auto-rickshaw based go-to platform for all the hyper-local needs”, Chinmay
Agarwal, Co-founder and CTO, Jugnoo
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Chinmay Agarwal, Co-founder and CTO, Jugnoo |
Bureau: When did you
decide to take the path of ‘entrepreneurship’ as your career? Do you remember
any special incident?
Agarwal: I decided to
take on this path when I completed my Masters in Robotics Engineering. I felt
that there is a lot to do on the path ‘of building things’ and entrepreneurship
is one of the places where one can get real experience for it. I remember that
when I initially told my mom about it, she thought I am crazy.
Bureau: Can you
briefly tell us more about your startup?
Agarwal: Jugnoo was launched
in November 2014 as an on-demand auto-rickshaw aggregator with an objective of
bringing structure to a highly unorganized auto-rickshaw sector in the form of
aggregating them via technology and thereby making it more efficient. After
becoming the country’s leading auto-rickshaw aggregator with presence in 40
cities of India and 40,000 daily transactions, Jugnoo is now all set to evolve
as an auto-rickshaw based go-to platform for all the hyper-local needs.
other verticals of on-demand and hyper-local space with its recently launched
services like Fresh, Meals and Grocery via its platform with auto-rickshaw
drivers as their logistics partner. We have also launched into B2B logistics
with Jugnoo Delivery, an omni channel, on-demand, hyper-local logistics service
which is enabling vendors to deliver products to their customers when, where,
and how they want it while ensuring a seamless delivery experience.

Bureau: How big is
your team at present? Are you planning to increase your team size?
Agarwal: Jugnoo has a
team size of around 300 people at present. We are following the MECE principle:
Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive and focus on quality rather than
quantity when it comes to hiring. We are super selective in our hiring process
and want to go lean yet productive.
Bureau: Did you get
any funding for your startup? Are you planning to attract funding in the near
future?
Agarwal: We have
received USD 16 million in two rounds of funding till now from investors like
Paytm and Snow Leopard. We are not aggressively looking out for funding at the
moment as there is no need as such but fundraising is always an ongoing process
at Jugnoo and for our next round of funding, we are planning to raise USD 30-50
million.
Bureau: What
challenges do you face in your daily professional life?
Agarwal: One of the
biggest challenges that we face being in auto-rickshaw space is technology
adoption by auto drivers. They come from a section of society which is not
familiar with technology or technology based platforms. So, to enable our
drivers to have a hassle-free experience with our platform, we constantly
strive to keep our app as easy to use as possible for them.
Bureau: How do you
see yourself in next 2 years from now?
Agarwal: I believe in
building up things which people use, I hope that there would be many more such
people in two years and I guess I would be happy looking at that.
Bureau: What are your
hobbies in your personal life? Which is your favorite holiday destination?
Agarwal: I go out to
travel every couple of months. Currently I am learning Aikido. My favorite
holiday destination is Manali.