Ruralnomics emerged as the winner of the North East Launchpad, a 30-day business-plan event for budding entrepreneurs from the NorthEast region of India. In collaboration with Eastmojo, LegalWiz, AICSMUTBI, and upGrowth – we hosted 150+ entrepreneurs in this event.
The top 9 finalists pitched their ideas to a jury of Incubator founders and entrepreneurs on the 19th of August 2021. At the end of the show, the judges chose Ruralnomics as the winner of North East Launchpad 2021.
Related read: Instamojo North East Launchpad – Meet the Finalists (Top 9)
Ruralnomics is a young eCommerce and supply startup with a vision to enter into the Agri Tech Industry. The vision is to serve Local, by Local to Uplift Local. The team of professionals bootstrapped this organization with a clear idea to transform the eCommerce and supply space of the North-Eastern market and uplift the Agriculture Sector.
To date, Ruralnomics has bagged several awards in the field of entrepreneurship. Here are the highlights of some of their achievements-
- Winner of North East Launchpad
- Recognized by Startup India
- Recognized by top 5000 MSME in the country
- Recognized and partnered by Authorities across States
- Holder of Central FSSAI license
- Shortlisted by Silicon Magazine as top ten startup of North East.
Here is a short interview with Siddharth Das, Co-Founder and Operating Director of Ruralnomics Pvt Ltd.
Firstly, congratulations on winning the North East Launchpad competition! Can you briefly explain what your entry was about?
Thank you so much! Our entry was about transforming the eCommerce and supply space of the North-Eastern market and uplift the agriculture sector.
We had to solve two fundamental problems. First was the lack of affordable utility service. In the 8 states of the North East, there are 6 crore households and 60% consume meat but lack an efficient home delivery system. Customers heavily depend on retail or near buy retail shops wherein the cost of consumption is completely driven by local players. Utility Service is a far fetch dream for the middle class and lower middle class.
The other problem was that technology to many is still complicated and thus, intimidating. So we wanted to build an easy-to-use UI/UX of connecting supplier and consumer through an organized delivery system and most importantly bringing in utility services to home.
What inspired you to start Ruralnomics?
For me, one of the biggest inspirations was the sheer untouched and underutilized potentials of the North East.
Not many people realize that it’s a gold mine of untapped business opportunities. It comprises 28% of the total state in the country with an unserviced population of 6 crores. This segment of the population also deserves to get the same service treatment as the mainstream Indian population.
The tagline of Ruralnomics “Local for Local, to Support local and Uplift Local” fits extremely well in a natural resource zone wherein 78% of the area is rich in agriculture and local produce that can compete with products globally.
At the pitch, we remember the jury talking about multiple geographical restrictions in the North East for transporting poultry and dairy from one state to another. How do you plan on overcoming that challenge?
One important part of the poultry and farming business is the state affair. So as we scale we will be incubating about 32 Lean HUBS across all major districts. This will enable us to function locally and also cater to controlling quality and delivery practices in the hyperlocal supply environment.
What’s your vision for Ruralnomics?
Our vision is to transform the rural and semi-urban economy for North East India & neighboring countries through the set up of a hyperlocal eCommerce model. In simple words, our vision is to organize the supply market through a perfect blend of dialogue, technology, online payments, eCommerce, and delivery.
Check out Ruralnomic’s online store here
Which other competing North East Launchpad business did you love listening to?
Before I answer that, I want to personally thank the organizers of the North East Launchpad for taking this initiative at a private level. Most of the investors ignore this zone as they think grants will do good for entrepreneurs. But they forget that grants are not everything. We need mentors and we need visionary investors and mentors like you to bring this place up. Although all the finalists did extremely well, my favorite was Secret Cosmetics.
Also read: North East LaunchPad – An Online Business Plan Event To Promote Aspiring Entrepreneurs
What are your standing business figures like?
Ruralnomics has already registered 50000 Kgs of sales in the last 10 months. Our operations are running in 8 locations with 5 main categories and 210 sub categories of products. Our team is currently 50 members strong and the co-founders have a combined experience of 35+ years in IT, HR & operations, Start up and Logistics management.
What is the one thing small businesses like you need most in India?
I’ll give you two – Recognition and Importance. We are standing silently but very strongly, awaiting an opportunity to prove ourselves. We want to show the world that a startup from North East India can be a global player or a unicorn too, given the chance and the right platform.
Also read: What Small Businesses Want from the Government to Save Their Business
How was your experience of the judging process?
The jury was incredible. The panel had some tricky questions, both regarding the business model and the technical parts. I am happy to have been able to demonstrate our concept by showing a small demo of our solution during the Q&A session. Having a presentation to show turned out to be really beneficial. On a personal level I learned a lot in communicating and presenting, and also being able to listen to feedback and answering questions that the judges had asked.
How did it feel when you found out you had won the competition?
It was a mix of excitement, joy, relief, and nervousness all mixed in as one. When they announced our name we were still really nervous and relieved at the same time, relieved that our hard work was recognized and paid off, finally!
Overall, how was your experience at the North East Launchpad?
It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me! The setup was professional and the event was well coordinated. I am happy to find enthusiastic and like-minded entrepreneurs through this platform. I feel so inspired and empowered. I would really like to take this opportunity to appreciate the respect that the team at Instamojo and the organizers of the event showed to all the participants. Every idea was being heard and shown due respect. It was nothing short of perfection.
Would you recommend Instamojo to fellow businesses? Why?
Yes, absolutely! This is the perfect platform for small businesses to showcase their products and get started selling online. I recommend Instamojo for its simplicity in starting a business and of course, affordability. Instamojo and this event specifically served as a means of bringing the entire small business sector a step forward, by interacting, interchanging and discussing real-life problems and solutions.
Like Ruralnomics, you too can start a business of your own can and make your dreams come true. Our team will be there to help you. All you need to do is give us a call!
