Ever wondered how would it be if you loose your valuable belongings or luggage while travelling. There is no nightmare worse than this. MissingKart platform addresses this pain point by helping you to trace your lost belongings and luggage during your travel. Founded by two software engineers K. Pradeep and C.P. Hashir MissingKart boasts of a bunch of happy and thankful customers.
Incubated at KSIDC Business Incubation Center, UL Cyberpark, Calicut, the startup is already working successfully with the Indian Railways alleviating their problem in tracking lost luggage.
Give a brief info about your startup?
MissingKart is an online platform that helps people to trace their valuable belongings lost during their travels. The platform is very simple and easy to use wherein the person who has lost their belonging can report under “Lost” category and the one who finds it can report under the “Found” category. MissingKart with its unique algorithm makes the match between the lost items and alerts the owner. The owner then have to go and collect their items from the authorities after going through a verification process.
What made you start your startup and what problem does it solve?
MissingKart marked its entry to the world of lost-and-found items during the Kerala floods; helping hundreds of people. The idea found its root when Hashir lost his baggage during one of his train journeys and ended up struggling a month to find his lost bag. He shared the idea with his friend Pradeep. The sight of a room full of lost materials from travellers at Thiruvananthapuram Railway Station when they went to claim his lost bag resulted in the birth of MissingKart.
Tell us about yourself, your previous jobs/ventures? What were you doing before this startup?
Before starting MissingKart, we were working in the software industry. When we realised we can do more than that and create our own service, we stepped away from our jobs. Though, the 4 years of experience became a blessing in disguise.
Where is your startup based out of? Why do you think that is the best place for you?
Though we are based in Calicut (incubated at KSIDC Business Incubation Center, UL Cyberpark) to reduce expenses in this initial stage, we are planning to reach out to other metro cities.
As a startup founder, what are you paranoid about? What keeps you awake at night?
As the founder, my dream and goal is to get my company growing day by day with increasing services that will one day rule the global market and to build a large team with the help of the strong team I have with me right now.
Who are your competitors and how are you better than them?
We do not have very active competitors in this area of service in the Indian market which gives us a better space to perform. The existing competitors do not have free public service unlike us.
How hard is it to have a work-life balance as a startup founder and how do you manage it?
As a startup work is basically life. Full of passion and endless hours of learning is what drives our team. Also being a small team, we are positively connected to each other both professionally and personally.
Have you raised funding? If yes, then we would like to know the details. If no then please tell us if you’re looking to raise?
Kerala Start-up mission has provided us with the Productisation grant to develop products. We are in pursuit of investments and fundraisings to support our marketing for the coming year.
What gets you excited about this company?
The very fact that technology is being used for public service gives us the rush. In this fast-moving life, a companion like MissingKart makes our life much easier and makes our travel less worrisome.
Tell us how a day in your life looks like? Your schedule for a day right from the time you get up till you hit the bed at night.
Initial struggles as a start-up, be it financial or technical; meeting various milestones is a challenge on a daily basis. But learning from each step and improving the next time is also a routine for us.
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