the records unreliable, impacting overall efficiency.
This observation stayed with me. Over time, I began researching the existing solutions to this problem, only to find that digitalizing factory processes was prohibitively expensive, frustratingly complex, and extremely time-consuming. That realization became my turning point—it inspired me to build a solution that simplifies industrial digitalization, crafted in India but designed to serve industries around the world.
What Makes us Tick
We’re driving meaningful change in the industry on multiple fronts. Not only are we significantly reducing the cost of implementing industrial-grade IoT, but we’re also cutting down the time it takes to get these systems up and running. Our products are thoughtfully designed with the actual users in mind—whether it’s the blue-collar worker who interacts with the system daily or the management team seeking a high-level overview of operations.
Because our products are unorthodox, they require a unique business model. To address this, we’ve invested heavily in training a network of System Integrators (SIs) who customize our solutions to meet the specific needs of end customers. We’ve also developed a system that empowers these SIs to perform installations independently. By enabling them to generate licenses for our software—without needing our direct involvement—we’ve created a seamless, scalable model that puts efficiency and autonomy at the forefront.
Traction So Far
Dicot was incorporated in 2022. We are proud to have end-users like Tata Steel, BHEL, BEL, ISRO, IISc, Electrotherm India Ltd., Deep Industries Limited, Apollo Tyres Ltd., and 600+ factories across the globe. One of the biggest moments was when GE Healthcare started using our products despite having their own product which is similar. Apart from this, we have also been awarded top startup at GTU.
Meet the Team
Our team is young and dynamic, with an average age of just 23, bringing unmatched energy and fresh perspectives to everything we do. Complementing this vibrant team is our advisory board, a group of seasoned experts whose collective experience exceeds 100 years. This balance of youthful enthusiasm and seasoned guidance enables us to innovate boldly while staying grounded in industry wisdom.
Tapping Into Emerging Trends
With the growing acceptance of subscription models, thanks to the widespread adoption of OTT platforms, selling SaaS in the industrial sector has become more seamless. We’re also leveraging the recent surge in digitalization and the significant growth in manufacturing spurred by the Make in India campaign. These trends align perfectly with our vision, positioning us to drive transformative change in the industry.
Challenges We’ve Overcome
We have faced a lot of technical and business-related challenges. But the biggest learning is that not all B2B customers are equal. Some need more support than others and it is okay to price your product higher for them.
Where We're Headed
In the next five years, our goal is to establish ourselves as the leading home-grown brand for industrial-grade IoT software and hardware. As the world becomes increasingly connected, we’re also looking to expand into the home automation and IoT markets. With our products already proven for their reliability in industrial settings, we’re confident they will meet the evolving demands of the consumer market as it matures.
How the eChai Community Can Help
We are looking for referrals in factories, we are also keen on working with consultants who give consultancies to the factories. We will also be raising out angel round this year and will be looking for potential investors, so if you are someone who is interested in us, we will love to take you out for a coffee sometime.
Empower 1000+ Women: As a fashion stylist and coach, our mission is to guide and empower over 1000+ women in rebuilding their personal style. We aim to create transformative experiences that not only enhance their wardrobe but also boost their confidence and self-expression, helping them unlock their true potential.
Execution Plan: We are opening registration for our new personal styling batch from 16th January.100+ high value styling content throughout the year, which will be specially designed to empower and educate our community to elevate their styling game.
Expansion for Inara: As the founder and creative director of Inara, our goal is to launch 3 seasonal collection this year while staying true to Inara’s core philosophy of empowerment through fashion.
Execution Plan: The launch of our SS’25 collection is just around the corner, and it will set the tone for the year with a fresh, unconventional perspective on modern, chic designs. Our exhibition season kicks off soon, where we will be showcasing our exclusive range of collection.
As a Global Author and Speaker: As a best selling author, we aim to reach over 100,000 readers with our on going book tour and with our reader & non reader’s community.
Seizing the Opportunity
I am excited by the trend of fashion as a form of self-expression that celebrates individuality. People are moving away from fleeting trends and embracing their unique styles, and this cultural shift is something I’m incredibly passionate about. As a personal stylist and founder, I plan to to help my clients embrace their authentic selves through the clothing they wear.
