How Andhra Pradesh Startups Are Growing In Stature After Losing Hyderabad’s IT Influence

“In the Andhra Pradesh startup ecosystem, there is no one particular sector which has too many startups. Startups are scattered across various sectors, and mostly all startups are based out of Vijayawada or Vizag. These two cities are the startup hubs from the state.” – Madhav Reddy, founder and managing director, RedMad Learnings

This comment speaks volume about the uphill climb for Andhra Pradesh startups after the splitting of the state from Telangana, which ended up absorbing the IT hub Hyderabad. Since then Andhra Pradesh (AP) startups have been left rudderless as the loss of Hyderabad affected the pace of innovation significantly.

However, with the help of ecosystem enablers, educational institutions, angel investors and VCs, startups have gone beyond the struggle and are standing tall to build up the state’s ecosystem.

While there is still the issue of losing innovative startups and talented individuals to neighbouring states and startup hubs Hyderabad and Bengaluru, AP has many startups that are taking its startup ecosystem forward.

“I knew a lot of startups that shifted to Hyderabad post the split and many who went to Bengaluru or Chennai to get more support and help in their journey. Even then, the state has come a long way in helping startups that it houses. And the majority of innovative solutions in the state come from colleges and students,” Reddy told Inc42.

Taking Andhra Pradesh’s Ecosystem Forward

While names such as Fluentgrid have been active and earning profits for many years, there are many other startups helping push Andhra Pradesh up the charts when it comes state-wise startup growth.

Here are some of the up-and-coming startups making it big not only in the state but also across the country:

Dronamaps

Founded in 2016 by Utkarsh Singh and Ayushi Mishra, Dronamaps was incubated at NASSCOM 10K initiative in 2017 and is an end-to-end platform to collect, process and visualise drone data. Leveraging AI tech, the startup helps businesses draw deeper insights into drone maps. It also helps drone operators prepare for flights through a recommendation engine taking into account multiple parameters and providing the optimum flight path and flying height for the campaign.

Eruvaka Technologies

Founded by Sreeram Raavi in 2012, this agritech startup develops on-farm diagnostic equipment for aquaculture farmers to help them reduce risks of loss of farm produce and increase productivity. In 2018, the startup raised Series B funding led by Nutreco and existing investor Omnivore. With the funding, it entered into a commercial partnership with Nutreco to scale up its operations and compete globally.

Teacherr

To improve the quality of education in India, Varun Beluguppa, Harsha Teja and Sonu Sharma founded Teacherr in June 2019. By building an exclusive professional community for educators, this startup is helping them share knowledge, attend professional development sessions and find local jobs and opportunities among others. The startup was discovered by Inc42 during the Vizag edition of BIGShift in 2019.

I’mNotOut

Another discovery of Inc42 from BIGShift Vizag, this startup caters to sports enthusiasts by connecting them to each other and venues and events. Founded in April 2017 by Arun and Nagendra Medapati, I’mNotOut offers features such as searching for fellow players in a locality, exploring events, networking, sports updates and more. The startup also lets sports enthusiasts organise tournaments, collaborate and manage matches, challenges and tournaments.

Botclub

This edtech startup which was showcased at Inc42 BIGShift Vizag, this startup focusses on helping students learn and understand science through practical demonstration kits named Scikits. To restructure the way science is taught, K Harsha Vardhan, Sai Verma, Vignesh and Arun Kumar founded BotClub in August 2016. In its Scikits, Grade VI to Grade IX science topics are selected, strategically grouped together and dynamic unique products are developed. All the designed Scikits are installed in the school campuses and Botclub’s instructors help and guide the schools in delivering the content to students.

Gills

Ramaseshu Botu, Venkatesh Botu and Sruthi Botu founded Gills in 2016 to improve indoor and outdoor air quality through products such as masks, respirators and air purifiers. A participant at the BIGShift event in Vizag, Gills has developed many products including air-purifying masks ranging from INR 300 to INR 1500 with a variety of SKUs targetting various demographics.

Interview Buddy

Founded in July 2017 by Ujwal Surampalli, this startup is built on the premise that practice and preparation are crucial for getting over your anxieties and fears while attending an interview. During Inc42’s BIGShift Pitch session in Vizag, the startup explained its model which involves mock interviews conducted by industry experts with candidates. It also boasts features such as interview scorecards and playback reviews which provide analysis and feedback of the session, hence helping the users overcome their doubts and concerns.

anyEMI

Founded in 2016 by Narsi Reddy Komatireddy, Sudhakar Mediboina, Srinivasa Rao Vempali and Santosh Challa, anyEMI is a fintech startup developing an end-to-end platform for EMI payments, utility payments, insurance and more. It has collaborated with various municipal corporations to ease utility payments. One such collaboration is with Indane gas for inventory management as well as online payment services.

Saif Seas

Founded by Aliasgar Calcuttawala, his father Ahmed S Abdeally and his brother Taher Ahmed in 2018, Saif Seas or Saif Automations has developed a drone that acts as a lifeguard. With the aim of reducing drowning accidents in the state, the startup made a remote-controlled water drone. It can be deployed from a distance of up to 10 km, is easy to carry and reaches the person in need in three to four minutes.

Medic TFHC

With a focus on providing the best healthcare services to rural areas, this startup was founded in 2016 by Ram Kumar Varma. Medic THFC is bringing healthcare more accessible by maintaining digital health records of patients using a unique ID such as Aadhaar numbers. Through Medic TFHC, a patient can book a doctor’s appointment, search for medical stores, gain hospital information and more from the comfort of home. The startup has support for Indian regional languages to make it easier for users in rural areas to access healthcare services.

Craftiee

Founded by Siddhartha Kothamasu, this startup is focussed on building a marketplace for artisans to reach the ecommerce market. Incorporated in 2017, Kothamsasu started trying to understand the pain points for the industry in 2015. The startup helps the artisans get maximum profits for their products and eliminates the need for middlemen. In addition to that, Craftiee also helps artisans with marketing and product development.

Fopple Technologies

This startup was incorporated by a former techie who was concerned for his asthmatic father’s health when he would go out on his farm to spray fertilisers. Ambula Gopi Raj decided to design drones that help farmers spray fertilisers and pesticides without any harm to the workers. Its Drone Raja products store, spray and cover farmland with ease. It claims to have helped over 40K farmers, with 1,500 farmers registered on the platform and 5K acres of land covered.

Carengrow

This healthtech startup is looking to improve the healthcare ecosystem at schools. Founded by Meghana Kambham in 2015, the cloud-based preventive healthcare platform delivers all aspects of preventive healthcare to school campuses through a year-long affordable health cover programme. Carengrow claims to have over 1.2K positive impact cases, covered over 50 schools and more than 16K total screenings.