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Have you ever bought a piece of furniture that looked amazing in the store but when you finally got it home, it just wouldn’t fit in that perfect place you had imagined? Stores seem to give a larger-than-life appeal to the furniture so that the customers don’t have to think twice before buying it.
Mohit too faced the same problem while remodeling his kitchen and that was one of the major reasons why he came up with REALISE.
Realise is an app that acts as a visualizing tool which allows customers to view actual products in real size and then take a call as to how they would position them in their homes. All this is accomplished with some kickass augmented reality visualization techniques.
The idea behind REALISE was to create a visualization tool that becomes easy to use for the buyer and equally easy to deploy by the brand that is selling the furniture. “Our team put our heads together and came up with the REALISE platform” says Mohit.
The REALISE app is quite simple to use. Customers can view all the products in their catalogue and then resize, reposition and customize products in order to see how they would best fit in their environment. They can also interact with the product and customize the product by viewing different color options or variants of the product.
In the initial days, the business model of the company was to create white labeled apps for furniture stores which could then further push the app to potential buyers. The company charges a flat fee per app.
Mohit believes in his own saying “Sales trumps all” and with that thought, he and his team are working hard on implementing projects with companies that they have identified as anchor-customers. They are also co-branding with these customers and working hard to make sure that these customers’ apps receive good traction.
However, in the long run, Mohit’s plan is to become a mobile-commerce aggregator for furniture brands and move away from the white-labeling business model.
Currently, Mohit and his team are in the process of releasing their first app for a Mumbai based high-end luxury store by the end of August. They also intend to deliver apps for 3 US based clients with multiple outlets.
“All these apps will be co-branded with REALISE” says Mohit.
The company plans to break even in 12 month’s time and basks in its IP and technical abilities that give it an edge over its competitors. Mohit believes that there are not many players approaching the niche market the way his start-up is and hence, he feels that there is plenty of room to grow.
The key issue that they face, according to Mohit, is to speak with a potential customer, educate them about the benefits of augmented reality and the importance of mobile commerce. “Most of our time is spent there. Once the education bit is out of the way, the job gets relatively easier.”
The Pune based startup was founded by Mohit Ahluwalia, who had previously founded Quick2LAUNCH and has worked for Citigroup, and BrandMuscle.
REALISE is currently bootstrapped and is looking for like-minded investors who believe in the company’s long-term vision atleast for the first half of next year. Mohit is also in talks with a few angels who have expressed interest in investing in the company.
REALISE was one of the top 3 teams who launched at our event, StartupDash earlier in July this year.
Here is a Video from StartupDash launchpad.
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