Also, the fashion industry is making strides towards true inclusivity—not just in terms of size and shape but also in age, culture, and personal identity. This is a transformative moment, and it excites us because it allows us to work with a broader, more diverse audience.
We are eager to continue leading by example, ensuring that our brand, Inara, remains inclusive and empowering, while offering fashion that celebrates all women and their unique beauty.
Evolving as a Founder
As a founder and leader, what excites me most is the chance to inspire others—whether it’s through my journey as an entrepreneur, my book, or through the team I am building. I’m looking forward to sharing my story with larger audiences, sharing my experiences to show women that it's possible to turn their passion into a thriving business.
Most importantly, I am excited to connect with 50 more entrepreneurs in 2025, gaining insights from their journey and embracing opportunities to learn and unlearn valuable business lessons.
For me leadership is about service—ie. helping others unlock their full potential, guiding them through challenges, and celebrating their success. Thus, I want to make sure every voice is heard and valued in the coming years.
For 2025, what I truly want is Raftaar—speed, growth, and momentum. This year, I’m focused on a few key things to make that happen:
1. HR Tech – I’m excited to put more energy into the HR Tech space and make meaningful progress there.
2. Office Expansion – Right now, we have our office in Ahmedabad. By the end of 2025, I plan to open two more offices—one in Bangalore and another in Jaipur—so we’ll have three offices in total.
3. Overseas Expansion – We’re aiming to push more into overseas markets, especially in the USA, Australia, and a few other countries.
4. Revenue Target – The goal is ₹10 Crore in revenue by the end of 2025, with a team of 50 extraordinary, passionate, and driven people who are all in for the journey.
Seizing the Opportunity
We’ve already had a solid start with industries like co-working spaces, investment banking, AI/ML, media & production, healthcare, and IT product companies. This year, we want to grow in these industries even more, while also being open to exploring other emerging sectors. Ultimately, in 2025, I want us to carve out a niche where we’re recognized for our speed, quality, and impact.
Evolving as a Founder
On a personal level, there are a few things I’m really looking forward to this year as a founder and leader:
1. Health Focus – I want to give more attention to my physical and mental well-being, because staying healthy is key to maintaining the Raftaar I need to lead effectively.
2. Building the Team – I want to hire more creative, passionate people for HummingBird’s core team, invest in their growth, and help them become leaders in their own right.
3. Calm & Strategy – I want to be more calm and strategic in my decision-making, especially when things get intense. It’s important to stay clear-headed while pushing for Raftaar.
4. More Time for Family – I want to make more time for my family and loved ones, ensuring I stay connected and grounded as I continue on this journey.
5. Content Journey – I also want to continue my content journey, becoming more active and focusing on integrity. I want to add value to more people’s lives, sharing experiences and insights that can make a positive impact.
6. Spiritual Growth - Last but not the least as spiritual growth and peace are really important to me, as they bring a deeper sense of confidence and inner contentment. This year, I plan to focus more on nurturing these aspects of my life.
2025 is all about moving forward with purpose, focus, and, of course, Raftaar. It’s a year of building something lasting while also taking care of what matters most.
In the year 2025, the aim is for more collaborations for Parikh Assurance along with individual clientele, related to Labour Law Compliance Requirements among the companies. Collaborations with CAs, venture capitalists, investors who would require due diligence before investment followed by continuous advisory on labour laws/payroll along with execution of the same.
Seizing the Opportunity
Looking at the industry trends, there are two key things that we are focusing on. The first being the leveraging of AI in order to automate some routine tasks without impacting the quality/delivery of work. The second being a niche service line for startups to help them navigate through their due diligence process.
Evolving as a Founder
At a personal level, I am looking at honing my networking skills in order to build more professional relationships and a team full of ownership who can manage day to day work so that I can spare more time in the networking landscape.
Our journey from 1 to 10 has begun: Starting from Setting up international operations in the Middle East & UK to scale for the next phase of growth by being a solution-driven Media Agency. Growing Brand Portfolio in Gujarat & Beyond.
Seizing the Opportunity
Standing out in the Digital Domain is becoming harder and harder because content is becoming a commodity, so building distribution is a real challenge for businesses that want to establish their voice and build their brand using digital channels. We are excited to help brands enable their digital growth by leveraging technology, creativity and understanding their industry.
