Fast-growing technology companies that are redefining lives
While the world continues to move at a rapid pace, we are all witnessing the emergence of new companies. Revolutionary companies that are not only reinventing their entire category, but are also leaving a lasting impact on how consumers interact. Think Uber or Airbnb. A mere decade ago, who would have thought of using a smartphone application to commute with a complete stranger, or even more intimidating – spending an entire vacation in someone else’s house? Yet, revolutionary thinkers have continued to introduce new types of companies, ones that are helping to take the world forward.
But are the next generation IT companies all about the ones that we know about? Or are there even newer, nascent companies, ones that are set to redefine the next generation and continue to reshape the world in the post-pandemic scenario? Will the leading IT companies of the next decade solely be from Silicon Valley or Shanghai? Or will they emerge from other parts of the world, with young, visionary entrepreneurs of diverse descents – coming together to give life to revolutionary ideas? Let’s take a look –
Outschool
Redefining how students learn
beyond the classroom
Outschool, which launched in 2015, has been dubbed the ‘Netflix of education’. Outschool provides students with an immersive learning experience where they will work with an expert teacher to master a new subject rather than delivering online courses with lectures and tests. Outschool has grown to offer over 10,000 live classes for children aged between three to eighteen years old since launching their platform. The marketplace provides courses in anything from chemistry to architecture, and it incorporates a humorous tone into the learning process – for example, architecture programs are taught using Minecraft. On the site, over 1,000 teachers have registered, each with their unique course format. Some classes are one-time events designed to give students a taste of a subject; others last a few weeks. Some classes are even longer than a traditional semester, allowing students to delve deeper into the platform. Teachers in K-12 schools, particularly those who teach smaller grades, have traditionally had a choice over how they deliver curriculum, but each student must understand a range of themes. Teachers can pick what students should learn on their own in Outschool and design an immersive course based on how they think students will best master the material. Outschool’s ultimate purpose is to provide a learner-directed option for teenagers. Outschool can assist students who are disengaged from school in exploring subjects that they are interested in. Students who require extra support in a subject may be able to use the platform to enhance their traditional education. The school wants more children to be allowed to explore their talents outside of the traditional classroom, where a set curriculum dictates what kids study.
Taboola
Creating an ecosystem for both the
user-creators and publishers.
Taboola is a web-based platform that aims to solve the online content marketplace’s problems. The tagline “stuff you might like” says a lot about Taboola’s business philosophy. Taboola’s business is around recommending and linking users to websites that may be of interest to them. The service is appealing to people who aren’t sure what they’re looking for (and the majority of habitual internet users, including educated ones, frequently fall in this category). Taboola claims to be the polar opposite of search engine results. While search engines deliver exactly what the user is looking for, Taboola makes proactive content recommendations depending on the user’s interests, which are based on Taboola’s advanced algorithms. Taboola is a content marketing platform that connects content producers with publishers. Web-based widgets titled “Content You May Like,” “You May Also Like,” “Recommended for You,” or similar are among the available tools and technology. Content publishers post these widgets on their website with photographs and links to related content (video, image-based slideshows, or articles). The linked material might be internal (from the publisher’s website or network) or external (leading to other websites), for which the publishers are compensated with a portion of the ad income. The Huffington Post, Time, USA Today, The Weather Channel, and Investopedia are just a few of the current publications. The content creators, on the other hand, are Taboola customers who utilize the service to drive traffic to their websites and act as advertisers who pay for that traffic. These are the websites whose links can be found on the publisher’s website’s web widgets.
Outschool can assist students who are disengaged from school in exploring subjects that they are interested in.
Tock
A company that benefits both the
kitchen and the consumer.
