Worried about shuffling through various transport apps to find the nearest one? Or the cheapest one? Use Instago, the app that lets you find the closest available cabs, auto's, bike taxi's and public transport options around you and compare based on Price and ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival).
Instago aims to be the ultimate travel app which allows you to compare all travel modes to go from point A to point B on the basis of price, ETA and duration. Currently the startup is operating the intra-city version and will extend the concept to inter-city as well. The customers sees all options in front of him/her and can pick and choose the desired mode of transport without having to shuffle through multiple apps. This allows customers to save not only money but also time. It has partnered with numerous players such as Ola, Easycabs, Jugnoo etc. to display realtime fares and ETAs.
The startup was founded in 2015 by Aneesh Seth, Anmol Ahlawat and Nakul Khanna. Initially it was just Nakul and Anmol; later, in January 2016, Aneesh joined the team as the CTO and oversaw the tech development process while Nakul and Anmol focused on cracking partnerships with multiple players.
Team BWDisrupt Interacts With Aneesh Seth, Co-founder, Instago and Spoke to HimHow did the entrepreneurial bug bite you?We were bitten by the entrepreneurial bug back in college, where we were both a part of the entrepreneurship cell. Nakul started his apparel company and Anmol started his digital marketing company. We would attend various conferences on entrepreneurship and meet people who would further inspire us to work on our own ventures. Aneesh too worked on his companies into geo-mapping and software development. We were lucky to find our calling relatively early.
What were the challenges you faced while setting up the business?The biggest challenge we faced was that this category didn't exist till last year. There were only a few players and we were one of them. Initially it was tough to convince the suppliers to come on board but we managed to demonstrate proof of concept and cracked successful deals which were win-win for both parties
CompetitorsOur competitors include Google Maps, Moovit, Citymapper, ixigo and Ridlr.
Differentiation FactorsWe aim for revenue mainly though commissions but are looking at location based ads and gamification to add to the revenue streams
Clients & ExpansionOur customers include all people on the move. Whether it be people travelling for work or leisure, they all turn to Instago to find the cheapest and the quickest ways to get there. We are looking to expand by going deep within cities to cover all possible modes of transport and have added public transport as well. Moreover we are looking to make inroads into other countries as well apart from just India.
Traction DetailsWe've been live for just over a month. With minimal marketing effort we are now inching towards 5000 downloads on both Android and iOS.
Funding Status & MonetizationCurrently we are in talks to close our seed round of funding with institutional investors and a few angels. We currently monetize through commissions earned on every ride.
The best and worst memories while setting up …The best memory- When the CEO of Ola emailed us at 2:38 AM stating his intent to partner
The worst memory- None. It all contributes to something good in the end.
Your Marketing Plans so that world know you ...Next week we are tying up with the fast food chain- Wendy's across Delhi NCR. Every person who downloads Instago can redeem a coupon that gets them free a burger at Wendy's. We are looking at innovative, fun and organic ways to grow and we don't believe in simply burning through money to get users.
Market Size and OpportunityThe Indian transport industry itself is a $20 billion opportunity. Given the frequency of use and the necessity of travel, we couldn't have picked a bigger market to crack spanning the length and breadth of the globe.
