2020 has been a difficult year for all kinds of businesses specially for startups. The markets are closed partially or completely, the purchasing power is lowered and there is very low market liquidity to attract investors. However there is a silver ray of hope being established by some startups which are defying market trends through some excellent product development, launch and marketing strategy.
One such example is Locumotive mobile application incubated and accelerated by StartupStudio.
Conceived and founded by two bright young entrepreneurs namely Gautam Passi and Samsher Singh, Locumotive is a mobile app meant for revolutionizing the optometry industry.
Locums is a term colloquially used for doctors or optometrists working on contractual basis that visit various pharmacies and other medical facilities for consultation and diagnosis. The locum work is highly valuable for optometrists, patients and locations that they visit to ensure proper medical diagnosis and prescriptions being available to patients even in the far flung areas.
The challenge in the industry has always been the organisation and administration of the entire operation which requires connecting with Locums, checking date availability, hourly rates, location access and various other factors. Until recently the pharmacies and locums had to coordinate using emails, phone calls, text messages and other similar resources. The old age methods were not only inefficient but also time and cost consuming. And recruitment agencies that provide the locum sourcing services to stores are exorbitantly priced.
These problems gave rise to the idea of creating a common platform where stores and locums can interact to exchange information, confirm booking, check ratings and operate other aspects of business. Thus Gautam and Samsher founded the concept of Locumotive soon after which they submitted it to StartupStudio.Online. The idea was selected for investment and incubation which meant that an experienced team of strategists, app designers and developers dedicated time and resources for launching the only application for the locum industry in the market. StartupStudio also became the first investor in the Locumotive project in lieu of 20% equity, the investment value covered the entire cost of research, design, development and launch.
The Locumotive app helps locums to find jobs based on pricing, rating, location, and other pertinent factors. On the flipside the stores can also book locums based on various filters just via the app. The app can be used for direct messaging, confirming time slots, etc.
Over the last 6 few days the Locumotive app has been launched and achieving unprecedented success to become the mainstay for locums and stores. The easy to use interface and well researched feature implementation played an important part in quick user acquisition of the Locumotive app.
As per Samsher Singh “Dr Evan Singh Luthra and the StartupStudio team has been an integral force behind the successful development and launch of Locumotive app. We had the dream but the only reason Locumotive became a reality so fast was the investment and ingenuity of Evan Singh Luthra and StartupStudio team.”
The locumotive app is not the first success story from StartupStudio as they have invested in and developed projects like Eaze.com (Fastest growing company in the US in 2016), Gameform.com (Gaming app to earn free money), Doodeo and in India companies like FTcash and JoshTalks . However the encouraging results displayed by Locumotive team despite Covid19 epidemic has helped StartupStudio management to expand their horizons. They plan to invest in more projects to generate more employment while building on the opportunity presented for digital products due to global lockdown.
StartupStudio.online website will be soon launching a portal where founders can submit their ideas to get funding, mentoring, design and development assistance. The seed capital and initial strategy are the most important factors that can make or break a startup project. To overcome the issue Startupstudio has committed resources and funds to eliminate these initial challenges for startups. The mission is to enable multiple startups to bring their ideas to life so more wealth, employment and prosperity can be generated.
The soon to be launched portal from StartupStudio will facilitate conglomeration of investors who can view and evaluate ideas submitted by people all over the world. Also the founders will have an exclusive opportunity to collaborate with other startups, be mentored by experienced professionals for guidance on all aspects of business development, pitch their ideas to global investors and finally to get a world class development team at their disposal once their ideas get chosen. The option of equity crowdfunding will also be included in later stages.
It is definitely a good sign for investors and founders around the world to see projects like Locumotive achieve success despite Covid19 epidemic. The StarupStudio team is confident that the current market scenario is ripe to explore and launch new ideas which will frame the next 50 years of industry and quality of human interactions. Hence they are inviting and accepting more startup ideas through their official website
StartupStudio.online.
Links:
EvanLuthra.com
https://www.locumotive.co.uk/
http://StartupStudio.online
Disclaimer: The views, suggestions and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No Forbes India journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.
