Meet the 8 Indian startups that just graduated from French accelerator Numa

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French accelerator Numa feels it has hit Bangalore’s startup ecosystem at the most opportune time. The number of startups registered in India is growing at breakneck speed. And Numa has added eight new ones to the list with the second batch of its accelerator program.

India is home to the third-largest number of technology-driven startups in the world, with the US and the UK in the lead, according to industry body Assocham. Over 26 percent of tech startups in India are located in Bangalore.

Numa is now looking at leveraging its startup program in Bangalore for cross-learning with its existing branches – Casablanca, Moscow, Barcelona, and Mexico City – and also its new centers in Germany and the US.

The eight startups graduating from Numa cover a wide range of domains like e-publishing, edtech, transportation, and entertainment. Here’s a look at the newest entrants:

Ideaphora

Ideaphora is an edtech startup with a difference. It’s an online knowledge mapping platform that works with digital content such as YouTube videos and PDFs. Knowledge mapping involves visually associating information that deconstructs content into meaningful concepts and enables learners to reconstruct the information in a way they understand.

This US-based company is now starting up in India. Ideaphora has been built as a browser-based tool that can be used on all computers, tablets, and smartphones. Students can build knowledge maps alongside online content. Screenshots and images can be added to clarify concepts.

Users can share and collaborate on maps with friends and colleagues.

See: Why edtech is getting so little love from VCs in India

SpotPlay

SpotPlay, which allows users to watch videos without an internet connection, wants to be users’ in-car entertainment partner. It’s a small device that can create a wifi hotspot in the car, and you can access videos, movies, and music, even when your mobile data drops.

The startup, founded in early 2016, was funded by the Government of India’s I2D incubator. It’s now being mentored by Numa; it was also selected for the Karnataka government-backed Mobile 10x program.

SpotPlay has a pending patent application in the US.

See: Ola’s big ‘play’ is gimmicky. Riders just want fewer cancellations

SpotPlay founders Santosh Kumar and Sai Krishna. Photo credit: Numa, Bangalore.

Valmeeki

This Kochi-based startup is an e-publishing platform that lets emerging regional language writers digitize their work, via a simple mobile application available on the Google Play Store.

Started by four friends in Kerala in 2014, Valmeeki is supported by a proprietary software that can accommodate any native regional language without any tweaks. It makes scaling up easy.

Writers can get any of their works published with Valmeeki free of cost and also get a royalty of 50 percent for those sold online. Valmeeki currently supports over 300 authors, and is available in Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, and Hindi. The team will soon add other languages, including Bengali and Gujarati.

See: Does India need its own vernacular internet?

Wlend

Renting and sharing has suddenly become a very viable business model. This Bangalore-based startup has its hands in it too. Started in December 2015, Wlend is a tech-enabled platform that rents out travel paraphernalia such as DSLR cameras, GoPros, and drones, as well as adventure gear.

So you can experience a product without needing to buy it. Visit their website, choose what you want, pay for it online, and get it delivered to your home. For the individuals or brands lending their products, it’s an alternative market to earn a few extra bucks. You can rent any product – cameras or adventure gear – at 1 percent of the retail price per day. The majority of this traffic comes from social media channels.

See: Here’s why furniture rental startups are exploding in India

BookMySawari

BookMySawari – sort of the Uber for outstation travel – is a cab aggregator offering one-way cab trips for inter-city travel.

Their model isn’t new, but there are a few key differences. It doesn’t own a single vehicle, but is present in 70 cities across India. It has tied up with over 300 local taxi services, cutting operational costs by half. With a presence in over 70 cities – including Agra, Surat, Lucknow, and Jaipur, as well as all the metros – their network is wide enough to where you can book a one-way cab for your return also.

BookMySawari monetizes the model by charging a commission in the range of 14 to 18 percent from cab vendors. The startup was founded in 2016 and has serviced nearly 15,000 bookings.

See: How Uber is shattering the business of metered taxi drivers

The founders of gear rental platform Wlend. Photo credit: Numa, Bangalore.

FollowClass

Adding to a long list of parent-teacher-student apps is FollowClass. Teachers can record and analyze a child’s progress, and share it with parents.

Where FollowClass differentiates itself is analytics. The app gathers data generated through interactions between students, teachers, and parents. It then analyzes patterns to suggest ways to improve a student’s performance. Parents can also track attendance, exams, and progress in other academic activities.

FollowClass was started in March 2016 and is present in eight Indian cities. It claims to have over 20,000 users in 56 schools and colleges. The basic version of the chat-based monitoring system is free for users. For analytics and other advanced services, the startup charges between US$1-2 per student.

Repoto

Another startup app seeking to connect teachers and parents, Repoto has chosen to focus just on preschool children. It’s an app that lets preschool teachers create real-time progress reports that can be shared with parents.

The app also documents school events and provides reminders for parents. This startup is live with 10 schools at present, covering over 1,000 students.

See: A WhatsApp for teachers and students

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