One of the startups I am looking forward to in this ecosystem is Qoohoo. It is a one-stop platform for creators in India to grow, engage and monetize their community with actionable insights
Product:
- A no-code SaaS service built primarily to provide the creators a tool to an opportunity to set up their digital presence in 60 seconds to grow, engage and monetize their audience
- Features include conducting workshops, running subscriptions, interacting with communities
- Built-in analytics tool would help the creators strategize better
Sales/Marketing Strategy:
- Connecting with creators across social and media networks to help them educate about the platform
- Looking to make the product better for first 1000 creators and 100,000 users by the end of the year [ref]
Traction:
- Have onboarded more than 300+ creators till now on the platform
- Creators are earning as high as ₹18,00,000 per year
Management & Team:
- Vimal Rathore: He has built Coursavy, scaled it to 70,000 paid users; which he sold to Unacademy. Previously, he has worked at Unacademy, UPSC
- Aseem Gupta: He comes in with a strong technology background with experience working at RazorPay
Reasons to Invest:
- Huge market: The team is solving problems across community management, monetization, and education which covers a massive chunk of the $100bn+ creator economy
- Renowned angel investors: The startup is backed by some of the top investors and creators including Tanmay Bhatt, Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Sujeet Kumar, Kunal Shah, Gaurav Munjal, Kunal Bahl
- Technology: Qoohoo is making heavy use of advanced technology such as AI/ML and developing no-code services to offer a one-stop solution. Further, integration of NFTs, Crypto can also be an excellent possibility
- Timing: With the creator economy on the rise and as reported by Beebom YouTube Creators Contributed ₹6,800 Crores to the Indian economy, the timing is perfect for building such a product for helping the creators
Competitive Landscape:
Qoohoo is operating in a highly competitive market, with many large companies already present and multiple startups which have been funded by investors including Sequoia, Google, YC.
- Direct competitors: CreatorOS, CreatorStack, Nocolo
Revenue Streams:
- Subscription-based: Where the creators buy a subscription for using advanced features/ offerings
- Commission based: Will take a % from the payments received by the creators on the platform
Risks:
- Network effects: It would be difficult to get the creators who have a massive audience to the platform.
- Crowded market: With specialized products already being developed in specific segments qoohoo is building across, it’ll be challenging to capture a significant stake in the market.
- Privacy: Lack of privacy protocols in the application for monitoring and regulating the creators content
Exit Analysis :
- IPO: The company has to ideally grow almost ~1000x for a profitable return
- Acquisition by big players: Can consider an exit to big players out there such as Kajabi, Gumroad, Jellysmack who do not have a prominent presence in India currently
