The Hindu BusinessLine: April 17, 2014
Mycity4kids, discovery platform of choice for all kids-related services, has launched its mobile App in Delhi-NCR, Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and Chennai. The company is funded by YourNest Angel Fund.
By the end of FY’2014, mycity4kids aims to be present in the top 16 markets in the country and at least one international city.
Started by Vishal Gupta, a father of two in 2010, mycity4kids has answer to queries related on day-care to playschool activities. Besides, information regarding events and suggestions on schools for kids. It has over 50,000 listings on these events and activities.
“We see the mycity4kids App as a great driver to enhance user base and engagement. With 25 per cent of visits originating from mobile devices, up from 12 per cent a year ago, the Android app is the first step in our ‘mobile-first’ strategy. From a timing sense, with the summer holidays around the corner, parents are tearing their hair out in the search for camps, activities and fun places for the kids and the app will greatly simplify their search and reduce the stress of finding the right place” Gupta said.
Vishal, who quit his 15-year-long corporate career to start this platform, says that “We felt that while parents were willing to spend on the entertainment and overall development of their kids, there was dearth of information on such services in India. There weren’t any players which provided the same on a consolidated basis. That apart the kids’ services market in India was growing fast with some playschool or other mushrooming every month,” Vishal says.
Also with people shifting base regularly, as required by their job, it becomes easier for them to search for new schools, music classes and other entertainment zones for their children in the new city, he added.
According to a McKinsey report, the Indian kids services market is pegged at Rs. 15,000 crore, which included hobbies, sports, tuitions, day care, playschools, recreation, entertainment, health and wellness besides information about places where to shop.
It further added that about 1.2 million were the target households present in the top 16 cities in India with an average expenditure of Rs. 950 a month in every household. The average monthly expenditure on education and recreation is projected to go up to Rs. 8,400 by 2020 from Rs. 4,100 now.
On revenues, Vishal says the company’s earnings are in excess of Rs. 1 crore a year at present but targets revenues of around Rs. 30 crore by the end of FY’15. Besides operating in the B2C segment, where it receives about 6,000-7,000 visits per day with 30 per cent coming in as repeat customers, the company also acts as a B2B player.
In the B2B space, it provides solutions to small and medium enterprises in the children’s space ranging from helping them kick-start their presence on the Internet with a templated microsite to response management, payment and local promotion solutions available for Rs. 2,500 to Rs. 1 lakh a year. So far, the company has acquired over 30,000 businesses on its platform.