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Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? Ajita Madan : In short, “A dream to amplify our adventures led us to the formation of NthAdventure” – An only licensed Adventure Racing Organization in India We wanted to explore more outdoors, indulge with nature and then we were like What’s next? While we were searching for our answers, we found Patagonian Adventure Race which was a 700 Km Expedition style Race, where there was NO support from outside, No motor involved, No GPS or Satellite based maps and adding to this it’s a TEAM EVENT with ONE female or male which is a mandatory for a team of FOUR. Our curiosity led us to explore deeper and we realised it’s a big ocean of Adventure Races across the Globe having Documentaries, TV Series and more. We were looking for the nearest race where we can physically go and experience this massive sport. That’s when we came across “GODZONE adventure race – Queenstown, New Zealand”, and got our first-hand experience as a Race Marshall learning inside and out about this sport. We learnt so much about this sport and athletes that we just fell in love. That dream we saw with an open eye led us to form NthAdventure, an organization with a huge heart for AR growing in leaps and bounds to introduce the best sport to every person who love Adventure. ADVENTURE RACING is termed as the world’s toughest Team Race – Prove us wrong. We are making Adventure Racing accessible to every Indian with same level of standardization attracting international athletes to race and experience India’s adventure side as well as its culture and hospitality. Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by NthAdventure Evento Private Limited Ajita Madan : Our Motto is “Amplifying Adventure” and with our every race and service we amplify your adventure. NthAdventure is Proud to say that, we are the ONLY INDIAN Organization licensed and authorized to Host Adventure Racing in India as part of Adventure Racing World Series – ARWS Asia Series. Our Premium Services Includes: · ARWS Asia Series · 48 Hours India Regional Championship (IRC) · 8 / 12 Hours National Adventure Racing Series (NARS) Other Specialization: · Orienteering (Trail O, MTB O, Kayak O & Rogaining) · Maze Run · All Ladies Adventure Group (ALAG - a women only group) · Adventure Race Clinics (Workshops) · Adventure Racing for Corporates · Adventure Racing for Educational Institutions · Outdoor trainings for Schools, colleges, communities, and corporates Great Companies: What makes NthAdventure Evento Private Limited different from hundreds of other Outdoor & Adventure Sports Firms? Our Events are niche as are our Adventure Racers. Every race we conduct, are governed by international guidelines set by AR World Series. Once Teams race with NthAdventure they can participate in any race across the globe. Holding an international License to conduct Adventure Racing events across India gives our athletes an upper hand to learn and explore the sport at a global level, compete for the Global Ranking, all-paid entry to ARWS Asia Championship, National Championship and more. With our other specialized services, we aim to promote an outdoor culture fueled by various Adventure Sports, Trainings, and mini versions of Adventure Racing which imparts leadership, better communication, time management, survival skills and other life-skills. We are also on the urge of creating a skilled team who can represent INDIA in various Adventure Racing World Championships. Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Awareness of “Adventure Racing” sport in India which is a GLOBAL sport having annual Championships hosted in various parts of the world. Misconception of calling every multisport event as Adventure Race. Reach & Access to avid athletes and India’s vast and gigantic destinations meant for such sports. Permissions, approvals from Government bodies & various stakeholders where massive logistical support required to host Expedition style races. We really hope that through our National & ASIA Race Series we can create more awareness so that this sport also gets Government as well as other stakeholders support to invite all in-house & international athletes. Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for NthAdventure Evento Private Limited? 1. Our aim is to see India to be recognized as one of the destinations for Expedition Races annually, part of ARWS global race circuit. 2. Host Adventure Racing World Series Championship in India 3. Host National Adventure Race Series in multiple states of India 4. Connecting and creating an impact in society through outdoor sports 5. Adventure Racing to be recognized as a sport where athletes are supported by Brands and States. 6. Introduce many athletes as possible and states to host these races growing social and economic benefits Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? If you can Dream it, you can do it. For us, it all started with a DREAM, and we continue to LIVE THE DREAM. Find something that inspires, motivate, and give you that adrenaline rush in life, just stick around, seize the opportunities come your way and Amplify your Adventure in every aspect.

Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? Aditi Holani: There was something that intrigued me about being an entrepreneur and nothing better than having a voice that eventually translates into a visual medium. Initially i went with the flow of fashion education and work experience under designers as a part of fun growing up years and doing something creative but gradually on the field, I realised my passion for making beautiful garments and the entire execution process that came with it. I fell in love with the process of conceptualising a mood board, doing research around it and finally translating them into ensembles. Shoulder Lab came into existence as a project to create something new. Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by Shoulder Lab ? Aditi Holani: We are a sustainable clothing label and we provide clothing off the racks/customised based on our customers need and occasion type. We mostly cater to the everyday edgy casual segment. The label envelopes stimulating thoughts, philosophies and juxtaposes those distinct characteristics together through various cutting styles thereby exploring the massive disparities that swarms around us. We are constantly inspired by the free flowing articulation of individuality. Our textiles are from Aagor weaves of Ant craft in Assam. We aim towards a zero waste policy and all our wastes are subsequently recycled. Our silhouettes are relaxed and fuss free. We like the textures speak in terms of textiles and and surface ornamentation. Great Companies: What makes Shoulder Lab different from hundreds of other Fashion and Clothing firms? Aditi Holani: A ruminative Design-Philosophy sets us apart and we would ideally like to position our brand amongst customers who are relaxed yet unconventional in approach and also amongst those who truly appreciate art. Combining surface techniques with interesting and unique details best describes us in entirety. A disparate approach through cuts, material design in collaboration with the Handloom clusters is the USP of our Brand. Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Aditi Holani: The biggest challenge that we face is to educate the customer as to why something handloom-cotton is priced the way they are. We often have to interact at a deeper level with our customers and subsequently engage in a dialogue with respect to our supply chain model, procurement of textiles and the entire process of sketch to store. Another small struggle we face is to keep things edgy without compromising on our ethical practices - we are on the constant lookout for new ways of doing old things, materials that can contribute back to the environment and above all, we try to keep it fun! Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for Shoulder Lab ? Aditi Holani: We are looking to foray into the international buying market and participate in the virtual trade shows. We are also looking at adding a few verticals to our business which would give a voice to the Indian artisans at large. We would ideally like to collaborate with more handloom clusters and widen our retail base domestically and internationally. Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? Aditi Holani: It would be to keep things simple - to constantly evolve-grow and to never stop learning, quite literally. I would also like to add that one should just follow their own unique inner voice/gut whether it's Design, Management or Finance.

Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? Dr. Sushant Shekhar: Right after I completed my post graduate degree, I had plans to pursue my research interest and had plans to complete my doctorate. I, along with few friends planned to start mushroom cultivation in the outskirts of Bangalore. I always thought, this could also help me sustain financially and not be an obstacle in my research activities. The journey began as a part time activity turned out to be a full-time business, and today, when I look back over these years, I feel, it was a right decision. Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by Jayaa Agro Foods Dr. Sushant Shekhar: Jayaa Agro Foods is primarily involved in Mushroom Cultivation. Apart from that, we have been actively engaged in providing technical training and support to new growers. We have also engaged actively in providing technical know-how to the backbone of our nation, the Farmers. Doubling Farmer’s income is the vision of our government and Mushroom growing has every potential to make that happen. We cultivate mushroom using agriculture waste which is in abundance with farmers. And post cultivation, mushroom waste can be converted to compost which can again be used by these farmers to substantially reduce usage of chemical fertilizers. This is a pure win win situation, where waste generates income but doesn’t create any waste. We are also engaged in research and development of various Mushroom based value added products. Mushroom is a wonder food, having multiple potential like improved immunity, antiviral properties, loads of Vitamins and essential minerals, it must be seriously considered by every household in their daily diet like any other food. Many people may not like the taste or texture of mushrooms, hence these Mushroom based Value Added products can fill in the gap of nutrition and a healthy lifestyle for everyone. Especially, this Covid Era has taught us one very important lesson that We must ensure a complete healthy lifestyle for our families. Great Companies: What makes Jayaa Agro Foods different from hundreds of other Mushroom Cultivation firms? Dr. Sushant Shekhar: I strongly feel, Mushroom growing is a science and it must not be taken lightly. Our vision is simple and clear. We try to innovate on new ideas, improvise on our farming practices and implement it in our farming. We, as a team believe in one thing, Change is the permanent law of nature. We need to evolve every day and challenge ourself to better innovations. In our cultivation practice, we have zero tolerance towards usage of chemicals and we are completely focused on providing chemical free food to our consumers. We, even, do not use any kind of preservatives in our Mushroom fortified products. As a social responsibility, we provide completely free support to farmers and defence people, as they are our real heroes. Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Dr. Sushant Shekhar: Mushroom growing in itself is a challenge and a responsibility to create a food which is completely chemical free and unadulterated in all means. As an industry, mushroom growers face a very basic hurdle, that is to be recognised as an important sector of our country’s growth and development. I urge government to include mushroom in the list of essential commodities, recognise us as agri based industry, promote us through various schemes as well as departments. Personally, as a grower, we have seen lots of challenges and have struggled in the past, but in present, I would prefer to speak collectively on behalf of every grower of the country. Procurement of raw materials, their prices, procurement of good quality mushroom spawn, certification of trainers and consultants by national agencies through rigorous procedures are few of the concerns for the betterment of the industry as a whole. We have seen Green Revolution, White revolution and now is the time for Myco revolution. Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for Jayaa Agro Foods? Dr. Sushant Shekhar: We plan to diversify into various other agri based activities as well as intensify our effort towards imparting technical know-how to farmers and migrant labors with the help of government agencies, private organisations and NGOs. We also plan to initiate a full established production line for Mushroom fortified products in next few years. Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? Dr. Sushant Shekhar: As a nation, we are not technically advanced in our cultivation practice. Problem is not that we do not learn, problem is, we feel, we know everything. We need to come out of our self-esteemed cocoon and evolve. As a startup, new growers should select a right mentor for them. Do as much research as possible regarding cultivation practices and learn to find out what is good for cultivation and what is not. Also, they must have a firm belief in their work and follow passion with discipline to reach their dream.

Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? Aditya Mukhopadhyay: I started building RecallGraph in Jan 2019, the inspiration for which came from two distinct sources: Prior to RecallGraph, I got the chance to work with graph databases and event stores in two independent projects. Somewhere along the way, it struck me that one could combine the core concepts of both into a single product. In fact, in most projects I had worked on, there was always an underlying problem around data history retention that I felt could be best addressed directly in the DB layer. This is what put me on the path to building RecallGraph. For a detailed introduction, please visit https://blog.recallgraph.tech/ never-lose-your-old-data-again. Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by RecallGraph Aditya Mukhopadhyay: RecallGraph is a product company at heart, with support offered for getting up and running within the customer's IT infrastructure, and further consultancy available for best practices in modelling data for temporal storage and access. Great Companies: What makes RecallGraph different from similar service providers ? Aditya Mukhopadhyay: There are few providers globally, who combine data versioning and graph traveral features into a single, seamless package. RecallGraph is proud to be one of them. Graph data versioning is still a nascent market and the concept is yet to achieve mainstream congnizance. In this situation, what makes RecallGraph different from generic data product/service providers is that it is uniquely pushing the boundaries of the core concepts behind data management, and challenging the status quo on what it means to store, process and audit historical data. Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Aditya Mukhopadhyay: The core challenge is to help C-suite decision makers ascend the "Bi-temporal Maturity Ladder" (a term coined by Rob van Dort from EntityGrid). Basically, it is a process of incrementally upgrading their awareness of a looming problem hidden in plain sight, and the elegant solution that bi-temporality provides. This cognitive ladder can be roughly broken down into the following steps: 1. Basic ignorance - What is bi-temporal? 2. Practical ignorance - Do we need it? 3. Underestimation - Can't be that hard. We can build it in-house. 4. Reality kicks in - This is REALLY complex and extremely difficult to get right! 5. In control - We finally understand. Let's implement! As evident, a huge part of RecallGraph's marketing/sales effort actually goes into explaining the need for bi-temporal (what does it solve? why do we need it?), followed by the concept itself. Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for RecallGraph? Aditya Mukhopadhyay: Hopefully, in 5 years, data-versioning as an idea will reach the critical mass required to become embedded in mainstream IT consiousness as a core component of any enterprise data management solution. RecallGraph sees itself at the forefront of the wave that brings about this paradigm shift in thought process, at the end of which it aims to become synonymous with enterprise data versioning and temporal graph processing. Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? Aditya Mukhopadhyay: Be prepared to take huge risks. Be prepared to face failure. There are no shortcuts, no safe roads, rarely any plan B to fall back on. You must take a leap of faith, so do not do this unless you REALLY believe in what you're setting out to do. Finally, words to live by, by David Lloyd George, "One cannot cross a chasm in two small jumps." Website : https://recallgraph.tech/ Buy Now : https://appsumo.com/products/recallgraph/

Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? Pranjal Kumar : The idea of creating Knackit Platform is with the fundamental belief that there isn't one that fits the requirements of an extracurricular marketplace. Despite trying numerous Apps & Platforms there isn’t anything that felt quite right in the space. While I was researching, I discovered that a common issue every talented person faces. Often People from extracurricular backgrounds tend to use social media platforms to showcase talent, but making one's profession is quite impossible from these entertainment platforms. Knackit is built keeping these users on priority. Apart from earning on videos, knackit provides any artists to post Gigs and apply for jobs anywhere in the world. For professional trainers, knackit allows individuals to create live events and host them on zoom, hangout or directly on the app itself. In India itself the freelancers have grown last year to 15 million. Earlier it used to be only technical field freelancers but now the number of Artists in the freelancing field has shown an increase in trend. Talented people from Fitness backgrounds and the Music Industry have increased significantly. As a result Knackit is a Talent Marketplace at its heart but removing all of the unnecessary complexity. Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by Knackit Pranjal Kumar : At Knackit creators can start earning from day 1. Anyone having some creativity can earn by posting there content. Numerous ways of monetizing skills such as Tipping system where viewers can tip on the content posted by creators. There is no limit on tipping so creators can earn huge just by there creativity. Knackit also has various talent based contests running throughout the month. So Artists can come together and participate in healthy competition and win exciting prizes. With Jobs and Gigs knackit aims to provide Professionalism to the extracurricular skills. Great Companies: What makes Knackit different from other talent platforms? Pranjal Kumar : Biggest differentiator is the monetary benefits that a Creator can get from Knackit. Lot of entertainment platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Youtube does provide monetary benefits but only to few top notch creators. Where as on Knackit any creator from smallest area can start earning from very first day on Knackit Platform. Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Pranjal Kumar : User acquisition has been our biggest challenge. As we want to get users organically and spend more on existing users. So referral and organic marketing is an approach we have taken and has been a bit tough for us. Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for Knackit? Pranjal Kumar : We want to become a goto platform for all the creators in the world. Next few paths that we plan to walk on are the creators' bio link pages so that they can share all the other social media platforms content on one single page. Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? Pranjal Kumar : Just go for it. There is no value in an idea unless it's implemented. Don’t feel shy from sharing ideas with others, it only refines it.

Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? Rajesh Bhaktinathan : Café Idly is a self-funded ,privately owned business started by Rajesh and Dinesh in Bengaluru in the year 2010. Café Idly was started as a result of a problem encountered by its founders. The boring experience of consuming their favourite South Indian food in the regular hotels(known as Darshinis & Sagars) & other restaurants. All these food joints looked the same & customer experience factor was missing. We set out to fix the problem.Being rock music fans we thought we combine the both, classic rock music + traditional south indian food and thus ‘Cafe Idly’ was born. Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by Cafeidly Rajesh Bhaktinathan : Apart from providing over the counter services to the walk-in customers We do home delivery of our menu items and packaged food We do corporate breakfast catering services We are planning to launch pre-paid home delivery services of Idli/dosa Batter in our neighborhood soon. We also fulfill Bulk orders for batter and other packaged foods Great Companies: What makes Cafeidly different from hundreds of other F&B Firms? Rajesh Bhaktinathan : There are many differentiating factors. Firstly, Café Idly disrupts the conventional experience of customers consuming traditional South Indian food. The concept behind Cafe Idly is traditional south-indian food served with a touch of Music. hence you will find a Electric guitar hanging on the wall soaking in all the spotlight as soon as you step into Cafe Idly. Here is the extract from our first feature on Times Of India : Traditional fast food served with a classic rock touch ever tried a bite of steaming hot and butter-soft idlis dipped in spicy coconut chutney,to the sound of rock numbers by Eric Clapton and the Beatles Call it an odd mismatch Its just part of the smart food for smart people as the board at Cafe Idly says. One step in,and theres a rather interesting combo.The Cafe is a small place,just enough space to stand in line and grab a bite.The name tempts you in and once you enter,more than the idlis,its the ambience and simple,innovative thinking that makes you stay and even come again.An electric guitar hangs on the wall and the long-playing records of the good-old gramophone days,are on display. In the background are rocking melodies of yesteryear. As you tuck into the hot fluffy stuff,you think:Gosh! When did I last hear this….. Secondly, We are also different from other F&B businesses in terms of what we offer,,we specialise in different innovative variations of idlis, apart from the common idli, we offer Tatte Idli(a shallow idli in the shape of a plate), Kanchipuram Idli(idli with spices and dhals),Idli Manchurian and the most famous of all, the Idli Burger. Idli Burger is our own creation ,it has idlis for buns and chutneys for sauces and it is a huge hit not only with the media but also with our customers. We have also had what we call 'The Dizzler' as a part of our menu – Its Idli in a sizzler format. Ability to produce Innovative products such as Idli Burger ,Dizzler etc help us to differentiate from the market. As our tagline "smart food for smart people" suggests we believe and its a truth that Idli is one of the most healthy foods one can have.Hence its a smart thing to go for idlis than other substitutes. Our VISION is to take idlis to the international market and promote it as the Healthiest Fast Food. Thirdly,our packaged food product line: Cafe Idly offers wide range of Natural and Healthy Packaged Food Products such as 1. Idli/Dosa batter Batter produced using freshest Ingredients, with no preservatives, follow natural fermentation. 2. Chutney powder We have the common varieties as well as Healthy Chutney powders such as Drumstick leaf chutney powder,Bitter gourd chutney powder,Flax Seeds chutney powder 3. Healthy & Natural Sukku Malli(dry ginger coffee) powder Excellent Home Remedy for Cold, Cough, Indigestion, Headache INGREDIENTS:DRY GINGER, PEPPER , CUMIN, CARDAMOM,CORIANDER SEEDS. 4. Natural Cold Pressed Oils. Cafeidly Cold Pressed oil are oils extracted in a much healthier process compared to refined oils. In this process, seeds are not tortured at high temperature or subjected to harsh chemicals.Instead extraction is being done at temperature below 35 °C ensuring the oil maintains its character. Once the oil settles, it is just filtered and bottled We have got very good response from our customers for all these products especially the Batter and we are planning to start selling Idli/Dosa batter at the commercial level through retail stores. And also, our batter is produced as per ‘Documented processing technique’ created with help from CFTRI(Mysore) , after analysing our batter. Fermentation time for batter is saved by 75% by this technique. This technique has helped us extremely in streamlining our operations. All this Brand differentiation has resulted in huge media coverage on BBC World News ,CNBC Young Turks, TV9 News , Radio City, Times of India, Indian Express, Deccan Herald, Deccan Chronicles, Mid-day,The Hindu DNA, mybangalore , Bangaore Mirror, Outlook Money Magazine, Intuit Small Business India blog, iamanentrepreneur, Yourstory,Timeout Bengaluru and many more We also got a certificate from Restaurant Guru recognizing us as One of their 'Recommended Restaurants in 2020' Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Rajesh Bhaktinathan : As you will know , challenges are part & parcel at any stage of business, some of the challenges that we face on a regular basis are a. Finding the right people; b. Cost effective marketing; and c. Smart product-pricing keeping in mind the ever-increasing inflation. But by far the on-set of COVID-2019 pandemic has affected , especially the F&B sector in a very negative way. Though it’s been challenging we are glad that we were able to mitigate the challenges and are now concentrating on the way forward. Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for Cafeidly? Rajesh Bhaktinathan : Having spent a good amount of time in the business now we are looking to grow through the Franchise model,We have been receiving many franchise inquiries off-late and currently we are working on documentation and supply-chain managementand we will be ready to give franchisees. We are also planning to get into commercial idli/dosa batter production and sales. Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? Rajesh Bhaktinathan : “We are regretful of the things we don't do, so if you have a dream don’t wait for the right time, start small and dream big”

Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? Pranav Singhi : After exit from my first startup, I was looking for opportunities when while travelling I landed over at Dubai Airport. There was a beautiful coffee machine at the airport by Costa Coffee which was a barista experience in itself. I later found out that the machine is designed by Pininfarina who are also the designers of cars such as the Ferrari and the machine was called Costa Five Senses. The machine really hooked me on but I thought to myself that there is no way that this machine can survive the Indian Market and Customer Base. Not only with taste but also the way it is built and way it is operated, that truly was the seed of the business. Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by Vendibot OPC Pvt. Ltd Pranav Singhi : Currently we are in the business of designing, manufacturing and operating of smart vending machines. We also do custom designing and manufacturing of vending machines if we have orders. The best part is that when we started Vendibot we wanted to be nothing more than operators of smart vending machines and we had imported our first machine from China but we realised that the machine was not flexible enough to be operated in the Indian market and if there was any breakdown in the machine the downtown will be very high, that is when we decided to go out and build our own company. Great Companies: What makes Vendibot OPC Pvt. Ltd different from hundreds of other Retail Automation & IOT Firms? Pranav Singhi : So when we talk about retail automation and IOT it becomes a very widespread category, but when we talk about other companies in the Vending machine domain it is a different story. The vending machines have existed in the Indian market for over 2 decades with little or no innovation. Most of the machines that are made in the Indian market are not fully automated and also are restricted to only two types 1. Hot Beverages and the 2. Packed Goods. Vendibot develops machines that can act as self service kiosks in crowded places and require no human intervention. Furthermore we believe in continuous innovation, the global market is selling anything from a a matchbox to a 4 wheeler car from the vending machine. and we will continue to introduce machines that are suitable for the indian market and customer base. Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Pranav Singhi : Market adaption is one of the biggest challenge. The majority of the customer though digitally active still have hesitation putting money into the machine and are used to someone being physically present to provide services, the primary reason for that is the cheaper cost of labor. Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for Vendibot OPC Pvt. Ltd? Pranav Singhi : We have already reached a stage where we have a proof of concept and technology, the next step for us is rapid expansion. If we raise funds the expansion and penetration will be much faster and if we decide not to raise funds our growth will be organic and relatively slower but we are a cash rich business and money is not going to be our roadblock. When we talk about 5 years down the line we see a PAN India presence of Vendibot with around 5000 machines. But we will never stop R&D and hence we should have at least 7-8 Unique products designed and developed specifically for the Indian Market. Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? Pranav Singhi : The biggest piece of advice that can offer is always be conscious of your overhead costs. Lower overheads give you enough strength to take that extra step with you business, which in my opinion is generally the deciding factor between success and failure of the startup.

Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? Kunjal Karaniya : Being an avid traveller, I use to document all my travel photos, videos and stories under a blog named Unplugged Moments. So when I decided to quit my 10 year old journalism job and start something of my own - I decided to convert my passion and blog into business. Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by Unplugged Moments Kunjal Karaniya : We specialize in Customized travel plans for destinations across globe and self driven roadtrips across Europe. Apart from that, we also cater to basic travel needs like flights, cruise, charter flights, vehicles, local transport, hotels and more.. We also specialize in theme based trips like festive trips, northern lights, mid night sun and more... Great Companies: What makes Unplugged Moments different from hundreds of other Travel companies? Kunjal Karaniya : I have travelled myself to 35 plus countries along with 2 month long self driven roadtrips to Balkans & East Europe and still going on.. I use my experience and expertise in planning your customized travel plan... We don't do traditional plans but encourage to travel as a true traveller rather than tourist.. This is our USP which sets us apart.. Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Kunjal Karaniya : Challenge of people valuing customized travel plan in India as people tend to simply take the plan and book on own without realising the effort put it. Apart from that, lot of unhealthy competition in the market, wherein the margins are dropped rock bottom. Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for Unplugged Moments ? Kunjal Karaniya : As of now we cater only to references and no walk-ins. In future we would like to reach the masses too with maintaining the quality Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? Kunjal Karaniya : Just take the first step, keep hustling and rest will follow.

Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? Asha Soni : Making children revise theory when they are young is one of the big headaches of most parents. Forcing them to study/revise theory expecting their 100% concentration is another blunder parents can do as this is the age for them to play and learn. I faced the same issue too while teaching my daughter. The syllabus is huge and covering each and every line/words from the books becomes almost impossible and tiring. I thought there should be some application which helps kids to revise their lessons in a more easier way and we parents and kids don't have to sit for hours to revise each and every line from the book. Being from an IT background was really helpful as I thought why can't I make a web application that helps children to revise their work quickly and in an interesting way. This way I started working on the project. Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by It's Study Time Asha Soni : We believe young minds can be empowered with an interactive form of examinations. Quizzing is a proven way to broaden the thought process and it encourages children to explore and activate faster brain development. This was founded with the main intention of reducing the burden on children multifold without making a hole in the pockets of parents. It encourages students to revise their lessons in the fastest possible ways in different test formats. Also this is being built with gamification in mind to encourage the children by different reward systems like, earning them points, badges, certificates etc. Great Companies: What makes It's Study Time different from hundreds of other Education Firms? Asha Soni : We cover each and every line from the books which is important and make multiple choice questions for the children. Our UI is very user friendly and straightforward to understand. Once a child registers, he/she can easily attempt the quizzes and take quizzes as many times he/she wants to. Also, this service is totally free. Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Asha Soni : I believe struggle and challenges are the building blocks! I came up with this idea and needed time to implement this. But my full time job was not allowing me enough time and dedication to make this work. I decided to quit my job and work on this project. Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for It's Study Time? Asha Soni : We have better plans for this in the near future. It would help parents to save time and money paying expensive tuition fees. We also plan to cover more schools' syllabus into this, so that more students benefit from this. Our quizzes are based on a particular school curriculum till class 5, and NCERT syllabus from class 6 till 10th. We also plan to integrate tutorial videos, points and prizes etc. to keep the children engaged in studies in an interactive and fun way. Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? Asha Soni : Don't lose your hope. If you have an idea and believe that it can help the masses, just go for it!

Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? Giridhar Soundararajan : After failing twice building mobile applications and going bankrupt, I had nothing in mind or pocket to try. I met a few interesting people while failing who stressed me to follow my heart. But that was the issue, like most people, I didn’t know what my heart wanted. I began searching for that and in that quest, wanted to do “One week One Job” for free. The idea was that I would get people to agree for free labour and I would get to know what I like and what I don’t. I contacted everyone from Gerry Martin (the National Geographic Reptile expert) to Two wheeler showrooms for mechanic jobs. I also remember reaching out to my friend who was a Hot Air Baloon pilot to see if I could work as an assistant or helper. Then nothing worked, so I came across the 7 days test to find what your heart loves and it worked for me. I found my heart and soul was into automobiles and I had to build my startup around this only. Voila !! Barrel Exhaust was born! Great Companies: What are the various products and services provided by Barrel Exhaust Giridhar Soundararajan : Barrel Exhaust primarily specialises in designing and developing exhaust systems for a variety of two wheeler brands across the globe. We started off with Royal Enfields in India and slowly evolved for other brands like Aprilia, Bajaj, KTM, Kawasaki, TVS, BMW, Suzuki and more. Apart from just being exhaust manufacturers and exporters, we also manufacture racing handlebars and accessories. We also have a racing training division called “Barrel Racedays” where we train bikers on dirt tracks for skill enhancement and entertainment. In 2020, Barrel Exhaust opened a new division called Barrel Electric with a dream to build high performance electric vehicles for the world. We are currently working on it and are excited about the direction we are going. Great Companies: What makes Barrel Exhaust different from hundreds of other auto accessories firms? Giridhar Soundararajan : Barrel Exhaust is more a passion driven organisation than just profit driven like most. At Barrel Exhaust we do not consider that we are in the business of making and selling accessories or products, instead we are in the business of selling unforgettable experiences to the bikers across the globe. Our vision statement makes this very clear. “Create Happy Bikers” is the simple vision statement that drives all our decisions at Barrel Exhaust. We want to deliver happiness to bikers and auto enthusiasts and that cannot be just by mere products. Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Giridhar Soundararajan : The last 6 years have been filled with ups and downs and I feel this is going to be there for all in various degrees. Entrepreneurship is a practical course we sign up for and the lessons are hard. Struggle with low capital, unfair competitors, govt policy hurdles, manpower, pandemic and the list is endless. The entrepreneur’s job is to solve new problems each day and make way for the team to perform it’s best. Challenge is to attract talent even when you can’t afford to pay them. Challenge is to keep yourself motivated even when the entire world under your feet crumbles. Challenge is to believe in yourself even when your near and dear ones don’t. Challenge is to be able to sacrifice your pleasures today hoping for a better tomorrow. Challenge is to know whom to trust and whom not to because you can’t progress unless you trust and you can’t progress if you wrongly trust. Yes, read it again. Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for Barrel Exhaust? Giridhar Soundararajan : Barrel Exhaust in the last 6 years has earned a great brand image in the minds of the customers across the globe. The idea is to make Barrel Exhaust much stronger at the global platform and expand our offering to four wheelers soon. Barrel Electric would be the focus and developing the high performance electric vehicle for the world by 2023. The goal is to make the brand “Barrel” one of the most iconic automobile brands by 2025 and change the face of transportation with innovative solutions. "Barrel" shall be the most sought out destination for thinkers, innovators and must be a huge talent pool that makes a positive impact for humanity. Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? Giridhar Soundararajan : Don’t wait for anything to happen before you could start. Time is the most critical resource. The sooner you start the earlier you learn and as Mark Cuban says “Perfection is the enemy of Profitability” . It’s okay to do something and improvise than just keep improvising and never launch. Once you follow your heart, the universe will extend help from unknown sources. Go for the kill!

Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? I am an Urban Regional Planner with an experience of 20 years in the development sector. Dr. Megha Phansalkar specializes in community led development in rural water supply, rural/urban sanitation, and rural development with focus on livelihoods. Focusing on specific work with the ability to multitask has always been my forte. My work experience with Non-Governmental Organizations, Government Departments and International Agencies brings a multi-dimensional, multi-stakeholder approach in working for partnerships and convergence helped to address developmental issues. My work in the livelihood space brought me closer to artisan segment and resulted in starting a social entrepreneur supporting rural artisans across 18 states, thus helping 10000 networked artisan families earn livelihood through the enterprise model. I realized that, with the changing of time-old art of handloom & handicraft are getting old and due to lack of innovation, are becoming redundant making the lives of these artists and weavers difficult. Craftspeople or artisans are the backbone of the non-farm rural Indian economy, with an estimated 7 million artisans according to official figures (and upto 200 million artisans according to other sources) engaged in craft production to earn a livelihood. However, they are a slowly perishing breed. The sector is highly disorganized with lack of institutional support and constraint of low capital, poor exposure to technology, designs and market intelligence. Seeing the need of the hour, Tisser aimed to bring a new wave of innovation and sought a unique model by supporting on the product design & diversification, by bringing IT innovations for improving artisan connect, by working on end to end cluster development. Tisser in French means ‘to weave’. We support weavers and craftsmen who make products using traditional techniques, skills and hand processes consisting of the core of Incredible India! We tap the artisans and products across the country and promote rural livelihood, thereby providing a platform for them to directly connect with the globe. Our artisans found an unmatched expression of our splendid culture through the cherished legacy of handmade products. Our core value is to respect the producer and the customer both. Profits earned from sales in part go back to support the education of the girl child of the weavers and artisans. It is our humble tribute to these golden hands that continue to weave respect, reputation and riches for India. At the core of it all, it is helping the handloom and handicraft communities of India do what they haven’t been able to do until now. From 100 artisans and limited products when it began, to 10,000 artisans and 300+ products on offer, Tisser has come a long way, but has a much longer way to go. The idea is to run the whole operation like a business, with the profits being used to provide a better life to the communities, and supporting initiatives for girls’ education etc. In order to do so, a number of challenges have to be overcome. The years of neglect have resulted in these crafts and techniques disappearing from the public consciousness, with the consumer moving on to ostensibly trendier wares The vision we have embarked: Equitable distribution of resources and better prosperity in Rural and Urban India. Mission we aim to achieve: • Network rural artisans/groups towards