Shuchi Gangwal started her own venture in July 2014, and called it
Kypsa an innovation & activation design studio which believes that design, if applied with a purpose can be used as a strategic tool to ‘BRING ALIVE’ product benefits to establish differentiation that delights end-users.
BWDisrupt interviewed Shuchi Gangwal, Kypsa co-founder and promoter; to know more about her business plans:Shuchi started the self-funded start-up from her home 2.5 years ago. This two year old firm uses design to unveil opportunities & bake fresh high-level activation & brand design strategy to solve problems through relevant proposition and product.
Shuchi has been working with a host of clients varying from MNC’s like Unilever to SME’s & startups. She specializes in product led activations & brand design. Partnering with a network of various specialists and experts in the field of design, strategy, branding, product design, nutrition, chemistry, etc. Kypsa has designed for 45+ brands spread across India, UK, South East Asia & USA.
How was it started? During my post graduation at NID, as a part of a college project – I was given the task of solving problems of queues using design thinking. Through design & systems driven approach, I realised that there cant be one solution to fit all users and hence with empathy led process, came up with different solutions for different scenarios. While doing this assignment I realised the power of design thinking & that its application can solve almost any problem related to this world.
Therafter, while working with Hindustan Unilever, I realized that there is a great need in FMCG sector for creating clutter breaking ways to bring product benefits alive! There are several agencies who cater to traditional design needs like packaging / graphics /advertising, but not many (or if I can say so – none specialized), who offer this. So, that’s how the idea came and I founded Kypsa with design thinking at it’s heart. Also, encouragement from one of the seniors at HUL played a key role in this who once remarked after seeing one of the design outputs -‘You start with nothing & create magic with design’.
Unique key feature/services, How is it diff. from existing ones? Kypsa offers the services of product based activation, brand design, design research & product demo design. We use empathy towards both sides – client as well as client’s consumer to uncover opportunities to create meaningful action. While most of the firms tend to focus more on creativity to impress the client or show innovation on the table, we focus on the end users which play a major role in design thinking. And that’s how we not only understand how hard brands work to build equity in a consumer-empowered world, but we also understand how hard consumers have to work to feel like they’ve made the decision that’s right for them.
Funding Status -Self funded with an initial capital investment of 20 lakhs
Monetization model – We are a B2B service providing studio. Being a start-up, we haven’t really adopted any particular model. We work on both project as well as retainer basis to meet the demands and requirements. Other models we work on are – affiliation with other agencies – which provide services that need design input as well.
Traction Details – 1. Clients – 45+ brands
2. Name of some of the big clients – Unilever, Loreal
3. Revenue – 60 Lakhs
4. Cities – Office is located in Mumbai
5. Business is started & growing since 2.5 years
Future Plans- We would be expanding our team considering the goal of establishing a vertical (we are already piloting this now) where we can provide on ground execution services as well. Also, we would be taking in-house initiatives for innovation & partner global enterprises for their India based projects.
Marketing Plans- Since it’s a B2B business, word of mouth has been working best for us so far. However, we plan to deploy formal marketing agenda like direct marketing & reaching out one to one – for both informing & educating organizations about how design thinking @ Kypsa can help them meet their business objectives.
Challenges Faced- Balancing the needs of the business — growth, cash flow, new opportunities — with employees’ needs is the biggest challenge we face. It’s often a chicken & egg problem especially when resource allocation comes – as we operate in very tight budgets to deliver super quality at great value to our clients. Since we are a young team, we face a whole new set of challenges and opportunities that go back to having a culture of growth that everyone buys into. We are focused on bridging those areas and creating a sustainable business model.
Market size & opportunity etc.- The potential size of the design industry is Rs 11,681 crore and is expected to be Rs 18,832 crore by 2020, according to a recent report released by industry body CII. There is a lot of scope for design in India. More than 50% market is still untapped. We are certain that we would be able to bridge the gap in the nearby future. We can see a lot of boost in the industry considering the increasing interest of young minds towards creative fields.
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Soumya is a young writer and journalist, with bachelors in Multimedia and Mass Communication. She is an alumini of the Asian College of Journalism, and finds politics and sustainability intriguing beats to work with.
