Children oriented startups cashing in on parents who're short on time

Double income families, that are strapped for time, have become big spenders on children's products and services, which is proving to be a lucrative market for startups. Companies like Experifun, Magic Crate and Kidology are cashing in on this trend and have business models designed entirely to cater to children.

Bengaluru-based Funfinity Learning Solutions that runs Magiccrate.in, an online subscription service for 4-8 year olds, has designed theme-based activity boxes for children where the outcome is a toy or an artefact. Viswanathan Ramakrishnan, CEO, Funfinity Learning Solutions, said: "In this age bracket, they spend a lot of time at home and most of it is in front of the television. We are trying to break this." The company has seen traction from both retail and institutional buyers since launching in January this year.

"Over the past two-three decades, few companies have made products or services specifically for children. 15% of India's population is below 10 years. Changing lifestyles, where both parents are working, has improved affordability, but the guilt level has also gone up as parents are not able to spend enough time with children and there is a larger audience spending more money," said Saloni Nangia, president, Technopak Advisors, a market research firm.

Similarly, Experifun too has tapped into the educational space. The company designs and develops curriculum-based affordable and exploratory science gadgets and products for grades 6 to 10 to help children from low-income or affordable learning schools learn concepts with objects and exercises in real time.

"Most companies in this sector cater to mid-high end schools that comprise only 3-4% of India's schools. Our objective was to develop something that we can take to smaller cities and schools in electricity-deficient places, where usage will be rough, and teacher's quality or motivation level may not be up to mark," said Rakesh Kumar, co-founder, Experifun. Currently, it sells its products to 80 schools (including six in Manila) across 10 states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Punjab, and Haryana. It's close to signing on another 50 by March end and works on a one-time sales model charging 60,000 per pack containing 80 products.

"We realised that children are taught concepts in classroom in high-end schools. They don't have separate rooms for concept learning and teachers use a chalk and cheese method where students don't get to learn much. Then there is the interest aspect and how children absorb concepts," added Kumar. "There is lot of activity in the space of holistic grooming of children, be it coaching, music or extra curriculum," Nangia said.

Opportunity is not limited to education alone and fashion too has become an emerging opportunity for startups like Delhi-based Kidology launched in 2010, a brand of designer kids wear."There is a paucity of occasion wear in the market. The segment is filled with casual wear and foreign brands because of high repeat value but people don't have an option for clothes for festivals and occasions" said Ankur Mittal, co-founder Kidology.

The company has its own flagship store in Delhi and also sells through 11 fashion boutiques in nine cities. Last year it launched its online site that's witnessing huge traction from non-resident Indians in US, California, Texas, New York, New Jersey, Australia, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Hong Kong. It sells 800-1,000 pieces a month with an average price point of Rs 5,000.

"Indian wear does well, as there s a higher shortage of supply in market and mostly NRIs buy this. We get maximum orders from Bengaluru and Chennai, in addition to tier 2 and 3 cities like Raipur, Varanasi, and Darjeeling" Mittal said.