Hyderabad: In a first, the We-Hub start-up Sivi, a digital aggregator of personal care services, launched their outlet last week at Ameerpet Metro Rail station to cater to the transit-oriented lifestyle of commuters. The start-up web-application is like Swiggy for beauty services that connects salons and aestheticians to customers via a mobile application.
Since outlets in Metro Rail stations are not pocket-friendly, We-Hub is helping them get rental subsidies.
During their incubation at We-Hub, the start-up will be working on the tech enablement of their product and digital transformation of their customer experience. The outlet is set up on a permanent basis and is not a make-shift stall.
Ms Silpa Tummalapenta, co-founder of Sivi, said, “Through the WRI cities STAMP Challenge of Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited, we realised the opportunity ahead of us. With the help of We-Hub we approached Metro Rail authorities and came up with Sivi Xpress. It is part of the Sivi app.”
She said the response had been good over the past week. “Our prices are dynamic and 70 per cent less than the market price. We are not concentrating on our turnover at the moment.”
The start-up was co-founded by Ms Tummalapenta and her dietician friend Viniti Singh. The 31-year-old Hyderabad based techie turned entrepreneur, noted that their start-up is boot strapped and is looking for investors to expand the business.
Sivi is looking to expand to key Metro Rail stations and other nodes in 2019. They are looking to expand operations in Asia’s largest station, the Mahatma Gandhi Bus Stand (MGBS).
Apart from the express services, Sivi also has an app available on play store and is a digital aggregator of personal care services. The app will enable businesses to handle their front office operations and customers to choose the business that suits their needs.
We-Hub’s Cab Dost wins WTI award
We-Hub associated start-up Cab Dost won the Women Transforming India (WTI) Award in collaboration with the United Nations. The award is supported by NITI Aayog. The social enterprise start-up is working towards bringing drivers to the mainstream by making them eligible to borrow from state institutions instead of private money lenders.
The start-up works with the taxi driver community in India, to help them file Income Tax returns and aims to bring about their financial inclusion by creating awareness. It also helps them to build a reliable credit score and plan finances. Cab Dost helps blue collar workers become financially empowered.
Founder Yamuna Sastry V started off as a part of the virtual incubation program since Cab Dost was headquartered in Bengaluru. But the start-up is ramping up operations in Hyderabad -- hiring a tech and audit team and is part of the We-Hub incubation program. The award was conferred by Vice President Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday.
WTI Awards 2018 received over 2300 nominations this year, and through a highly objective and transparent screening and evaluation process they selected 15 winners from sectors such as Renewable Energy, Education, Sanitation, Art and Culture, Social Innovation and Impact among others.