Evolving as a Founder
Focus and Skin in the game: Focus on building Digipple as a Brand which helps build brands on Digital Platforms, and Skin in the game by being in our clients' shoes, feeling their problems, and coming up with innovative digital solutions.
- Strengthening our identity from Crealoons Innovations to 369 Innovations & Manufacturing - Expanding from R&D to commence our very own manufacturing unit for medical devices in B2B space with the support of our network & connections in medical device companies in US - Entering a different business in diagnostics (sticking to our longer vision on making a name in medical devices) in Africa
Seizing the Opportunity
- Scope of better medical device innovations across multiple disciplines in healthcare - Global paradigm shift from governments to assist with medical devices - No or minimum import and export taxes on certain medical devices to give a benefit to companies like ours
Evolving as a Founder
- This year will be majorly focused on learning to find a balance between manufacturing & diagnostics - Looking forward to seeing my personal growth or failure in managing hiring between French speaking medical professionals & manufacturing professionals - To achieve a few personal goals like learning french to be able to establish work in francophone nations & new learning courses including a doctorate.
Our goal is to make Brands.live the best platform for SMEs and MSMEs to easily produce powerful brand content by the end of 2025. In addition to growing our content library to over 2 million assets serving a variety of businesses and cultures, our goals are to achieve 10 million app downloads worldwide.
Additionally, we are launching Brandspot365, a digital firm that operates virtually and specializes in creating customized content for Indian SMEs.
We're concentrating on AI-driven personalization: creating technologies that enable companies to produce distinctive, pertinent marketing collateral in a matter of seconds.
Global Expansion: Adding multilingual support and culturally appropriate templates to the platform.
Community Building: Assisting business owners and exchanging knowledge by collaborating with local chambers, business associations, and industry experts.
Seizing the Opportunity
The most intriguing trend in our sector is the convergence of creativity and artificial intelligence. Even the smallest companies can now market like Fortune 500 companies because to the development of generative AI technologies, which are democratizing access to top-notch creative talents.
Generative AI Integration: to produce films, visuals, and templates in real time that are tailored to the user's industry, audience tastes, and brand tone.
Content Requirements: Pre-designed creatives for branding during the year help companies meet the increasing need for digital content by putting an emphasis on supplying templates and promotional materials that are specifically created and in line with brand messaging.
Excellence in Service: To meet the intricate needs of content development, the Indian market needs assistance and support. To meet Masses' branding needs, we are broadening our support and service portfolio.
Evolving as a Founder
I’m most excited about building a culture of innovation and collaboration within our team. Learning and education team towards AI agent creation and building new age products for wider impact in the Branding and Marketing domain.
On a personal level, I’m prioritizing achieving a smarter work practice. I will be achieving an athlete's body before 19 September 2025 this year.
Our goal is to increase revenue by USD 3M in 2025. We’ll achieve this by deliberately integrating Gen AI into our existing products.
We’re also growing a new digital transformation business powered by AI and Microsoft Dynamics 365.
To stay agile and impactful, we’re streamlining our team by 50%, reallocating resources to focus on what truly matters in the years ahead. Some call it Transforming Your Business With Gen AI.
Seizing the Opportunity
The way we work is changing. We’re moving from a “thinker-doer” approach to a “prompter-AI-doer” model, where AI handles tasks faster and smarter. Generative AI has become our partner in co-creation. By embedding it into our workflows, we’re reducing repetitive tasks and unlocking new creative opportunities. This shift is redefining how we create value and accelerating our progress.
Evolving as a Founder
2024 was a year of big lessons.
I realized that autonomy and money alone aren’t enough, even for the most talented people. To succeed, you need the right blend of three things: mindset, skillset, and drive.
In 2025, I’m focused on building these qualities in my team. When the people thrive, the business follows.
By the end of 2025, we aim to successfully commercialize our new product, establish 'SleepFitness' as a new consumer wellness category. We'll achieve this through strategic market entry, building strong brand awareness, and demonstrating clear product-market fit with validated user metrics.
Seizing the Opportunity
We're excited about two major shifts: First, the evolution beyond traditional consumer wellness into holistic sustainable living solutions. Second, the Government of India's implementation of Time of Day Tariff for residential consumers in 2025.
