Newer greens for Angels -- looking towards new pastures

As the dust and initial bit of hoopla settles on the ‘hot’ sectors like foodtech, last-mile logistics, hyperlocal services and discovery and Uber-for-X modeled startups, I want to share with everyone what the trend I see going forward for the year. I have not included any ‘disruptive’ sectors, as any one individual cannot forecast that; it’s only speculative to say that you can identify the big white spaces waiting to be captured. You will notice the inclination towards consumer pain points so I am leaving out any B2B propositions, as that is not my area of expertise. These are my personal thoughts and observations and are open for discussion.

Fitness subscriptions

This model revolves around startups offering access to various fitness activities like zumba, pilates, and gyms for a varied price of Rs 999 to Rs 2999 on a monthly basis. Or it may be through a ‘ClassPass’ which you can use to book a session as per your convenience, using their portal or app. This model originated at ClassPass in US, which is valued around USD 400 million and has done around 4.5 million reservations till date in its two years of existence.

First-mile logistics

Success of Shyp as an aggregator of courier services at the backend and a simple consumer facing mobile app to send parcels has garnered lot of attention. Such startups use the best possible rate and way to pick, pack and ship goods to your desired destination. The sheer simplicity of how it works will make for a good consumer delight story.

Intracity bus sharing

We all have to accept public transport is broken to an extent and not to mention it’s absolutely technology averse.

That’s where the opportunity arises to organise daily planned commute needs (unplanned, being solved well by the taxi aggregators). Silicon Valley bus operators provide Wi-Fi and other services on board, trips for which you can book and track on a mobile app, and plan your visit to the stop accordingly. These routes can then be changed and adjusted based on the demand seen by a bus operator.

Daily needs subscription

Certain items like milk, bread and newspaper come to our doorstep each morning. There are days where we might not want these and days we might want more or something else entirely. Organising this unorganised sector will be a huge plus for the consumers and suppliers alike.

Oyo for X

Move over Uber-for-X startups, it’s time to create standardised mid-market spaces based on our very own Indian OyoRooms.

The number of entrepreneurs adapting and bringing western models to India is increasing swiftly. They have to be modified to suit the discerning mobile Indian consumer. I would love to meet teams with an enthusiastic drive and who are willing to show me how they are different from the rest in the same space. You can reach me at utsav.somani (at) letsventure.com, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Image credit "ShutterStock"

(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory.)