When it involves the particular consumer product space in India, there are nonetheless quite a few constraints for an character. These include areas inclusive of having commercial designing know-how, entering into manufacturing, coping with the stock/distribution etc. Besides, the surroundings continues to be very averse to hardware ventures/startups, given the sluggish (even though sustained) growth.
This problem around making product improvement agile and scalable is some thing that wishes to be cracked for greater innovations to come back up. And, that’s exactly what Witworks is doing. Using the strength of crowd and an agile product development method, Witworks ambitions at getting new and progressive customer merchandise to the marketplace always, that keeps fixing person problems as in line with changing instances and wishes.
The idea become initiated through three undergraduate college students of IIT Kharagpur, viz. Somnath Meher, Ankit DP and Chandrashekhar Iyer, underneath the banner of Think Innoventions, registered in October 2011. Witworks changed into officially launched in March 2014.
How It Works?
The Witworks version permits users, i.E. Human beings the world over to sign up for the Witworks’ community and provide you with answers for everyday practical issues.
Conceptual thoughts in their nascent stage may be put up on the online portal. The whole community can see, review and assist improve the concept over a specific time span. Based on the network’s remarks and a sequence of expert opinions, the pinnacle thoughts are picked for improvement, i.E. Introduced out of paper and given form as physical artifacts. While the customers can invent, affect, or maybe make investments on a brand new product, the whole attractive network receives to earn within the process.
Services Offered
The product improvement, launch and income/advertising for selected ideas is facilitated via Witworks. The inventors gets five% of the product sales sales and reputation at the product packaging and all advertising collaterals.
As of now, the web (get right of entry to by way of invite handiest) platform has over 1700 Makers signed up to submit, evaluate and interact over product thoughts. The platform turned into made open to each person in April, 2015 after 6 months of constrained get admission to launch.
Products Launched
Witworks’ pilot product Rewind, a unique way to the trouble of earphone entanglement, has sold greater than 20,000 gadgets so far. The organisation has earned round INR 22-23 lakh in revenues by selling Rewind to individual and corporate clients.
Recently, it has additionally released new merchandise Trippy & Scrubbl, invented by Omkar Kulkarni and Bina Keshava respectively. While one among the goods is a kitchen appliance, the opposite product is an audio streaming tool predicted to take large gamers like Google and other silicon valley startups inside the identical area head-on.
The business enterprise acquired round 500 pre-orders for Trippy and raised INR 8.Five Lakhs. The corporation took 30 days to expand this product with an estimated cost of INR 20K (Only until prototyping et al.) Whereas, it has obtained round over 806 pre-orders for Scrubbl and raised around 11.Five Lakh to date. The business enterprise developed this product in underneath 30 days with an predicted fee of INR 15K.
Competition and Marketing Strategy
There are other worldwide structures like Quirky, Kickstarter, and so on. Which give similar services. Whereas Kickstarter is not any extra involved after the investment campaign, on the alternative facet Quirky works for a spot of product line and marketplace. Another US-based totally startup, Tubestart additionally offers comparable offerings in exclusive domain. It presents creators with the proper aid, crowdfunding models, products income equipment, community and logo integrations to bring their video tasks to lifestyles.
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At gift, Witworks has been seeding the platform with a choose initial set of users. One, It has been very intently attractive with the makers’ community of the united states to get them onboard the platform. Secondly, it has been carrying out an occasion referred to as “The Witworks Experiment” throughout the usa to promote the subculture of invention, and get people to make new stuff. The first leg of this changed into held at IIT Kharagpur, and the most recent one concluded at Maker Fest, Ahmedabad!
Funding and Challenges Ahead
Witworks has a team of nine, started with a seed investment of approximately $20,000 from IIT Kharagpur. In October, 2014 the group similarly raised an Angel spherical of $80k The startup is presently gearing up for a bridge round/Series-A publish it’s new product launches.
One of the important challenge at present is to make maximum of the techniques streamlined and repeatable. Besides, crashing the improvement timelines was any other massive assignment. While attractive with companies, specially within the production area.
Editor’s Take
According to the ministry of IT & communications, the demand for IT hardware & electronics is stratospheric. It is predicted to the touch $four hundred Bn by means of 2020 in India, but $320 Bn well worth of IT hardware & electronics can be imported to cater to this need.
The platform like Witworks, which goes on sales sharing model and offer all requisites beneath the same roof is not any doubt a unique concept. Definitely, can be a compelling opportunity for people who has the concept however can't afford the improvement cost of the product and multi-layer challenges for the duration of development segment.
