Ola made travel a whole-new experience at a city level. For those with the public transport woes that encapsulated crowds, unavailability, discomfort or affordability – Ola cabs drove those woes away.

Ola was a dream come true to many an Indian in 2010 – when travelling was a daily necessity for most. And yet, owning a personal car was not a reality for most either. The arrival of Ola, an Indian startup and cab-for-hire service, eliminated the need for the personally owned car. That Indian middle class professional who was saving to buy his own four-wheeler so he or she could show up for meetings in decent shape could now arrive in impeccable form by booking an Ola ride.

Move a little, show business. For there’s no business like the food business. Yet, food businesses are no daal-chawal deals. They’re tricky and need the perfect recipe. The Zomato story struck the right ingredients and methods. India’s most successful food-tech app has set an example of a great idea that’s become a global cup of tea.

The Zomato story is a long one – with several challenges and developments that kept the brand on track. Today, it’s the go-to place for any foodie in over 25 countries.

GroCurv features in YourStory’s Tech50 startups, the rising stars in India’s constellation of startups at TechSparks 2021.

Over the last 10 years, YourStory have been presenting the Tech30 — their specially curated list of India’s top 30 early-stage tech startups. The 300+ Tech30 startups including the likes of Freshworks, Niramai, Pixxel, InnovAccer, Chargebee, and Loginext among others have, cumulatively, raised growth capital of more than $2 billion, helped create over 31,000 jobs, are totally valued at $6.8 billion+, and have attracted investments from more than 400 investors.

Pay all your bills with only your phone number. When we were told this 20 years ago, it was a fantasy. The idea of walking out of home, sans wallet or purse, and paying for coffee, groceries and auto rickshaw online was an infotech marvel. The PayTM story made the marvel a household possibility. One man sat at the draught board and planned the way ahead for completely cashless payments in India.

Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the creator of PayTM, is in the halls of many fames for his achievement that values at USD 16 billion (2020). The PayTM story is about digital payment systems, e-commerce and finance – all available via a virtual wallet to access from a smartphone. It is available in 11 major Indian languages. During the peak of COVID-related lockdown limitations, PayTM proved to be our saving grace. It has also been a boon for the lower economic strata that navigates online payments via PayTM accounts effortlessly.

Instagram is currently the most popular social media app on a global level. The most favoured social network currently has 1.074 billion users*. It has been the go-to for young adults, ever since its inception in 2002.

Why does Instagram work? What makes its reach to a billion people not only possible but also effective?