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Thursday, November 14, 2024

Will this Bangalore startup recreate WeChat’s success with its super app?

Bangalore-based startup, MYn, is developing a super app that seeks to bring the various requirements of a consumer under a single roof. By doing so the company aims to replicate the success of WeChat.

WeChat and Alipay in China, Gojek and Grab in Southeast Asia, and Line in Japan have all figured out how to make a profitable super app, which is something that firms all around the world are attempting to figure out.

Despite having a comparable mobile app ecosystem—most users in India, like the rest of Asia, access the internet through mobile devices rather than PCs—the country has yet to discover its own super app. Tata Group’s mega app Tata Neu has also failed to get into the market.

AS Rajgopal, Founder of MYn, and Nanjunda Prasad Ramesh, CEO of MYn, wish to alter this. MYn is a super app that promises to unite all of the diverse user requirements under one roof, such as ride-hailing, delivery, hyperlocal, and social networking. To accomplish this aim, the creators want to begin by enrolling users from the supply side.

But why create a super app?

While hundreds of applications are created each year (about 500,000 are uploaded to the Play Store and App Store each year), the app boom, which began in 2008, has been decreasing since 2016.

Step 1: Arrange for cabs

MYn, founded in Bengaluru, aspires to eliminate pain points in urban transportation, similar to its Asian mega app counterparts Grab and Gojek, which began as mobility services.

According to the co-founders, MYn stands out as an app that does not use surge pricing. For starters, it makes use of infrastructure developed by other participants.

Nanjunda explains, “It’s just that they lacked a business concept. And they had to sell user data to make money.”

The MYn team opted to design the platform such that the app is more than just a moderator. Most ride-hailing applications link a consumer to a supplier while charging a large fee. Currently, such platforms take between 25 and 30% of the revenue, which is considerable from a provider standpoint. This is passed on to the user, making the service more expensive.

According to Nanjunda, MYn operates on a listing fee approach, which removes commission.

“User data is never sold.” Using the cab as an example, instead of charging them a 30% profit.

If you ask any cab driver in Bengaluru, they would tell you that they pay anything from 25 to 30,000 rupees as commission to Ola and Uber today. Instead, they pay 149 each day, or $2,999 per month, which is less than one-tenth of what they are already spending, Nanjunda states

However, creating a ride-hailing business is not easy. While the matching process seems wonderful on paper, it might be difficult to match in practice.

Nanjunda argues, “This is related to the demand-supply paradox. A market price has already been set by the government. We just wish to adhere to the government-approved pricing. We intend to classify all of these taxis as microbusinesses. They have to make money and they have a lot of bills, they took out a loan for the automobile, they have to think about upkeep, and a lot of other things. They must be financially sustainable as a microbusiness “

Because of the vast number of people in need of a robust public transportation system today, we require a variety of ride hailing services. This is especially true in cities such as Bengaluru, where travel times appear to be growing.

Vidhya Shankar, Executive Director at Grant Thornton, says, “Just in terms of mobility, there is a demand for cleaner, more economical, and on-time public transportation. However, if regressive circumstances exist, the market is certainly present.”

The team began by focusing on the supply side, articulating the benefit to cab drivers and convincing them of the idea. In Bengaluru, MYn now has around 28,000 taxis.

The firm competes not just with cab-hailing behemoths Ola and Uber, but also with delivery service providers like Dunzo and Zepto.

Nanjunda says,  “Another major problem is that we entered the market as a mega app. Users may come into super applications and address numerous use cases on a single app. So we embarked on the super app adventure. There is a lot of background noise. However, the market is gradually warming up.”

According to the co-founder, the app evolves dependent on the consumer. MYn, for example, displays profits on the driver’s side.

Nanjunda notes that after the team has achieved widespread acceptance with cab aggregation, it will extend into other verticals such as delivery and social media.

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