Hyderabad's a hotbed for talent

About five years ago, wanting to venture into entrepreneurial activity would have been construed as a risky proposition. The very notion of starting out on one’s own early in life would be met with resistance, with age often cited as a reason to stall such ideas. But the fact remains that age is just a number when you have a blend of skills and the passion to succeed, as these young achievers from Hyderabad have proven. 

Beating all odds, entrepreneurs of three Hyderabad start-ups — StuMagz, Stanplus Tech, and Gayam Motor Works along with ace shuttler P.V. Sindhu have made it to the prestigious Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list, issued annually by Forbes magazine in recognition of some of the brightest young minds. 

Explaining the choice of P.V. Sindhu for the list, Forbes magazine says, “The Olympic silver medal achievement not only earned her millions in prize money and endorsements back home, but also fueled interest in her as a badminton icon. Sindhu has since won titles at the Korea Open and India Open, defeating her Rio gold medal victor, Spain’s Carolina Marin, at the latter.” 

For the city, it is indeed a moment of glory as this is the first time Hyderabad has so many young achievers featured in the list. Undoubtedly, these 30 young innovators and disruptors across 10 categories are re-inventing their industries and driving change. Meanwhile, Fortune India also released a list of 40 Under 40, in which Telugu entrepreneurs Sai Teja Veera and Sudheendra Chilappagari, who set up Belong.co in Bengaluru, were featured. 

StanPlus Tech
While pizza is assuredly delivered in 30 minutes, there is often uncertainty over ambulances rescuing people in an emergency in our cities. Known to be a ‘social animal’ and having travelled to almost 30 countries, Prabhdeep Singh often wondered why the ambulance system in India is so ineffective. 

Meanwhile, his INSEAD classmate, Antoine Poirson from France, who came to India to set up a solar plant in Rajasthan, faced an incident where a colleague met with a serious accident. Describing the entire journey from accident site to the hospital as a “complete disaster”, Antoine discussed the gaps in the Indian health sector with Prabhdeep, who also holds an MBA from NMIMS, Mumbai, apart from being a trained pharmacist.

Prabhdeep’s eventual conversations with patients, first responders, and hospital officials convinced him of the demand for responsive and trustworthy ambulance services. His start-up, Stanplus, not only aggregates the available ambulances, but also standardises emergency services, trains drivers in first aid, CPR and to perform quality checks inside the ambulances. It also provides a live tracking feature for the patients through SMS. 

Singh terms this Uber-for-ambulances as ‘care-ware’ because they are standardising medical emergency services with a business model that creates a win-win situation for all stakeholders. Prabhdeep, who is presently outside the country on work, says, “I am in Cape Town for some work and am still processing that I am listed in 30 Under 30. It feels good that a few Hyderabad-based start-ups are being featured, that too across Asia. I am really looking forward to 40 Under 40 now.”

StuMagz
Colleges have great stories to tell but often lack platforms to share. Outspoken youngster Sri Charan Lakkaraju (29) was actively involved in the Toastmasters Club and was the ‘go to guy’ in his college when it came to career advice or any event. After completing his graduation, he started working as a software engineer for a leading company. 

However, Charan soon ventured into training students for placements. “From what I started with to what we have evolved into today is certainly different and only for the good,” says Charan, who enlisted the help of his friend Frederick Devarampati (25), who was running a brand consulting agency, to build an international product delivering a great user experience. 

Combining Frederick’s design expertise with Charan’s passion for marketing and public speaking, the duo founded start-up — StuMagz, which provides a platform to connect and publish for colleges. 

“Incubated in T-hub, Stumagz is about connecting with stories, collaborating with people and creating a cult,” explains Frederick. Expre-ssing delight over their achievement, Charan says, “We are elated to be in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list which helps us get global recognition. We are in a growth stage now as StuMagz aims to create a global Digital Campus Ecosystem. The recognition by Forbes only acts as a validation.”