Customer-centric start-ups: Building products people love

The mobile marketing landscape is highly dynamic, characterised by rapid developments, evolving technology, emerging trends, and shifting user behaviour that shape the future trajectory of the industry. For six years, MOBEXX Summit and Awards, Adgully’s flagship event for the mobile industry, have been unraveling the intricacies of mobile marketing and anticipating upcoming trends. In its seventh edition, MOBEXX Summit and Awards 2023 turned the spotlight on the most significant disruptions in mobile marketing, groundbreaking innovations, emerging trends, strategies, and pressing challenges.

Held on December 12, MOBEXX Summit and Awards 2023 featured an insightful fireside chat on the topic ‘Customer-centric start-ups: Building products people love’. The session featured Manu Jain, Founder, VAMA App, in conversation with Shradha Agarwal, Co-Founder and CEO of Grapes.

The session began with Manu Jain providing an overview of the VAMA app and the concept behind it. He spoke about the vast market potential for temple-related services in India, drawing a parallel between the Total Addressable Market (TAM) of temples and that of start-ups. Reflecting on his telecom industry background, Jain informed that Astrology for telecom brands like Vodafone and Airtel was generating $100 billion a year through astrology services.

Jain highlighted a significant insight from Paytm’s initial business, which originated from an astrology call center. He emphasised that the market for such services always existed, but was not fully recognised until later.

Moving forward in the session, Shradha Agarwal discussed Wavemaker’s investment in VAMA and inquired about the factors that made it possible. Jain revealed that VAMA was Wavemaker’s first investment in India, a departure from their typical focus on B2B AI start-ups. He explained Wavemaker’s perspective on the investment, noting that the unique aspect of VAMA – being anti-AI in the realm of astrological services – made it an appealing opportunity.

Jain provided an illustrative example of Kylie Jenner’s investment in a Christianity app called Hallow & Glorify, pointing out that while Christianity apps were prevalent in the West, there was untapped potential for a Hindu app. Wavemaker recognised this untapped market as a significant opportunity.

Agarwal further inquired about VAMA’s revenue streams, asking whether the majority of the business came from astrology or pooja (worship) services. Jain explained that VAMA initially started as an astrology app, but later realised that individuals consulting astrologers often received recommendations for gem-wearing or specific poojas. Consequently, VAMA expanded its offerings to include pooja services. Jain cited the example of temples in Ujjain, where astrology-led poojas contribute to a GMV of approx 100 Mn. He expressed the aspiration to capture a portion of this GMV by bringing such services to the VAMA platform.

Jain concluded by emphasising on the potential of tapping into the vast market of temples and related services, showcasing the business strategy of incorporating astrology and pooja services on the VAMA platform.

These are edited excerpts. For the complete panel discussion, please watch below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icgJyaZv9Ws