This policy shift will drive consumer awareness about energy consumption patterns and aligns perfectly with our core focus on sustainability.
Evolving as a Founder
As the founder of 5AM Club, I currently maintain an early-rising routine, but my goal is to achieve a consistent 7-hour sleep schedule—a practice I recognize as crucial for sustained leadership and innovation.
I'll also continue prioritizing fitness while focusing on building and nurturing our expanding team.
We aim to be present across 3000 salons in India and claim our authority as a leader in textured hair care.
Seizing the Opportunity
40 Crore+ citizens are in the 18-42 bracket and spends on personal grooming is on a record high. We wish to latch on to the headwinds and gain the no 1 spot in salon professional range for textured hair.
Evolving as a Founder
I look forward to rise and shine my brand while also dedicating few hours per week to help idea to early stage startups pro-bono and help them to take the 0-1 step.
My vision for Tej SolPro in 2025 is to significantly grow our revenue, improve profitability, and work with some of the industry's most renowned clients. We’re also exploring AI-driven solutions to make our processes more efficient and scalable. With clear goals and innovative strategies, I’m confident we’ll achieve this transformation.
Seizing the Opportunity
AI is revolutionizing marketing, and I’m excited about its possibilities. We’re currently exploring its potential by creating demo products. Once we develop an MVP, we’ll test it with real users, gather feedback, and refine it before scaling up. The focus is on using technology to deliver practical, impactful solutions.
Evolving as a Founder
I’m looking forward to bringing more structure to my daily routine and making changes that enable both personal and professional growth. A key focus will be expanding the team with specialized roles to achieve our goals. And yes, upgrading to a MacBook is a good idea because every founder needs tools that inspire productivity and a little bit of swagger!
2025 holds incredible significance for us at Zatun. While we were poised for rapid growth in 2022, the AI revolution and widespread layoffs in 2023 and much of 2024 forced us to recalibrate and take a few steps back.
My boldest vision for Zatun is to successfully release multiple games, including our current in-development titles, by the end of 2025. Our goal is to establish Zatun as a leader in developing indie games that set a new standard for the next generation, especially as a proud representation of India—and Ahmedabad—in the global gaming landscape.
We aim to achieve a $2-3 million revenue milestone, marking a significant leap forward in our growth trajectory. Additionally, we aspire to expand our international presence with a sales office and a fully operational studio abroad, strengthening our global footprint.
Our goals include:
1. Releasing new titles on emerging platforms
· Explore unique and innovative platforms, including VR and mixed reality, to expand our user base and redefine immersive gaming experiences.
2. New Studios
· Establish studios in emerging or established markets to strengthen our development capabilities and foster local talent.
3. Redefining Game Development Services:
· Cementing Zatun as the preferred outsourcing partner for game development, offering high-quality art, design, and tech solutions supported by AI-enhanced workflows.
4. Releasing SCP: Project Pneuma:
· Launching the game in 2025, focusing on delivering an unforgettable experience that combines intense storytelling, innovative gameplay mechanics, and cutting-edge visuals.
5. Achieving a $2-3 Million Revenue Milestone:
· This will be accomplished through a strategic mixture of outsourcing services, new partnerships, game distribution, and joint-ventures that expand our reach and diversify revenue streams.
How We Plan to Achieve This
1. Focus on Excellence:
· Dedicate experienced resources with proven expertise in game design, narrative, and technical development to ensure our games deliver on their promise.
· Maintain a strong commitment to quality at every stage, from pre-production to post-launch support.
2. Innovative Approaches:
· Leverage AI and emerging technologies to enhance workflows and push creative and technical boundaries.
3. Strategic Partnerships:
· Collaborate with publishing partners, platforms, and joint ventures that align with our vision to maximize the game’s exposure and impact.
4. Community Engagement :
· Actively involve our audience by building anticipation through teasers, gameplay showcases, and interactive marketing campaigns, ensuring a loyal and engaged player base.
2025 is not just about releasing games; it is about setting new benchmarks for Zatun—delivering quality products, redefining game development services, and achieving bold revenue milestones. This is the year we position ourselves as a force to be reckoned with in the global gaming industry.
