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Isha SinglaChief Process Officer of Jugnoo Published On: Wednesday, August 10, 2016 Views 4191

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"The only thing standing between you and your goal is the bullshit story you keep telling yourself as to why you can’t achieve it."

Isha Singla did B. Tech. in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. Over the years, Isha has accumulated vast experience in devising strategy and management consulting by working for companies like McKinsey & Company, InMobi, and more.

Upon realizing that auto-rickshaws in the country are the most underutilized means of public transportation in the country, Isha conceptualized Jugnoo, which is a leading auto-rickshaw aggregator, focused on providing affordable transportation to the masses on a tap.

Please provide a brief overview of your product/ service.

Jugnoo is India’s leading auto-rickshaw aggregator, focused on doubling the driver’s efficiency and earnings, and providing affordable transportation to the masses on a tap. Since its launch in November 2014, Jugnoo has gained a user base of around 3.5 million and handles about 40,000 transactions each day. Jugnoo is currently rendering its services in 40 cities of India and has over 12,000 autos empanelled under the brand at present.

What inspired you to build the above product/ service?

There are around 5 million auto-rickshaws in our country, whereas the utilization is only 30%. Despite being one of the most popular and economical modes of public transportation in India, auto-rickshaws have remained highly underutilized due to inefficiencies prevalent in the conventional hailing procedure such as availability and fares. Jugnoo was started with a vision to overcome these roadblocks by bringing structure into this space, aggregating auto-rickshaws via technology, thereby, enabling optimum utilization of resources.

What is your life mantra?

My life mantra would be ‘Never stop learning’. Learning is a continuous process and you need to evolve yourself constantly in order to be successful. You should not hesitate to push your boundaries and keep adding new skills to your profile that add to both your personal and company’s growth.

What was the most challenging part of your journey till now?

The most challenging part of Jugnoo’s journey was to make the drivers realize the difference that technology can bring into their lives. The strata of society to which the auto-rickshaw drivers belong are not quite familiar with technology or technology-based platforms. To them, using technology for something as basic as earning their living, didn’t come quite easy. It took a lot of convincing and training to make them understand the advantages and get on board.

How did you overcome those challenges?

Although, majority of the auto-rickshaw drivers already own and use a smartphone but initially, they showed reluctance towards adopting a technology based App as a means of earning their daily livelihood. Jugnoo’s founders themselves traveled in auto-rickshaws and spoke personally to drivers to convince them and make them understand the advantages of integrating technology in their routine activities. For making customers familiar with our platform, we launched our App at PECFEST of PEC University of Technology, Chandigarh and gave free rides to people in Chandigarh. The response was phenomenal and gave us the initial kick, to begin with.

Share some details about the investments that you have been able to fetch for the business till now.

Jugnoo has received $16 million in two rounds of funding till now from investors like Paytm and Snow Leopard. The company raised $1million from angel investors, $5 million in Series A round and has recently closed its series B funding at $10 million.

According to you, what are the three qualities an individual must have to achieve success?

Three qualities that an individual must have to achieve success according to me are:

  • Not to be afraid of taking risks
  • Passion towards your work
  • Always strive to keep learning

Which online tools/ services/ apps do you use the most and would like to recommend as well?

The number one app on my list would definitely be Jugnoo. The other two apps that I use the most and would like to recommend are Feedly and Inbox by Gmail.

Share any one habit which you think makes you more productive.

I keep my mobile data off when I am doing something important and need to concentrate.

Share any one habit which you wish to change in yourself.

I wish to have an ability to sustain with less sleep so that I can have more hours to work.

Answer in less than 50 words

  • One tip to success:

If it feels right from your gut, don’t be afraid to take risks. Even if you fail, you’ll learn something.

  • One mistake you believe every individual must avoid:

Don’t let success get to your head as humility is what makes you grow.

  • One most important lesson that you have learnt till now:

One should be open to go with the flow and make best of what life offers you.

What are your plans for next 3 years?

With Jugnoo, we aim to be the largest auto-rickshaw aggregator in the country and the first mobile commerce company to do one million transactions a day. We are also planning to have a strong international presence.

Apart from this, we intend to expand our services across different verticals of hyperlocal space and be a leading player in this segment.

If you get a chance to start your career again what would you do differently this time?

If I get a chance to start my career again, I would get into a startup more earlier.

What are your top three getaway destinations?

Varkala, Dharamshala, and Paris are my top three getaway destinations.

Share a quote that inspires you the most.

“The only thing standing between you and your goal is the bullshit story you keep telling yourself as to why you can’t achieve it.” By Jordan Belfort

Inspiring Entrepreneurs

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