Jugnoo, one of the most dynamic startups based in Chandigarh, India, started its journey as an auto-aggregator in 2014. It was initiated as an experiment in a college fest, providing free rides to students in auto rickshaw through an app. When the demand for rides kept growing even after the college fest ended, the founders realised the potential in this business opportunity.
When big giants like Uber and Ola entered the aggregation business in India with their transport hailing apps for cab rides, Jugnoo entered the market with an app for booking auto rickshaw rides. Auto rickshaws, popularly known as ‘tuk-tuks’ in other parts of world, takes around 11 crores (110 million) people to their destination every single day in India.
Aiming the tier 2 and tier 3 cities
Jugnoo is operational mostly in tier 2 and tier 3 cities as majority of these cities’ population rely on public transport for their daily commute. Jugnoo aimed to improve the efficiency of auto rickshaws, as their utilisation remained largely unexplored. It significantly increased the utilization of auto rickshaws in India from 30% to as high as 70%. This was done by engaging the existing fleet of autos in not just passenger rides but also B2C and B2B deliveries.
Jugnoo’s offerings include Meals (Homemade food meals), Menus (Restaurant food delivery), Fatafat (Groceries and fruits delivery), and Ask Local (Hyper-local content platform for local information) – which are all available on the Jugnoo app.
With a strong presence in tier 2 and tier 3 cities of India, Jugnoo offers passenger rides in more than 30 cities and menus in around 22 cities. Fatafat and Meals which are fairly new, are being run in Chandigarh as experiments to get the business model right.
Jugnoo offers convenience
Jugnoo Delivery is an on-demand hyperlocal B2B logistics arm of the company. It renders delivery services to multiple businesses by creating a marketplace that enables the merchants to deliver consignments to their customers while ensuring a seamless delivery experience.
This service systematically lays down the options for merchants. The merchant books a delivery through mobile,web or API; chooses the mode of delivery – autos, bikes or commercial vehicle; tracks the delivery to stay updated on the status of shipment; and finally pays digitally through e-wallets.
This business segment already involves more than 5000 daily deliveries with 800 active merchants, with some of the biggest clients being KFC, Burger King, Pizza Hut and 1mg. It is already present in 19 cities across India and aims to increase its geographical presence in the near future.
Outlook
Jugnoo has prominently established itself as one of the most popular transportation hailing and logistics app. At Jugnoo, the entire team strives towards execution of innovative ideas and works relentlessly to find effective and efficient solutions to problems. The workplace provides equal opportunities to its employees, and encourages them to try and commit mistakes rather than not trying at all. Amidst all the chaos, the outcomes are achieved quickly by giving autonomy to employees at various levels.
