Hello Everyone,
Super delighted to share our tiny story that got featured on today’s Times of India Business page (Bangalore edition). And another big news from our side, we have raised our first round from Hyderabad angels, CommonFloor co-founders and others. Here are the articles:
“FLYING START – Our wedding arrangement problems gave us the idea for the startup
For 18 months, Anjaneyulu Reddy and his wife Swathi Bavanaka had sleepless nights. The venture they co-founded had only two employees in the first one-and-a-half years of operations -they themselves.They even doubled up as customer enquiry and customer care executives, attending calls from places like Australia, Singapore, Dubai, the US -straddling time zones separated by 17 hours from one end to the other.
The Hyderabad couple secured their first funding from a few angel investors after two years of profitable operations. Their startup, Evibe.in, is a platform for event managers, venues, decorators and photographers to organize a party or a wedding.Upon entering the requirements, the platform suggests various packages. The startup, which has nine employees now, plans to rapidly expand its offerings and hire another 15-20 people over the next couple of months.
The Evibe idea came when they decided to tie the knot, after two years of courtship, in 2013. Reddy and Bavanaka, then working with a startup in Bengaluru, were searching online for decorators, photographers and venues in Hyderabad, where the wedding was slated to happen later that year. “We were already buying goods, movie and bus tickets online. But aggregation platforms of Just Dial and Sulekha were not curated and we had to make numerous calls. We also had to negotiate and bargain with the vendors,“ says Reddy .
With just Rs 5 lakh as joint savings in the bank, the couple decided to start a venture to address the problem.While they wanted to be a wedding marketplace, they found more interest from those looking to conduct birthday parties. The website launched on February 10, 2014, and got its first customer within 24 hours -a birthday party for the customer’s six-year-old daughter.
“On other online platforms, event managers had to pay money upfront. They were pleasantly surprised to see that we were looking at a commission after the transaction was finalized. For them, conversion of calls to business was the difficult proposition,“ says Reddy.
Lack of savings forced Reddy to look for consumers and revenue from day one. “Staying lean and not offering any discounts or coupons helped us to be profitable,“ says Reddy , adding that focussing on a real consumer problem will create a big enough market, obviating the need for discounting.The company did not spend money on marketing either.
Reddy, a BITS Pilani graduate, was focussed on getting a job at a MNC during his first three years at college. But a six month internship with technology firm HP during his final year of engineering changed Reddy’s attitude towards entrepreneurship.Reddy and his team at HP created a few products that international customers adopted.“I used to code all day and night, sleeping at the office.My boss was sure that I should join a startup and become an entrepreneur later,“ says the 27-year old.
That’s what he did. He joined learning gamification venture Knolskape, and within three years, started Evibe.While his parents were “OK“ with him joining a startup, they were devastated with his entrepreneurship plans just ahead of the wedding.“They had just decided to accept Swathi as my wife after two years of intransigence.And this was a double whammy!“ says Reddy , adding that they are happy now.”
“Online Marketplace For Party Services, Evibe.In, Gets Funding From Hyderabad Angels, Commonfloor Founders & Others
Online marketplace for party services, Evibe.in, has raised an undisclosed amount in angel funding round led by Hyderabad Angels. The round also saw participation from Lalit Mangal (co-founder of Commonfloor), Vikas Malpani (co-founder of CommonFloor), Gaurav Bhalotia (VP Engineering, Flipkart) and LV Prasad & Co. from BITS Alumni.
Bangalore-based Evibe.in was founded in February 2014 by B Anjaneyulu Reddy and Swathi Bavanaka. It is an online platform for hassle-free party planning with a wide range of packages & trends relevant to an occasion. These packages can be booked online. A typical package includes party hall, decor, photo shoot, etc. either individually or in a combination. They aim to ensure 100% service delivery guarantee with minimal human interaction. The startup has been growing at an average 20% every month with over 1,60,000 guests.
With this funding, the company plans to expand across all celebrations such as pre-post weddings, house warming, conferences, etc. in Bangalore in next 6-9 months. Evibe.in visions to expand into all major party services including return gifts, invitations, variety artists & more to make it a one-stop platform for celebrations.
On the development investor LV Prasad said, “Evibe addresses a major pain point associated with arranging any kind of party in today’s busy urban life. At Evibe, with a few clicks, one can pick up the location, the food, the decor, the cake, the entertainers and all the paraphernalia that goes with arranging a party. And to me, the biggest takeaway is the time saved by avoiding long drives to see locations, meeting vendors and hundreds of phone calls in coordination.”
Sorry to share this late. I actually wanted to share our experience in detail and here I am without even sharing the update.
Best,
Anji
@_anji
@evibeIn
asha chaudhry
hey many congrats anji!!!
way to go!
when you have a breather, i’d love for you to share some learnings on the process of getting funded. that would really help other rodinhooders here. some do’s and don’ts – what helps.
another article that comes in mind, is what it’s like to start a venture with your spouse 🙂
we have a few more rodinhooder couples but it would be interesting to hear your story!!
all the best. keep rocking!
Anji Beeravalli
Many thanks Asha :). Yes, I should put across the learning during our fund raise process when they are fresh on my mind. Haha, couple co-founders is an interesting thing. I will try to put it across as well.