Seizing the Opportunity
Trends and Shifts We are Excited About in the Gaming Industry (2025):
The gaming industry is evolving rapidly, and several emerging trends excite us about the future. Here are the ones we are most focused on and how we plan to leverage them:
1. AI Revolution in Game Development
What Excites Us: AI transforms how games are created—from generating assets to crafting dynamic narratives. It enables smaller teams to produce AAA-quality experiences more efficiently and opens doors to innovation across all aspects of game development.
How We are Adapting: At Zatun, we integrate AI-powered tools into our workflows to streamline art creation, level design, and game development pipelines. By doing so, we’re enhancing efficiency, reducing production timelines, and elevating the creative potential of our team.
2. Rise of Mixed Reality (MR)
What Excites Us: The convergence of AR and VR into mixed reality unlocks new ways to blend the virtual and physical worlds. In 2025, we expect groundbreaking apps and experiences to redefine MR’s capabilities and transform how players interact with games.
How We are Adapting: We actively explore MR capabilities to create unique gaming experiences, making our titles playable across traditional and mixed-reality formats. Additionally, our outsourcing services are expanding to support MR projects, offering clients cutting-edge AR/VR integration expertise.
3. Growth of Indie Games and Cross-Platform Ecosystems
What Excites Us: Indie games are gaining significant attention, and cross-platform play is breaking down barriers, allowing players to connect seamlessly across devices. This democratization of gaming is creating new opportunities for smaller studios to shine.
How We are Adapting: We are positioning our indie titles to leverage cross-platform distribution, ensuring they reach a global audience across consoles, PCs, and mobile devices. Our outsourcing services are designed to help other indie studios and mid-tier developers achieve cross-platform compatibility efficiently, enabling them to tap into broader player bases.
Evolving as a Founder
On a Personal Level: Looking Ahead to 2025 as a Founder and Leader
As a founder and leader, 2025 feels like a pivotal year for Zatun and my own growth and development. What excites me most is the opportunity to elevate my leadership and personal journey while steering Zatun toward new heights.
1. Building a Stronger and Happier Team
· I am deeply committed to investing in my team’s professional growth, ensuring they have the tools, resources, and support they need to thrive and excel.
· Beyond their professional success, I want to foster a workplace where they feel passionate, proud, and genuinely happy to be a part of Zatun. Work-life balance will be a key priority to ensure their well-being matches their achievements.
2. Embracing Personal Growth
· My focus for 2025 is on honing my leadership skills—improving my ability to delegate, make strategic decisions, and inspire my team with a clear and compelling vision.
· On a personal level, I’m excited to tackle challenges outside of work, including climbing a few mountains on my bucket list. These adventures embody perseverance and growth, closely aligned with my leadership philosophy.
3. Celebrating Smaller Successes and Enjoying the Journey
While striving toward the bigger picture, I want to ensure we take time to celebrate smaller milestones along the way. These successes are what build momentum and keep the team motivated.
I aim to embrace the journey without overly focusing on the destination. The joy lies in our path and the moments we share.
2025 is poised to be a transformative year for CricHeroes. My boldest vision is to launch groundbreaking products in both hardware and AI, redefining grassroots cricket through innovation and value creation. Here's the roadmap:
Product Launches:
Hardware:
Match Camera and Academy Camera to elevate how cricket is documented and analyzed.
Ground LED systems to enhance the professional experience of grassroots cricket.
AI Applications:
Computer Vision: Automated highlights, DRS-like decision-making tools, and video analysis capabilities.
Large Language Models (LLMs):
Your Personal Cricket Coach: Tailored coaching advice.
Tournament Banner Generation Tool using Stable Diffusion.
AI-enabled voice and chat support for end-users.
Enhanced scorecards powered by intelligent insights.
Plan to Achieve This Vision:
- User-Centric Approach:
CricHeroes isn’t just about technology; it’s about delivering exceptional value to users. We will keep our users at the center of every decision, ensuring that each product truly enhances their experience.
- Collaborative Leadership:
"Alone, you can go fast; together, you can go far." To succeed, I need to lead with clarity and vision, set high expectations, and empower my team by removing obstacles and fostering collaboration.
Continuous Personal Growth:
Strategy: Execution only matters when guided by great strategy. My focus will be on crafting strategies that exponentially amplify impact.
Communication: A leader's ability to inspire is critical. I aim to refine my communication to align and energize the team.
