Thank you for joining us at the eChai Ventures AI Day at Urban Vault HSR!

We gathered. We discussed. We fuelled our minds with food for thought - what will the differentiator be when AI brings parity to ship out faster, how do you garner trust, do we need to worry about something here, and more.

We unpacked stories of the startups we are building and how AI can be leveraged to save time and increase efficiency among other things.

We fielded questions from curious minds on quantum computing and beyond!

Thank you for taking out the time on a Saturday evening to be with us and collectively experience the joy of gathering IRL! Signing off with Kuldeep Meel, Mehul Jain, Rabi Shanker Guha, Vijaypal Singh and an audience that believed in authentic interaction!

TAG someone who's building in the AI space and we'd love to have them for our future gatherings :)

*Ghibli version by one of our attendees, Rakesh Sahni.

** Baked eggless coconut cake and muffins to share with everyone coz baking is therapy!

https://x.com/rakeshsahni_/status/1908583072536420738

https://x.com/johurulmaz/status/1908559254161699146

We interviewed Ekta Shah, Co-Founder of Biziverse — a startup quietly transforming how Indian SMBs adopt ERP and CRM tools. They are building it from Gandhinagar.

Here’s the full story in her words:

What We Do

Biziverse, our startup, offers a single platform for Indian businesses to manage their operations and get new business opportunities. It covers ERP & CRM software tools, along with various B2B platforms, thus serving as a "Business Universe". Further, it simplifies ERP & CRM software and makes it very easily affordable, so that even the smallest business can be empowered to become a smart business.

How It All Began

The idle time during the Covid19 lockdown inspired us to wonder why, despite there being hundreds of ERP software options, most small businesses have been unable to apply technology beyond accounting and spreadsheets. We set ₹1000 to ₹2000 per year as the target price, and designed a business model and optimized systems to deliver easy and low-cost ERP software profitably.

What Makes Us Tick

Biziverse makes business software (ERP & CRM) more than 10X lower cost for growing businesses, while offering faster and better support. Even while thousands of businesses access it every day, our team of hardly six support executives maintains a response time of under 2 minutes, even on Sundays. Our system designs for sales automation, support optimization, and scalability make this possible.

Traction So Far

Frankly, Biziverse has exceeded our own expectations so far. In the four years since our launch in late-2020, more than 44,000 businesses have purchased a Biziverse subscription. These range from small shops to large publicly listed corporations, located across India, from Ladakh to Lakshadweep. We have raised about ₹4.5 crore, and operate on a gross-profitable basis.

Meet the Team

The culture of our startup combines traditional family principles with youthful energy for creative disruption. Each of us founders (my father, brother, and I) studied and returned from the US with the passion to participate in India's growth, and Biziverse is built with this mission as well. We work with a highly empowered team of talented engineers and managers, recruited from some of the best universities here, who share this spirit that by building smart businesses, we can make a Strong India.

Tapping Into Emerging Trends

It is wonderful to see that Indian entrepreneurs, of every size and demographic, are more aspiring than ever. They have embraced mobile and Internet technology. Governmental reforms like GST, UPI, and low-cost Internet further encourage this trend. As these businesses face competition from global suppliers and funded startups, they increasingly see the usefulness of smart tools like ERP and CRM to become efficient and customer-centric. Our low-cost pricing and easy interface inspires them to choose Biziverse first.

Challenges We’ve Overcome

Our biggest challenge has been to optimize customer acquisition. While our operating costs, second year onwards, are hardly ₹10 per customer, and our support is also very optimized, our biggest cost is sales, especially as some of our competitors have more than 100X our financial muscle. We resolved this by tweaking our business model, and offering the first year at only a token price, while assuring a fairly low renewal rate next year. This encourages businesses to give Biziverse a chance first.

Where We're Headed

Biziverse stands for and aims to be the "Business Universe". Even as we started with ERP and CRM software, we channel the attention of business users to actively participate in our platforms to find business opportunities, to promote their creations, to find better vendors, and to build synergy with other businesses. We will soon launch partnerships to offer external services to businesses, ranging from travel to recruitment to advisory services. Thus, Biziverse will be the single source for business owners for operations and opportunities and more.

How the eChai Community Can Help

eChai has been a wonderful source for us to learn from peers, as we interact with other progressive startups pursuing diverse spaces. In the coming future, we count on eChai to connect for potential B2B partnerships and VC fundraising.

Demo Video

https://youtu.be/h2BT59-MthM?si=atSercXdpTnZgR-8

Wasn’t 8th March International Women’s Day? Then what made 12th April 2025 so special?

Because at eChai Ventures 's Women’s Day meetup, we celebrated women beyond just a date on the calendar.

