Inclov: A Matchmaking App Focusing on People with Disability and Health Disorders to Find Love
We have 1.2 billion people with disabilities worldwide including 100 million from India. 600 million of them are single. 67% people with disability in India do not find a life partner. Inclov is globally the first matchmaking app which is accessible to one billion people with disability worldwide and matches people on the basis cure availability, medical condition, level of independence and lifestyle choices. People with visual impairment, retina disorder, cerebral palsy and colour blindness among many others can easily access this app without any dependency on friends and family members.
Inclov was launched by Kalyani Khona and Shankar Srinivasan in January 2016.
JEET SHARMA INTERACTS WITH KALYANI KHONA, CO-FOUNDER, INCLOV AND SPOKE TO HER
How did the entrepreneurial bug bite you?
I'm an accidental entrepreneur. If you met me in the year 2013, you could have easily passed me off as a recent college graduate trying to find my way through the chaos of recruitment, peer pressure, salary packages, application to foreign universities, MBA and everything else that a 21-year-old young person is usually concerned about.But unlike others, I wasn’t going to give in to the next best thing that would be a stepping stone to my career. To be honest, I had always been curiosity-driven, and not career-driven.Hence to avoid the noise after graduation, I packed my backpack and went to Brazil till my bank balance turned zero. I only came back after three months of living it all with no regrets. I partied all night daily at Lapa, went home only past sunrise and explored Rio de Janeiro in the daytime. If life ever told me I was going to be an entrepreneur, I would either forget about that thought in a second, or laugh it off.
What is your Product or Service / Offerings to Customer?
Of the 1.2 billion people with disabilities, 600 million people in the 20-60 age range are single. Existing services in the matchmaking space are not designed to be accessible for people with disabilities. Inclov is the world’s first matchmaking app focusing on people with disability and health disorders to find love.
Until we launched this app, people had to painfully endure using existing products, leading to a higher churn rate due to lack of customized filters and mismatched expectations. Our existing users are those who have been looking for their life partner for several years now on different platforms and services, but have been unsuccessful in doing so. Our app employed methods of matching individuals based on their level of independence, cure availability, medication and instruments used. This led to a higher acceptance rate, due to transparency of information and clear expectation setting. The app promotes inclusion, and does not restrict access to only people with disabilities.
Our app also ensured optimal readability of profile pages through mobile screen readers. We also support users with upper body immobility. A video calling feature is next in our pipeline to address the needs of the hearing impaired.
What were the challenges before you while setting up this startup?
Social mindset which constantly created a barrier for people with disability who were looking for love
We are a private limited company working in a social sector. Hence, raising funds initially was a challenge considering the whole sector primarily raises funds through grants and CSR
How is your business model different from the existing ones?
We are the world's first matchmaking app focusing on people with disability and health disorders through customized filters and accessible technology. Our product is quite different from the available options in the market. Even though our business model is subscription based, what they are paying for is completely different. The value proposition is unique.
Who are your clients? How do you look at expanding?
Our clients include but are not limited to people with disability and health disorder only. We are trying to build an inclusive community where anyone who wants to take a different approach at finding their life partner can join Inclov.
We plan to have a global reach in future since this problem is not restricted to India only. Accessibility is a global need that is being noticed and discussed in Twitter and Facebook HQs as well.
The best and worst memories while setting up
Best - When we successful crowd-funded the prototype of Inclov with the help of 143 global backers.
Worst - In 2015, I was struggling with funds to set up our business. That time was tough since the team was small and we had very little direction on where this was going.
Your Marketing Plans so that world know you
Community enablement through offline meetups and technology