AI : Staying ahead in AI is crucial to remain relevant both as a business and as an individual.
By 2027, I aspire to turn CricHeroes into a ₹100 crore revenue business, creating a lasting impact in grassroots cricket and beyond.
Seizing the Opportunity
The two most exciting trends in the grassroots cricket industry are AI and Video Technology.
- AI: The rise of artificial intelligence opens up endless possibilities to create personalized, data-driven experiences for players, coaches, and enthusiasts.
- Video: Video is becoming a cornerstone of engagement, allowing us to capture, analyze, and share cricketing moments like never before.
We plan to leverage these trends by delivering unprecedented user experiences, as outlined in our product vision for 2025. From AI-driven highlights and coaching tools to enhanced video analytics, our innovations will redefine how cricket is played, coached, and celebrated at the grassroots level.
Evolving as a Founder
Leadership is a journey of constant improvement, and in 2025, I am committed to becoming the best version of myself as a founder and leader.
Key Focus Areas:
Skill Development:
Improving my strategy to amplify the impact of our efforts.
Enhancing my communication to inspire and align the team towards our shared vision.
Mastering AI to stay at the forefront of innovation and relevance.
Connecting and Learning :
I aim to meet and learn from a diverse range of people—fellow founders, industry experts, and other leaders. This will not only enhance my own perspective but also allow me to share my knowledge and experiences.
Discipline and Rigor:
Leadership is a discipline, and I’m focused on approaching it with even greater rigor. I’ll stay committed to growth, for myself and my team, as we navigate this exciting phase for CricHeroes.
Our boldest vision for 2025 is to establish AppsRow as India’s leading agency in the emerging low-code and no-code platform space. These technologies are reshaping how businesses approach application development, making it faster, more accessible, and cost-effective. We aim to position ourselves as a trusted partner for organizations navigating this transformation.
To achieve this, we are building expertise in these platforms, delivering value-driven solutions, and nurturing partnerships with key technology providers. Additionally, we are investing in upskilling our team and refining our processes to ensure we stay at the forefront of this revolution.
Seizing the Opportunity
The IT landscape undergoes transformative changes every few years, and the rise of AI and low-code/no-code technologies is the next big wave. These trends excite me because they empower businesses to innovate faster and democratize technology adoption, leveling the playing field for SMEs and startups.
As an agency, we are actively aligning our capabilities to capture a significant market share in this domain. By offering tailored solutions that integrate AI with low-code/no-code platforms, we aim to help clients accelerate their digital transformation journeys while reducing complexity and cost. Our strategy includes staying agile, keeping a pulse on emerging trends, and ensuring that our offerings are both innovative and impactful.
Evolving as a Founder
In 2025, my focus is on building a high-performing team that shares our vision and values. I aspire to create an environment at AppsRow where talent thrives, innovation flourishes, and collaboration drives excellence. My goal is for AppsRow to not only be a leader in technology but also one of the most desirable companies to work for in Ahmedabad within the next five years.
As a founder and leader, I am deeply committed to fostering a culture of growth, transparency, and ownership. Seeing my team succeed and grow alongside the company is what motivates me the most. Together, we will build a legacy of excellence and innovation that inspires others in the industry.
In 2025, our boldest vision is to position Imagine Powertree as the global leader in Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) and Urban Photovoltaics (UPV), with a special focus on Solar Trees, Facades, and Gazebos and Solar Tiles with a vision to bring Sun4Everyone a reality.
These solutions aim to make solar energy accessible to urban spaces and high-rise buildings without rooftop access.
We plan to achieve this through design innovation, scaling partnerships across Africa and North America, and executing high-impact projects with governments and corporates.
Seizing the Opportunity
The rising demand for urban solar solutions excites me most, especially for products like Solar Trees that combine aesthetics with functionality and Solar Facades that make buildings energy-efficient.
We are leveraging this by expanding solar tree installations in public spaces and partnering with real estate developers to integrate solar facades, tile and cladding into building designs, setting new benchmarks in the industry.
Evolving as a Founder
I look forward to scaling our vision while building a strong leadership team and fostering innovation.
Personally, I’m focused on achieving better health and mindfulness, mentoring other entrepreneurs, and ensuring Imagine Powertree becomes a model for sustainability-driven growth.