From 18-year-old dreamers to seasoned professionals, from those just starting out to industry experts — it was a space where stories collided, inspiration flowed, and connections sparked.

It was empowering to be among women redefining what it means to lead — whether it’s teaching bike riding or safeguarding businesses through cybersecurity. The spectrum of energy, strength, and ambition was nothing short of powerful.

Key takeaways that echoed throughout the room:

1. You don’t need to find the road not taken — create one, and show the world why it wasn’t taken yet.

2. Show up — even when you're not sure where it’s leading. That’s how journeys begin.

3. A Convo we had during the meetup that how #womeninmaledominatedfields was once a trend on Instagram but now?

- It isn't just a trend, it's the reality.
- We're surrounded with women in entrepreneurship, a field assumed to be male dominated in itself.

Here’s to the women who are building, leading, and rewriting the rules — one bold step at a time.

Special thanks to Jatin Chaudhary for this initiative!

Let’s continue building this tribe of fearless women. Connect. Collaborate. Create. 

Rinky V. Shraddha Nagrani Ria Rohatgi Aarti Banerjee XACKTON

#XACKTON #eChai #WomensDayEveryday 

At GDG Ahmedabad 2024, Manoj Adwani, founder of narad.io, delivered one of those talks that quietly rewire how you think about growth.

His central idea was simple but powerful:
"People don’t buy the best product. They buy the best-known product."

And in the current landscape, where founders obsess over features, Manoj made a compelling case for why visibility, not just innovation, is what drives traction. Especially for early-stage startups.

Drawing on 17 years in tech and his experience building narad.io, Manoj outlined why video content should be a top priority for founders — not later, but right now.

He shared how startups can punch above their weight by focusing on:

Cost-effective reach:
You don’t need a marketing team. Just a smartphone, a basic mic, and something meaningful to say. Compared to ads or paid campaigns, videos have more longevity and better ROI for early-stage teams.

Building trust at scale:
Seeing the founder speak — whether it’s in a product walkthrough, a behind-the-scenes vlog, or a short insight reel — creates authenticity. It helps users, investors, and potential hires connect with the people behind the product.

Creating long-term assets:
A well-made YouTube video or a LinkedIn post by the founder can keep working for months. Unlike ads, which stop performing once the budget runs out, good content compounds over time.

He also laid out a practical framework for founders:

One thing he repeated often: the founder has to lead this.

It doesn’t have to be perfect. In fact, the more real it feels, the better.

He talked about using strategies like the "silence pitch" — where you showcase your product inside a story, without selling it outright.

He emphasized storytelling that makes people feel something — not just think something.

And when it comes to gear? Keep it simple.

Phone. Wired mic. Decent lighting. Budget? Around ₹50,000, if that.

Most importantly, he shared his own journey.

It took him 20 months to reach his first 1,000 Instagram followers. But once he hit that point, consistent content started compounding. It wasn’t about going viral. It was about showing up, over and over again.

He ended with a strong reminder:

If you’re building something and still stuck in stealth mode, this talk is your nudge.

Start small. Start messy. But start.

This is one of those sessions you’ll probably come back to.

We pushed the limits of our terrace space by hosting over 160+ #entrepreneurs last Saturday! 🧠🔥🌆

The Bengaluru Startup Meetup on Fundraising for Startups, co-hosted with eChai Ventures, turned out to be one of our most high-energy events yet at Draper Startup House, Bangalore. 🚀🎤✨

We had the privilege of hosting two incredible speakers:

- Harnidh K., Head of Fund, WTFund – She broke down their complete vetting process, what they truly look for in founders and why WTFund has become such a magnet for young entrepreneurs 💼💡. It was mind-blowing 🤯 to learn that they receive 2500+ applications per cohort and every single one is read and vetted personally by the team – with zero AI or automation 🤓📄.

She also spent over an hour before and after the event chatting with founders 1:1 – total legend 🧃🫶.

- Neha Lakhwara, CEO, Agility Ventures – Neha didn’t just talk about Agility's investment thesis 💰 and the sectors they’re bullish on 📊🛠️ — she also shared why she will always bet on a founder who shows clarity & grit. 🧠💪. She opened up about her favourite deal and what made it stand out 💎🚀, plus gave a masterclass on the do’s and don’ts of a pitch deck – founders took notes like crazy 📝📉📈.

Huge shoutout to the 160+ attendees who brought the vibe, fired sharp questions 🔥🧨 (some controversial ones too 👀) and stayed till the very end 💬🌙.

We pulled this off thanks to the kindest speakers who gave us their time and wisdom, expecting nothing in return 🕊️💙.

Can’t wait to host Harnidh and Neha again at Draper Startup House soon 🏠🔁