Meet the 7 startups picked for TLabs' 3rd accelerator batch

TLabs, an incubator run by Times Internet Ltd (TIL), has picked seven tech startups for its third accelerator programme. The organisation picked as many startups for its first two batches combined, of which one had shut shop. TLabs typically invests around Rs 10 lakh ($18,000) for 10 per cent stake in an incubatee company.

Out of the seven startups selected for the current batch, two are focusing on the education space while others are in food domain, mobile payment, online weekend holiday booking, marketing platform for offline retailers and cloud-based business collaboration services.

The batch will graduate in June 2013 and TLabs plans to roll in close to 10 startups for the next batch, according to Abhishek Gupta, head of the accelerator at TLabs.

Here's a look at the seven startups:

PrepSquare: A self-assessment tool for those sitting for competitive exams. PrepSquare co-founder Tanuj Bhojwani said, "We're bringing analytics and content to students focusing on last-minute revision. Starting with the JEE market, we bring independent teachers online and connect them directly with students, allowing teachers to monetise their skills directly without the umbrella of coaching institutes." The website will be formally launched by the end of this month and is currently in beta. The company started in November 2012 and has already created content for the next 2-3 months.

GradeStack: The second education-focused company in the batch, GradeStack stacks courses for quick, interactive learning on mobile devices. It offers courses on native apps, currently available on the Android and iOS platforms. For content, the company partners with content experts and integrates the same with its technology solutions. "The content on a tablet or a mobile handset has to be user-friendly and that's what we want to do," said Vibhu Bhushan, co-founder of GradeStack. The company recently introduced a course on Java interview questions and has already seen 500 downloads for the same.

Langhar: Langhar seeks to be the Airbnb for food. It is a web/mobile app to discover dishes cooked by people at their homes. "The idea came to my mind when I realised that I could do business out of my home – all I need is the food cooked by my mother," said Pawan Kumar, one of the founders. As of now, Langhar is a community marketplace enabling common people (housewives, hobbyists, professional cooks) to convert their homes into restaurants to earn extra money.

Offer Mandi : OfferMandi is a 24x7 location-specific marketing platform, giving the local retailers of a city an online presence to advertise their businesses among the local internet users. But to make a purchase, consumers will have visit respective shops or they can get in touch with retailers via their contact numbers. As of now, the service is limited to Jaipur only. We have spotted the site showing an offer from the French retail giant Carrefour which is a bit tricky (currently, Carrefour operates only as a wholesale retailer due to FDI restrictions and can't, going by the books, sell directly to retail consumers).

Oogwave: Oogwave encourages a new way of working and a shift from using e-mail as the main channel of information sharing, discussion and collaboration within a company. It is a free-to-join, private cloud collaboration platform that can be accessed via PCs, mobiles and tablets – providing hassle-free collaboration with integrated productivity and communication tools. The startup was launched towards the end of 2011 and it already claims to have 6,000 users from 72 countries. Oogwave has been set up by four entrepreneurs who had earlier founded Novoally Software in a similar domain and sold the firm three months ago.

Happay:  Happay is a mobile wallet that enables P2P, as well as bill payments. One can recharge his/her phone on the go, pay bills, shop at Happay Store (in-app shop) for exclusive gifts, track all personal and group expenses, split and settle bills with friends, store all loyalty cards at one place and even request payment from friends.

iExperience: An online platform that sells all things relevant for your weekends and vacations. It offers activities like go-karting, scuba diving, golf, etc., online, with a vendor-managed service at the backend. "At iExperience, we help people have a great weekend," says founder Sandeep Singh. The site went live in November 2012 and claims to have 200 visitors per day.

Also Read

TLabs startup accelerator report card: 1 dead, 2 up for funding and 4 evolving