In conversation with Sahil Arora, a 17 year old Entrepreneur and CEO and Founder, Vuzelaa GroupOn the recent tie-up with Easy Cabs for their new venture ‘Tabverts’, Sahil Arora, CEO and Founder, Vuzelaa Group says, “ With this we are providing free tabs to the cabs. The idea behind the concept is that people usually get bored while travelling. So with a tab in the cab, they can read content and see advertisements’ at a digital platform. So it is a mix of advertisement and entertainment. We wanted some services who have a good reach and can take responsibility for the product. We have tied up with Easy Cabs, who have around 8000 plus cabs. We will be starting with Delhi NCR. The good part is that even the drivers will be earning through it. Talking about the advertisements, we already have big names like Micromax, Audi, Nissan, etc, advertising with us. In addition to it, a lot of start-ups have also come up and will be advertising with us. The fee of advertising is very nominal range, starting from INR 5000 to INR 20,000. The liberty with the brand is that the entire process of advertising is very simple. You just have to create an account, upload content/videos, and make the payment. We at the back end quickly cross check and approve the content and your advertisement gets directly posted. The process is completely automated. So now anybody and everybody can post advertisements from anywhere in the world!”Sahil Arora, a 17-year-old entrepreneur who is the founder of Vuzelaa Group is a true innovator who has a long term vision of not only creating something new every six months, but also plans to launch an incubation hub where he plans to incubate every young mind and help them build their own products. With a ground breaking technology, Eye-D, Sahil has just started his entrepreneurial journey and has received a good round of funding for his ideas. BW Disrupt in an exclusive conversation with Sahil explores more about this young entrepreneur:
Q- Tell us more about your start-up?
A- We have created a technology, Eye-D and what it does is it scans your iris. It is a complete software solution, which is the world’s first iris scanning solution. We had Samsung coming with phones with some great technologies. We do the same, but without using any hardware solution. We are capable of doing complete iris scan by our software which uses any front camera of a smart phone to scan your iris which is 99.96% accurate. It helps in your application security, unlocking your phone, authentications, transactions, etc. You can provide your KYC for mobile wallets and other financial transactions without OTP. In fact, it is one major problem that we are trying to solve which is of security authentication and validation. We want to keep everything paperless once we get the iris rolling out. We are tying up with Micromax. They are lunching their new phones with DNA solutions which is the new external feature in their phone. We have signed MOU’s with a lot of mobile wallets and banks. We are also opening up a unit in the Silicon Valley, Bangalore this year, so all our efforts are on the right track.
Q- What all went into making the partnerships happen?
A- To bring a client on board, we have a very simple process. Our product does the selling for us. We tell our clients that this is our product and this is how it works and is something that has nobody can steal this from us. Our product is very unique and has a mass niche. The technology is very unique in itself. We share the pros and cons of the product, fix them with the use case and once they are attracted to the use case, the deal goes on. For every client we create a POC prototype, which is designed specifically for them. So if I am giving a presentation to say ‘x’ wallet, I will show them a real demonstration rather than only showing my technology. With all our clients, we do the same and this is the way they understand how our product can add value to theirs. So what we do is that we have a small product which we can fit it anywhere and it will work.
Q- Which are the software’s with which the product is compatible?
A- Our product is available for iPhone, Android and Microsoft.
Q- How do you take the competition coming from experienced players launching high tech features in mobiles at reasonable rates?
A- I believe I am my biggest competition. I try to innovate every day. If I have done something cool two days back, I should be doing something cooler two days after as well. If I do not follow this stream, I will be out of the market. While I was still building the Eye-D, Samsung claimed to have logged in an Iris Solution. At that point of time I was thinking of what if it comes out, but at the same time I was not fearing as I thought that let me build my product and see how it comes out. Suddenly Samsung came out with Samsung Galaxy Tab Iris and turns out it has a hardware scanner. So I realized that I still have two months’ time to get the product rolled out. Then Samsung launches Note 7 with everything coming to a phone. Then we come to know that it is an infra-red hardware component being used. Samsung launched it twice and failed at it. It failed our expectations twice. I wanted to create something which is unique and doesn’t exist. I am sure that somewhere someone in the world is building something similar, however, I aim to attain a bigger market share before that someone comes out and creates something bigger.
Q- How is the response?
A- I have seen a very good response. I have closed a deal as fast as 3 days with Micromax. The reaction of people depends on the accountability. If it is a good user experience and something that people would like, it will surely work. What we did was, we made a lot of people in the country try our Iris Scan. From Yuvraj Singh to Sachin Tendulkar, to Paytm owners to FreeCharge owners, every big giant has tried out the product. This gives a validation of our product.
Q- How was the idea born?
It was just a random thing that happened. I always wanted to make something new. One amongst the idea that came to my mind was of replacing passwords, so I thought of facial recognition, but it was already there in the market. I wanted to create something that hasn’t existed as it will have a better chance of success. It was a risk that I took and it worked! I wrote the algorithm in the next 48 hours and after it was done, I worked more and created our product.
Q- What is your current team size?
A- Initially it was all done by me only, but now I have around 7-8 people in my team.
Q- How is the funding used?
A- Under Vuzella Group, we have a lot of products and especially for Eye-D we already have enough revenues coming in. I don’t take out revenues from one product and use them in our other products. When I start a product I look at it as a completely new thing and all the funding for that product is used in that particular product only.
Q- What is your monetization model?
A- I have licensed the model and technology and I also charge royalty which depends on the number of phones produced or per transaction (if it is a mobile wallet). The royalty depends from brand to brand depending on their sales and margins. We also have an exclusivity clause for $5000. Exclusivity is in terms of duration which means that for 6 months we cannot give it to anyone else. It is feasible for us to give exclusivity sometimes else we give it region wise. In India we give exclusivity for a particular state. So it is a region and tenure based exclusivity.
Q- What are the major challenges that you face?
A- Team building is an exhausting process as I find it hard to get that core talent over here.
Q- What drives you as an entrepreneur?
A- My passion is to get freedom in life and only money gives me that freedom. I like to make more and more money to get more freedom and options. I have learnt a lot from real life experiences and I do not limit my learnings. I am always excited for everything. I love meeting new people and exchanging ideas with them.
Q- What are the technologies that you have used?
A- Everything was built in-house starting from recognition to verifications. It took us 3 months to build the entire thing and we are enhancing it every day.
Q- What is your long term vision?
A- I want to make an innovation hub in India, where I incubate every young mind and help them build their own products.
Q- One quick advice to our readers?
A- Always believe in yourself. Remember, it’s always, ‘I, Me, and Myself’. Never let others judge you!
Sahil also plans for launching something big like a flexible phone which can also become basic at the same time and will have some very advanced features, the 17 year old entrepreneur has plans and a mindset to launch new product every 6 months!
