Lateral Sparks, the weekly quiz from YourStory, tests your domain knowledge, business acumen, and lateral thinking skills (see the previous edition here). In this 200th 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: Pickleball
Pickleball’s simplicity has made it appealing to players across generations. However, the sport’s growth has been impeded by fragmented infrastructure and information gaps. Where is the entrepreneurial opportunity here?
Q2: Travel cruises
Travel cruises are becoming a popular holiday choice in India, but travelers place problems dealing with multiple agencies to book flights, cabins, visas, hotels, and transfers. How can this fragmented system be improved?
Q3: Retail systems
Many small retailers lack the full range of digital tools to build customer relationships beyond the point of sale, relying instead on fragmented spreadsheets, WhatsApp messages, and outdated billing systems. What’s a way to solve this problem?
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Q4: Energy
India’s energy transition faced challenges due to a patchy EV charging network and widespread reliance on diesel generators for backup power. How can these issues be resolved?
Q5: Loans for women
Microfinance has emerged as a reliable source of monetary support for many women. However, it still requires them to be part of self-help groups, which can take time to form. What’s another way to lend to women?
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: Pickleball
Founded by Siddhant Jati, Picklebay is an end-to-end pickleball platform that has gained over 1,100 users within two months. It helps players find regulation-sized courts and players at their skill level.
The founding team physically visited every pickleball court across six major cities, and provide listings with live images and details of amenities such as lighting, and parking. Read more here about how the platform is expanding to real-time booking features and transactions, and has launched its corporate engagement programme with intra-corporate tournaments and inter-company leagues.
A2: Travel cruises
Led by Akansha Agarwal, Vinu Vijay, Rohit Jaiswall, and Josh Wen, Int2Cruises is a cruise-focused travel platform offering end-to-end digital booking services to 400 ships from over 25 international cruise lines. It handles 30,000 itineraries across 300+ global destinations.
Real-time inventory, live pricing, and AI-powered recommendation tools personalise the experience based on user preferences. Read more here about its ‘cruise counsellors’ offering live support via in-app chat and phone, and its packages ranging from Rs 6,500 per person per night to Rs 5.16 lakh per night for luxury experiences.
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A3: Retail systems
Founded by Sridevi Reddy and Varun Kashyap, Zithara.AI is an AI-native customer engagement platform designed for offline-first retailers. It enables retailers to gather and activate insights integrated from in-store visits, billing software, and messaging platforms.
The platform enables nudging for Google reviews, collecting feedback, running loyalty programmes, and re-engaging inactive buyers. Read more here about its AI-powered segmentation services for over 500 paying customers such as Bajaj Electronics, PMJ Jewels, Dodla Diary, Qmart, and Meghavi Wellness.
A4: Energy
Founded by Divasjyoti Parashar, Quintinno Labs is building a portable, solar-compatible battery-based power station that works as an EV power bank and a clean replacement for diesel gensets. Its features include a modular battery design, patented power electronics architecture, and solar compatibility.
Uses cases lie in rural India as well, where grid access is patchy and reliable power could mean the difference between running a business or closing shop. Read more here about how the prototype-stage startup has raised Rs 65 lakh in equity-free grants from Emergent Ventures, Cummins CSR, and the Government of India.
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A5: Loans for women
Founded by Neha Juneja, IndiaP2P is empowering first-time women borrowers in rural India with access to patient, localised capital. The loan system is backed by data and field intelligence, and powered by women borrowers themselves.
It leverages tech and field-level operations to deliver tailored credit at scale, without requiring women to be part of self-help groups and take uniform loans. Read more here about how 55% of IndiaP2P’s assets under management come from repeat investors, with investments coming from individual, retail lenders who lend between Rs 25,000 to Rs 50 lakh.
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).
