M-indicator: the life behind Mumbai’s lifeline

M is for Mumbai, and “mobile”. Indicator is anything we all know,”says Teke, who is an IT engineer from Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI) in Matunga. In 2006, soon after graduation, he worked for a computer software firm and created mobile applications. “I travelled from Nerul to my workplace in Seepz, Andheri. I employed all modes of transport — I took a train to Kurla, a bus and lastly an auto to my office. Every single day was a struggle, especially in the evenings, when we had no clue when the subsequent train to Belapur was scheduled. There was just no way to know,” he recalls. He witnessed the troubles of other commuters, too. It seems rather clear that a city where a majority of men and women travel by train must have a robust schedule service. However, nobody in fact got about to producing it take place. Except Teke. Determined, he quit his job and set out to build an app that would do so. m-indicator, a cost-free app, launched in 2010 and within a year, it had reached 5.five lakh customers.aining acceptance

Men and women appreciated the app, and voluntarily gave feedback to improve it. Teke also employed freelancers who went to railway stations to note down train timings and update the database. Sooner or later, even the government authorities approached him to use the app to send alerts — for mega blocks, emergencies and so on.m-indicator added bus timings, auto rickshaw and taxi fare charts, and other solutions. The app was launched on Android, iOS and Windows-enabled phones. “We grew purely by way of word-of-mouth publicity. I guess I was at the correct location at the right time,” adds the 29-year-old, who also holds an MBA degree from Jamnalal Bajaj institute.

His firm generates revenue via targeted advertisements, which, he feels, is one thing only m-indicator can give. “If you are in Borivli, Thane, Nerul, you can see ads relevant to that region. m-indicator offers neighborhood targeting, and that is why clients come to us,” he explains.m-indicator packs in a wealth of info. There are make contact with numbers of emergency medical services (a doctor who used the app gave it to them) it shows you picnic spots about the city arranged by distance it has movie listings, job postings amongst other data. The new update will add Monorail and Metro timings, along with BMC alerts.

M-indicator has helped many a passenger find forgotten belongings. “People forget their stuff on the luggage shelf. When they realise it, they use the app to see when the train will reach the final station, and contact up the GRP quantity to inform them about the bag. I have personally received telephone calls from folks, thanking me for the app. That genuinely feels wonderful.” Teke desires to expand to other cities. But aren’t there equivalent apps there currently? “Competition fuels excellence. We grew because we wanted to be greater. Now we have killed the competition,” he indicators off .He developed the app’s architecture, wrote the code himself, and enlisted household, friends and volunteers to enter train timetables for the 232 trains that make three,000 everyday trips via 108 stations in the city’s vast railway network.“We had a total of 84,000 timetable entries”, mentioned Teke. The method took a couple of months. He launched his startup Mobond on Could 3, 2010, the same day he debuted the totally free app and resigned from his job.

Teke mentioned m-Indicator provides accurate, true-time info for Mumbai train schedules, including arrival occasions, route adjustments and delays. Practically all of this data is collected and verified every day by his group of eight workers.“Train platforms in Mumbai have electronic boards with some of that data, but it’s not often accurate”, he said. Today, M-Indicator has 10 million subscribers and generates $1 million in annual income (mostly from Google (GOOGL) Adwords) for Mobond. Teke would open the app on his phone whilst riding the train. A handful of curious passengers would ask him about it and he’d implore them to download it. Six months later, this technique has gotten him only two,500 users. “I was extremely worried. I had left my job for this app”, stated Teke.

Realizing he had to do anything radical to attract more users, he added a “share” function so customers could inform their network about m-Indicator. It worked. By the finish of the 1st year, the app had 500,000 subscribers. Even Mumbai’s railway authority took note of its developing popularity. Teke mentioned his group is notified by regional authorities anytime major train schedule modifications are in the performs. The app has considering that evolved into a one-stop shop for Mumbai’s train, bus, metro and even ferry schedules. Some add-ons: It assists find nearby picnic spots, hotels, hospitals and film theaters.“We also post job listing and apartment rentals”, stated Teke. A new Train Chat function lets users directly communicate with other users. “we’re also organizing a ride-sharing feature”, he mentioned.

The app ranks No. 2 in the India travel apps category on Google Play, the app shop for android apps. (Teke stated 95% of m-indicator’s subscribers use android phones.) Teke bootstrapped his startup and hasn’t taken any outdoors funding. Now he’s hoping to raise $8 million to expand the app to other Indian cities.“We want to do this quickly for Delhi, Pune, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Bangaluru”, he mentioned.