Jammu and Kashmir, long known for its beauty has taken the plunge into the Startup world. There are many startups that are coming up and proving their mettle in-spite of the not very favorable business conditions in the state.
There are people who withstood all the challenges that the political, social, economic and geographic conditions posed to them and came out stronger and better.
Kashmir has been rich in natural supplies and handicrafts. This is something that needed to reach out to the entire world, but due to lack of e-commerce initiatives in the region you would have to travel to the state, or seek favors from people travelling to J&K to get this authentic stuff. Thanks to the startup revolution in the country you can now get it all at just click of few buttons.
Listing below, few of these Jammu and Kashmir startups, that are bringing the beauty of the state closer to you.
KashmirOneStop
Founded by a group of Kashmiri Pandits, (who very seldom enter the business sector) Rohit Bhat and Meenakshi Bhat. This is a step to bring Kashmir closer to people people who are no longer in the valley as well as present Kashmir to the world. This is a simple e- commerce that offers products shipped from Kashmir.
Rohit has an experience of 10 years in the logistics domain, which came in handy in the new venture. The startup came into existence around March 2015. Meenakshi is Rohit’s sister-in-law and was very helpful in kickstarting this startup.
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The platform sells customized Kashmiri products like food items , tea and spices, dry fruits and vegetables, religious articles etc. they have been getting orders from across India.
They also have an option for bulk orders. The feedback from customers on the site are a testimony of the quality work they have been doing.
Go Kash Adventures
Being a passionate traveler himself, founder Danish Mir, started his venture Go Kash Adventures in July2015. The idea came from the fact thta there were a of friends and colleagues who wanted to visit Kashmir, but were not very sure of how to plan it well.
Whatever be your travel type GoKash Adventure has an option for you: Classic, Comfort, Adventures, Active, Local, Culture. Corporate, Family, Bikers, Groups, Students.
Go Kash Adventures is owned by Unique Holidays and tours based in Srinagar. It is an adventure travel establish offering some of the most awe-inspiring affordable small-group tours, safaris and expeditions. Go kash adventures shows you some of the most spectacular scenery in Jammu and Kashmir.
Danish runs his venture with a team of only 15 people(shared with his other venture Kashmirbasket). Founders claim that in its launching month itself, Go Kash Adventures crossed revenue of Rs 6 lakhs with more than 100 customers.
Kashmirbasket
Kashmirbasket was founded by , Danish Mir. Although it was started earlier, it had to be shut down due to the Kashmir floods. He then restarted it in May 2015 and worked his way through the hardships, added new and fresh products and built a new website interface.
It offers an array of products like dry fruits, home décor, handicrafts, silk items, saffron, spices, Kashmiri tea, Kahwah, Kashmiri art and designs including wood carving and papier-mâché.
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The idea of this startup was born when Danish was pursuing his bachelor in Pune, he observed that people who have an appetite for Kashmiri products would pay huge amounts of money to get them delivered.
He also met people fascinated by Kashmir’s natural beauty, traditions and culture of Kashmir and who always wanted him to bring back a lot of pf stuff whenever he visited home. This is when he though about making it all available online .
Kashmirbasket does the inventory purchases from small-scale industries, in-turn – giving them a source of income and recognition in the market. The startup has more than two manufacturers for each category. Danish, is expecting consolidated revenue of Rs 60 lakh.
More startups that have come up as well, like Kashmirmarket.com, Kashmirvilla.com, Kashmirbox, Puremart.in, Best of Kashmir.com, Kashmironline.net. This is indeed a great boost to the indigenous handicraft industry of Jammu and Kashmir along with tourism industry of the state which is the backbone of the state economy.
What is required now is more startups coming up from the rest of the state as well, following the path shown by Advitiya Sharma, co-founder of Housing – the Mumbai-based real estate portal that has been in news recently.