Tock is an online reservation system that allows diners to pay in full or make a deposit for a meal reservation. It helps eateries become more productive (chefs can plan ahead) and reduces diner no-shows. Tock’s approach to reservations is to advertise them as an experience, similar to purchasing a concert ticket — and the Chicago-based business has certainly struck on something, since Tock is currently used by 120 restaurants in nine countries. Tock also provides hospitality tools, sales statistics, staff communication software, and a service that creates guest profiles, in addition to reservations. Although Tock’s system was designed for the restaurant industry, its applications allow it to be used by other industries that deal with reservations, such as hospitals. But it was during the pandemic that Kokonas may have come up with his most industry-changing idea yet: Tock To Go, a service that allows restaurants to offer now-essential takeaway and delivery meals without the hefty fees that services like Seamless and DoorDash impose. Instead, Tock charges restaurants a flat monthly fee of $199 plus 2% of orders, or simply 3% if they don’t have a subscription. (For $699 per month, the business provides a “pro” package that includes no booking fees and a 2% fee on Tock To Go purchases.) Tock also allows restaurants to keep their customer data, allowing them to form their own relationships with customers. Prior to the pandemic, most Tock eateries were on the better end of the spectrum, but as Tock To Go became available, the platform attracted neighborhood treasures and even dive bars hoping to avoid closure. Tock expected to have more than double the number of businesses using its services by 2020, reaching approximately 7,100 restaurants and 1,000 vineyards. By 2021, it intended to reach a gross merchandising volume of $1 billion. In two key areas, Tock To Go differs from services like Seamless, Postmates, and DoorDash. To begin with, instead of charging up to 30% in commissions, which can eat into a restaurant’s profit margins, Tock charges between 2% and 3% on all orders. On the back end, Tock asks consumers to select pickup and delivery times in 15-minute intervals, whereas other delivery services accept orders as they come in. Tock schedules reservations in the same way to save kitchens from being overburdened. Tock To Go has added even more features since its launch, including two-way texting from within the dashboard to reduce face-to-face interactions. It also worked with DoorDash and Postmates to incorporate last-mile deliveries, charging diners a delivery fee.
With the massive technological interventions that 5G high-speed internet facilitates, industries can utilise and implement new solutions to the deep-rooted problems plaguing the country.
Meesho
Revolutionizing how SMEs engage in social commerce
Meesho — short for ‘meri shop’ (my shop) is aimed towards tier 2 and 3 cities, with over 17 million resellers, 15 million of whom are women, and 60,000 suppliers. Bangalore-based Meesho is an online marketplace that links merchants and buyers through social media platforms including WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram. Order administration, logistics, online payments, real-time shop updates, and the ability for businesses to encourage their customers to subscribe are among the services it provides. The startup claims to have a network of over 13 million entrepreneurs, the majority of whom are women, and over 100,000 suppliers spread throughout almost 5,000 Indian towns and cities, mostly dealing in groceries, clothes, home appliances, and electronics. During the COVID-19 outbreak, which caused New Delhi to impose a months-long curfew, Meesho introduced Farmiso, a solution that allowed anyone to start an online grocery store without investing any money. Farmiso has emerged as Meesho’s fastest growing business, according to Aatrey (prior to the epidemic, Meesho had begun to expand in Southeast Asia, but has now cut back those efforts). Despite billions of dollars invested by Amazon and Flipkart, modern e-commerce has struggled to gain traction in India. One major gamble is social commerce. Many of the ‘providers’ in the Indian domestic household have commercial sense. They are given the financial freedom to conduct business with the Meesho app without leaving their homes with Meesho. These entrepreneurs typically lack the financial resources to purchase raw materials and operate simple brick-and-mortar trading centers. Suppliers drop/ship the goods after they’ve been ordered, so Meesho merchants don’t have to carry inventory. While the venture capital industry wasn’t exactly sure how offline community commerce worked at first, it saw a huge opportunity in Meesho’s creative ideas. Furthermore, Meesho customers have expressed their thankfulness for effectively improving their businesses and lifestyles in so many ways, thereby increasing the basis of innovation. Meesho’s business approach may definitely be viewed as a model for ambitious entrepreneurs looking to break into the community commerce space. While several elements of the sector have already gained prominence, there are still few major competitors in the market.
