Lateral Sparks, the weekly quiz from YourStory, tests your domain knowledge, business acumen, and lateral thinking skills (see the previous edition here). In this 190th edition of the quiz, we present issues tackled by real-life entrepreneurs in their startup journeys.
What would you do if you were in their shoes? At the end of the quiz, you will find out what the entrepreneurs and innovators themselves actually did. Would you do things differently?
Check out YourStory’s Book Review section as well, with takeaways from over 355 titles on creativity and entrepreneurship, and our weekend PhotoSparks section on creativity in the arts.
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Q1: Fraud detection
With the acceleration of digital transformation, online conveniences for consumers are increasing at a rapid pace – but so are risks due to fraud and theft. How can these challenges be addressed in real time?
Q2: Car services
With long working hours and increasing pressures of their professions, many urban car owners find it hard to manage regular tasks like car wash and maintenance. Where is the entrepreneurial opportunity here?
Q3: Local business growth
Several local businesses, such as beauty salons and wellness studios, lack the time, tools, or support to grow consistently. How can technology solutions help here?
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Q4: Weed solutions
Parthenium hysterophorus (‘congress grass’) is an invasive alien species and notorious weed. How can its impact be reduced while also generating viable agri-products?
Q5: Rural energy needs
Many farmer families face critical energy challenges in areas like diesel generators, firewood and unutilised agricultural waste. How can a broad solution for these differing needs be created and scaled?
Answers!
Congratulations on having come this far! But there’s more to come – answers to these five questions (below), as well as links to articles with more details on the entrepreneurs’ solutions. Happy reading, happy learning – and happy creating!
A1: Fraud detection
Regulatory technology startup Data Sutram helps financial institutions detect fraud, ensure regulatory compliance, and reduce non-performing assets using alternative data and AI. It processes over 110 million individual identities, offering real-time insights for identifying risks such as synthetic identities, collusion, and identity theft.
“Our USP is external intelligence,” says co-founder Rajit Bhattacharya. Read more here about how it rapidly generates fraud risk assessments by scanning millions of digital and social footprints—from government and telecom sources to ecommerce, logistics, and payment data.
A2: Car services
Founded by Kunal Divyanshu, Mr White Gloves is a tech-powered, franchise-enabled platform bringing professional car care to the doorsteps of urban car owners. Trained gig-workers carry out tasks like washing, polishing, and regular maintenance, with commitment to quality and reliability.
It partners with contract manufacturers for its products, and equips local workers with self-powered toolkits. Read more here about how it has 20+ franchisees and has already served over 10,000 customers across 20 Indian cities.
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A3: Local business growth
Bengaluru-based startup Zoca manages the entire growth funnel for small local businesses, including identifying demand, optimising for discovery, converting leads, and re-engaging clients autonomously. “We built Zoca to help them stay fully booked—without lifting a finger,” says co-founder Ashish Verma.
In under a year, the startup claims to have enabled over 1,000 local beauty and wellness businesses to book upwards of 1.2 lakh appointments. Read more here about how its AI agents handle each aspect of the business’s marketing needs.
A4: Weed solutions
Founded by Koushik Bose, Azeedo leverages insights from the fact that the parthenium weed is immune to pests and fungal diseases that other crops like paddy are susceptible to. “If one was able to harness that and apply it to other crops, then they could also survive inhospitable conditions,” he observed.
Azeedo uses extracts from the weeds to develop a crop-shielding product that prevents plant diseases and enhances yield. Read more here about how it has positively impacted farmers who are growing soybean crops, chillies and ridge-gourd.
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A5: Rural energy needs
Founded by Shobha Chanchlani, a retired govt official, and her son Vimal Panjwani, a seasoned professional in agribusiness, AgriVijay offers marketplace for rural energy needs. It sells renewable products, provides financing, ensures installation, and delivers after-sales service.
Its omnichannel approach includes village-level Renewable Energy Stores, AI-enabled WhatsApp chatbots, localised call centres, and field sales teams. Read more here about how its footprint now spans 595+ villages, impacting over 6,300 lives with more than 7,000 renewable energy products.
YourStory has also published the pocketbook ‘Proverbs and Quotes for Entrepreneurs: A World of Inspiration for Startups’ as a creative and motivational guide for innovators (downloadable as apps here: Apple, Android).