To bring about a positive impact, improving productivity to most critical part of the human lifecycle i.e. the cattle & Livestock. We intend to Improve the quality of diagnosis for animals in most affordable way & eliminate economic losses across value chain during the productivity lifecycle of the cattle(s).
This year we aim to launch research driven critical testing diagnostic kits across verticals viz. POCT Analysers, Molecular PCR Range, ELISA Kits, Rapid for life threatening diseases like brucella, Foot Mouth Disease. This shall act as catalyst for cattle trade and cattle’s productivity which enables on-spot self-testing and will save farmers from economic loss that may arise from infected cattle.
We desire to partner with government & semi-government bodies to promote cattle & Livestock health which can speed up the acceptability & adaptability towards the modern approach.
Given that mobility of cattle’s being the biggest challenge in India & lack of veterinary medical infra, we also intend to empower and equip Veterinary doctors with Bignano point of care devices to enable on-spot qualitative diagnosis for cattle’s in the remotest part of the country.
Seizing the Opportunity
Having realised that cattle’s health is important for nations well-being & prosperity, there is a clear central government policy shift towards animal’s health with increased budget allocations with an objective to address the critical issue to arrest the steep decline in milk production growth & cattle’s health.
There is an Increased budget allocation towards Livestock health & disease control from 800 crs [2022-23] to 2465 crs [2023-24].
Central government has merged most of the schemes under “Rashtriya Gokul Mission” and to improve quality of breeding, Artificial Insemination Programme is now directly being monitored by the central government. Recently government has also announced to eradicate Brucella & FMD Disease by 2030.
Evolving as a Founder
Personally, I am looking forward to build & take forward my belief that Animal’s health is a valuable equity for the society & requires same level of solutions as humans for basic preventive healthcare.
To accomplish this, looking forward to partner with government & semi-government bodies to spread awareness about the use advanced diagnostic solutions which will result in economic prosperity for small, medium and marginal cattle owners.
By the end of 2025, my boldest vision for Wizzy.ai is to become the de facto AI-powered search and discovery platform for eCommerce globally, revolutionizing how customers interact with online brands. We aim to power 1,000+ eCommerce businesses, including a significant presence among Fortune 500 retailers, helping them deliver hyper-personalized search, merchandising, and recommendation experiences.
To achieve this, we’re focusing on three key pillars:
Product Innovation: Building cutting-edge capabilities like visual and voice search, AI-driven conversational shopping assistants, and advanced personalization through real-time data analytics.
Strategic Partnerships: Strengthening our content licensing and integrations with Gen AI LLMs, opening pathways to collaborate with tech giants and bolster our technology stack.
Global Expansion: Entering new markets, particularly North America and Europe, supported by strategic hiring, localized solutions, and strong regional partnerships.
Seizing the Opportunity
I’m most excited about the increasing integration of generative AI and large language models in the eCommerce ecosystem. Customers now expect seamless, intuitive, and highly personalized interactions, and AI is at the forefront of making this possible.
We plan to leverage this trend by:
Enhancing Conversational AI: Incorporating LLMs to create more human-like and contextually aware search interactions.
Embracing Omnichannel Integration: Supporting seamless customer experiences across web, mobile, voice assistants, and emerging AR/VR platforms.
Focusing on Data-Driven Insights: Using AI to provide actionable, real-time insights for merchants to improve conversions and customer loyalty.
Additionally, I see a shift towards privacy-focused AI, and we’re committed to embedding robust data security and ethical AI principles into our solutions.
Evolving as a Founder
In 2025, I’m most excited about fostering a high-performing, innovative team culture at Wizzy.ai. As a leader, I want to focus on:
Empowering My Team: Creating an environment where our people can thrive, innovate, and take ownership of bold ideas.
Personal Growth: Honing my strategic thinking and leadership skills to steer the company through high-growth phases while staying grounded in our mission.
Work-Life Balance: As much as I’m committed to the business, I aim to carve out time for personal growth and well-being to stay energized and focused.
Ultimately, I look forward to celebrating the milestones we achieve as a team while continuing to push the boundaries of what’s possible in eCommerce AI.
eChai Ventures partners with select brands as their growth partner, helping them expand market reach, drive revenue growth, amplify brand visibility, and strengthen hiring efforts.
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