creating small enterprises pan India • Strengthen the handicraft/handloom value chain through ICT innovations • Harness transformative power of rural clusters for impact business model Tisser has put its foot forward in a strong value chain approach and supporting 10,000 artisan across 18 states. Generated livelihood & social status upliftment for artisans specially women. Created better opportunities in future for family entrepreneurs. Provided an alternate and poise to be the primary source of family income. Networked with 10,000 artisans across 18 states of the country and mainly working in Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, North eastern states and southern states of Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Created a range of new products in 1000 designed products Conducted end the end cluster development with 2000 artisans intensively in Maharashtra and Formed 50 Producer Organization in Maharashtra Worked with 8000 artisan through skill building on product design. The core of the Tisser’s work is to generate livelihoods and contribute to the economic growth in personal as well as national interest. Tisser's approach is to provide ‘End to End support’ which includes Mobilization-training-product design-production-PO formation. Not only generating livelihood but we also believed that our artisan should not be dependent on us for our lifetime. For sustainability of the rural artisan and to encourage common good and collectivism, we went one step further and formed the Producer Organisation (PO). The regular flow of income is ensured by market linkage activities and partnership with various governmental and non-governmental organizations to get them orders and required funds for revolving their PO activities. Tisser ensures the economic growth of the artisan in this competitive sector by providing eco-friendly products, unique varied designed products so that we should reach a maximum audience with great variety and appeal through the products. Great Companies: What are the various products and services provided by Tisser? We at Tisser work with rural artisans all over India. Our connection with them has not been limited to home decor, artefacts, and utility items, but also textiles and the fashion industry. We began by empowering rural women artisans in small clusters and have expanded too many states in India. In the three years of our operations, we have not only grown within the textile & fashion industry, but home decor and furnishings have been an intrinsic part of our brand. We have: Generated livelihood & social status upliftment for artisan, especially women. Created better opportunities in future for family entrepreneurs. Provided an alternate and poise to be the primary source of family income. Tisser Rural Handicrafts is a social venture established to uplift the lives of rural Indian artisans. It has created a brand name known for its honesty, fair trade and product innovations. With a stronghold in creating handloom and handicraft products, we have forayed into the Home Decor & Interiors area with the same ideals. Tisser's Home Decor & Interiors space is designed and hand-crafted by the rural artisans across India. Our endeavor is to provide a value chain support for these craftsmen to showcase their creations that remain otherwise unknown. We at Tisser wanted to create products that would reflect the various art forms of India. By utilizing elements from these traditional art forms onto contemporary products, we aim to bring a little part of India into your spaces, homes, and offices alike. Our innovative model works around: End to end cluster development: Creating artisan groups, skills training, marketing and continuous handholding for all artisan clusters Design intervention: Dedicated team of designers work on incorporating traditional art form into utilitarian products. Product diversification: Expansion of artisan’s product portfolio, cataloguing and marketing of all products on various platforms Block chain technology: Depicting artisan’s contribution and profit from a product; solution to provide transparency, traceability, auditability, immutability, security and agility to smoothen processes Raising awareness: Artisan stories, training programs and environment awareness. Regional hubs for outreach: Regional hubs for extensive outreach to work directly with artisans. Empowering for business: Tisser Team empowers the artisans by strengthening producer groups Self-Help Groups and their skills. Fusion of clusters: Through our customized product line expanding from clothes to home. Great Companies: What makes Tisser different from hundreds of other Handicraft firms? Tisser has been working to make the handicrafts and handlooms industry relevant again, not just in India, but the world over. It provides design and development assistance to rural artisans, helps in quality control, and provides marketing support by selling their products through wholesale segment. We network rural artisans/groups towards creating small enterprises pan India, strengthen the handicraft/handloom value chain through ICT innovations, and harness transformative power of rural clusters for impact business models. Innovative Designs Customization Brand Name Traceability Fusion of Art forms Social Messaging To ensure that the contemporary demands of the consumers are met, Tisser design team personally look into the products being developed by the rural artisans and weavers across India and then decide the best designs and quality control to attract not only local, but also international consumers. Tisser’s endeavor is to bring customers a choice of products – and lifestyle – that offers an alternative to the mass-produced, while creating sustainable lively- hoods in the rural sector. We also realized that contemporary demand needs to be met by infusing the traditional art within modern products. We can proudly say today that it worked and is much loved by consumers as well as helped sustain livelihoods for thousands of artisans. Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Some of the main challenges we face include: Unorganized Artisan sector and middleman who use the artisan and don’t do fair pricing Apathy of artisans over a period, which makes it difficult to convince the artisans to witness the use of training and income generation themselves, handholding their aspirations is a challenge Expectations v/s Reality. Extreme poverty in the clusters and issues of financial access. Problem of working capital in the sector due to high credit requirement as gestation period. Power loom and machine products pose a challenge as they are low cost and easy to make in bulk. In addition, in a globalized nation, the market is the driving force for business flourishing and one of the determinants for leading a healthy lifestyle. In the midst of progress and development thousands of rural livelihoods have been replaced by technological advanced products. India accounts for 60% of the loom age in the world. We have dedicated clusters producing hand-woven fabric or hand painted art. These handmade products are replaced by other similar technologically advanced products with greater market visibility. As a result of the presence and reach of corporate based production the livelihoods of the rural artisans have drastically reduced. To add to their misery, their products are not given fair pricing by the middlemen. Moreover many artisans have stopped producing their art and getting involved in other alternative livelihoods because of being unable to find a market for their products. At Artisan level: Informal and disorganized Limited design skills and poor finishing. Not committed to Timeline Limited Enterprise capacity Credit system for 6 – 9 months At Market level: Middleman across export market and India In corporate gifting the vendor lobby is very strong Risk of counterfeit products supply which are machine made Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for Tisser ? In a five year plan we intend to make a mark through: Network regional artisans/groups and create producer enterprises across India. (Grassroots Regional Artisan Movement