If you have cycled into a headwind, then making the most of the tailwind becomes a lot easier. Nobody perhaps knows it better than Greg Moran, who zoomed into gusty headwinds the moment he co-founded Zoomcar, a selfdrive car rental platform, in 2013 in Bengaluru. To start with, there was an operational challenge. Zoomcar didn’t have a licence. Reason: The Contract Carriage Permit meant that the startup needed to have vehicles with yellow board licence plates. “But we didn’t have a fleet,” recalls Moran. There were other issues too. Zoomcar had raised seed funding, tied up with several carmakers, and Moran had put in all his savings. “It was a make-or-break situation,” he recounts. After navigating the existential crisis, came another one: Consumer mindset. “Car rentals were a completely unheard-of category when we started,” says Moran, chief executive officer of Zoomcar. The startup, subsequently, added heft to its operations by roping in marquee investors such as Mahindra & Mahindra, Ford Smart Mobility, Sequoia and Sony Innovation Fund.
Cut to 2020. After battling headwinds for four years, Moran found the perfect tailwind. While the pandemic has been challenging for people at a personal level, Zoomcar has fortunately been one of those businesses that has seen the tailwind, he points out. “I expect the boom time to continue for subscription-based mobility. We have seen a consistent 4-5x jump every week for the past three months,” he tells Forbes India. Edited excerpts:
Q The pandemic is the demonetisation moment for your business as shared mobility has taken a hit…
Denne historien er fra October 9, 2020-utgaven av Forbes India.
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Denne historien er fra October 9, 2020-utgaven av Forbes India.
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Home-Cooked Meal Is Now Greatly Valued
The pandemic has also brought with it an improved focus on hygiene, use of technology in dining, rise of cloud kitchens and resurgence in popularity of Indian ingredients
Paytm 3.0 - Reaching Near Breakeven In Two Years
As of 2020, Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s super app for financial services had run up losses in thousands of crores. Now, as digital payments gets yet another boost courtesy Covid-19, he’s hopeful of reaching near breakeven in two years
THE PANDEMIC HAS CAUSED WOMEN GREATER LABOUR PAIN
Covid-19 has shown that women are more likely to face the brunt of job losses than men, and find fewer opportunities when they want to resume. That apart, several have to deal with increased hours of unpaid work at home and even domestic abuse
LEADERSHIP WILL BE ABOUT SEEING THE BIGGER PICTURE
Leaders must not only guard their teams first during a crisis, but also deal with stakeholders with respect and dignity. And apart from pursuing business goals, they should remain committed to our planet and the environment
PHILANTHROPY SHOULD BE HUMBLE, BUT NOT MODEST
Apart from building a flexible and resilient framework for the future, philanthropists, civil society and the government must work in tandem so that every rupee is absorbed on the ground
INTEGRATED HEALTH CARE, TECH WILL DISRUPT SECTOR
While clinical research will get a boost, having a skilled workforce and public spending on health care will be challenges in the near term
DIGITALISATION WILL HELP IN VALUE CREATION
As the pandemic brings technology and innovation to the core of business and daily life, the next decade will see about 150 million digital-first families in India
Industry 4.0: Climate Revolution?
Augmenting sustainability alongside digital capabilities is an economic, competitive and global opportunity for India’s businesses, but regulations need to reflect intent
EV Dream Still Miles Away
Electric vehicles have remained a buzzword in India for years. But not much has moved on ground due to high upfront costs, range anxiety and charging infrastructure
Living Waters
A virus has caused us to scramble for oxygen but our chokehold on the environment is slowly strangling the very waters that breathe life into us. The virus is a timely reminder: We are merely consumers, not producers of life’s breath on this planet
