'Your story is what you will always have’: your startup fix to start the week

Monday April 08, 2019 , 4 min Read

Most first ladies linger in the shadows of their more famous husbands. But not Michelle Obama. During her eight-year stint as the first lady, she worked as an advocate for poverty awareness, education, and served as a role model for women – and a really fashionable one at that!

Moving out of the White House wasn’t an ending; it was the beginning. Michelle Obama has gone on to become a rock star since then. Her memoir, Becoming, sold 1.4 million copies in its first week and could most likely pave the way for a sparkling post-White House political career. And the strong woman continues to stand tall as inspiration to millions of women and girls across the world.

Michelle nailed it when she said that strong men “don't need to put down women to make themselves feel powerful. People who are truly strong lift others up. People who are truly powerful bring others together”.

We love all that this champion of change has to say. Especially when she says: “Your story is what you have, what you will always have. It is something to own.”

Inspired much? If you need more motivation this hot Monday morning, it’s right here in the form of our startup stories.

ONN Bikes is now revving up for its next big ride

Mumbai and Bengaluru-based ONN Bikes has close to 3,500 bikes in nine cities, and employs 130 people. Its annual revenue is close to Rs 7 crore, and with a burn of Rs 1.3 crore, they are yet to break even but post the best unit economics in the mobility industry. ONN Bikes also has a B2B practice, and counts Ola and Uber among its first few clients. It has raised $3 million in debt, and $1.2 million from ZNation Labs and Grace Capital.

How Tamil Nadu's towns are scripting the new startup story

From 22-year-old matchmaking website BharatMatrimony.com to startup unicorn Freshworks, Singara Chennai is home to several prominent entrepreneurs. But the spirit of entrepreneurship in Tamil Nadu is not limited to the capital city alone. Interesting startups with great potential are emerging from Tier II and Tier III cities.

Yearbook Canvas helps institutes preserve memories for students

Founded in 2015, Yearbook Canvas is a self-publishing memory and data company, offering yearbooks or memory books in digital and physical form for schools, colleges, universities, and companies. The startup preserves student memories by customising yearbooks. It has published over one lakh yearbooks for more than 100 elite institutes like the IITs, IIMs, medical and law colleges, apart from some international institutions.

The time of electric mobility is here, say Vogo co-founders

Last-mile mobility company Vogo has more than 4,000 two-wheelers on the road and serves over three million rides per year. In a candid conversation with YourStory Business Editor Vishal Krishna, Anand Ayyadurai, Founder and CEO, and Padmanabhan Balakrishnan, Founder and COO, reveal their strategy on electric vehicles and how Vogo plans to be a leader in urban mobility.

BeatO is using technology to help India beat diabetes

India is well known as the “diabetes capital” of the world. WHO estimated that there will be around 100 million people with diabetes in India by 2030. These facts led Yash Sehgal and Gautam Chopra to start BeatO in 2015. The full-stack platform provides information on, and products for diabetes management. BeatO serves 50,000 diabetic customers in over 1,500 cities since last year, and is fulfilling 15,000 transactions in a month.

This startup is working to be the Uber for co-working spaces

GoFloaters is a platform that helps hundreds of early-stage startups and freelancers in Chennai, Bengaluru, and Coimbatore to find plug-and-play workspaces. Founded in 2015, it has 60 spaces in Chennai, 31 in Bengaluru, and two in Coimbatore. The founder says GoFloaters plans to be operational in eight cities across India by the end of 2019, with an average of 100 partner spaces.

From being written off to coming back with 16 patents in EV

In 2009, Dhivik Ashok and his father Ashok discussed the future of mobility in India and set up GoGreenBOV. By 2015, the father-son duo had a million dollars in revenue, and was poised to grow bigger. But, in 2016, the two realised their bikes were dying early because of lead acid batteries. And so, the team went deep into R&D from the profits they had made. Soon, the market wrote them off. After spending three years in the jungle, the GGBOV team is back with a bang.