GRAM) Empowering artisan producer / enterprise group to be partners in value chain Harness transformative power of rural clusters for impact business model (Designs & Diversification). Social Incubation support to Rural Enterprise for making handicraft popular (Har Ghar Main Handicraft). Strengthen the handicraft/handloom value chain through ICT innovations (Digital Interventions) We aim to achieve in a strategic manner: Intensive Artisan cluster developed Partnerships with Government bodies, institution to provide supports to artisans. Created regional hubs to directly cater to the artisans Integrated small producers into the value chain to facilitate access to markets Sales and Marketing generated leads and revenue flow to enterprises. Technology innovation for transparency, auditability, Access to finance to producer groups / enterprises Theory of Change is what we wish to bring in the years to come: The Tisser Trust Strategy has two main objectives—helping artisans and families afford a better quality of life, and protecting the environment by having our artisan groups use eco-friendly products and processes. If these goals are achieved, the impact of this is having enterprises and businesses created that improve livelihoods, while contributing to a greener economy. One outcome of this is to create and empower producer groups, and enable the value chain with multiple partners inspired by hand art to generate livelihood in a sustainable manner. Additionally, another outcome is to harness the transformative power of a cluster to support entrepreneurship committed to profitable growth through end to end supply chain There are three intermediary outputs for this: artisan groups and enterprise start businesses, artisan groups create sustainable businesses and livelihoods, and these artisan groups become part of institutional supply chains and seek convergence support. One investment area we focus on is nurturing artisan entrepreneurs. If this investment is made, then we can assess and mobilize their work, assess the scope for product development using local resources and skill sets, and promote these enterprises using PG/PE for group support. With investment to growing artisan entrepreneurs, then there will be product designing and diversification, qualitative skill building with business and financial literacy, growth in digital interfaces, and penetrating market linkages. In addition, investment into building artisan entrepreneurial ecosystems will then create government and CSR partnerships for convergence, supply chain partnerships for sustainable revenue, and access to credit to PG/PE through revolving grants and other MSME opportunities. Tisser has an end to end value chain approach which sustains through convergence and partnership. In each value chain we focus on existing strengths, support weakness and threat and explore opportunities of convergence through sustenance. Tisser Trust has been consistently working in these clusters with consistent efforts of injecting funding, skill training modules, entrepreneurship training modules, product, design and diversification modules, all within the target geographies using SHGS as a powerful vehicle of empowerment. Other entities have used this kind of approach in parts, but Tisser Trust brings its value proposition of strategic partners and investments from the government, the private sector and different foundations. This helps us sustain the interventions at the cluster level without any interruption or gaps, thereby aiming at completing full business cycles of these clusters to be converted into growth centers. Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? Social entrepreneurship is life time experience, you need passion and compassion to sail through. Every person has something to give back to the society, people. If we do our bit, The World would be a better place to live. Every individual should experience it the joy of giving. Social entrepreneurship is a sustainable way to give back to the society.

Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? William Swashnick: It was a chance encounter with a restaurant owner in 2014 that got the story started for Rooster. The restaurant had worked with a couple of design firms earlier and the owner was complaining about the lack of professionalism and quality of output delivered to them. Seated at the same table and seeing an opportunity, I pitched in and gave a couple of suggestions on how the menu and interior can be optimised better to have a greater appeal and functionality. The irony at that time was that I did not have design experience nor had expertise in designing tools. However I did not want to let go of an opportunity to better this restaurant and build a portfolio from there. So I went back home, drew up a proposal to revamp a couple of things and submitted the quotation which was approved after half a day's negotiation. Using freelancers whom I searched from my network, we completed many works ranging from design of the menu to production of an outdoor offer board which was widely appreciated by the owner. From this project we got referred to another restaurant by the chef, and it went on one after the other purely by referrals. By the grace of God we have worked purely on referrals up to now without spending anything on paid advertising. Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by Rooster Media India William Swashnick: We provide Website Design and Development, Mobile App Development, Graphic Design and Digital Marketing services. Great Companies: What makes Rooster Media India different from hundreds of other Web Development and Creative firms? William Swashnick: Answering the question by saying we are completely different from other Development and Creative firms will be a lie as there are few other firms that I've come across that operate on the same philosophy and culture as well. Having said that, at Rooster we strive to maintain a healthy and inclusive work culture where every employee is made to feel like the owner of the company even given a share of the company's profits, In that way we retain passionate talent and ensure that the quality of output we deliver is consistent and functional to the business we cater to. We emphasize infusing strategy in all our designs and development works, always focusing on keeping the end goal of the customer/user in mind. Our outputs are not only appealing but they are nurtured to be fully functional. Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? William Swashnick: A couple of challenges for growing enterprises would be bureaucratic hurdles, delay in client payments, talent acquisition and retention, lack of strong legal frameworks for prevention of disputes, dilution of market by few players, changing government policies and rules. Challenges are always present in any situation and I strongly feel that navigating through all the challenges that you face will teach you how to face bigger situations in a more disciplined and pragmatic way. Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for Rooster Media India? William Swashnick: We plan to branch out to the global market this year as we see increasing potential in a couple of target countries. The process of setting up business has been initiated in Australia, and we will be launching Rooster Australia this year. In 5 years time I see Rooster having a strong market presence in a couple more locations while having a small yet strong passionate team. We want to be the go to for other passionate and big dreaming businesses. Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? William Swashnick: Yes you are going to be confused, yes you are going to face challenges, yes you are going to feel alone at times, yes your journey might feel empty at times; but the regret of not trying at all is much more painful than showing up and working on your dream. All these lessons are inherent situations that will occur to everyone small and big who run a business. Hence If you're starting out be proud that you are among the minority that have dared to take up their dreams and always remember to show up no matter whatever happens.