Founded in November 2014 by Samar Singla and Chinmay Agarwal, Jugnoo is India’s largest auto-rickshaw aggregator, and is popularly known as “Swaari India ki”. Jugnoo is an on-demand hyper-local transport and logistics app that thrives on its expansive network of auto-rickshaws. Headquartered in Chandigarh, Jugnoo was an experiment during a college fest to ferry passengers from one place to another and soon became a business idea to bring structure to a highly unorganized sector of auto-rickshaws- a predominant mode of public transportation in Tier II and Tier III cities of India. Unlike taxis, auto-rickshaws are readily available but remain highly underutilized. The internal research of the company shows that there are around 5 million auto-rickshaws in India, while the utilization is only 30%. Hence, Jugnoo aims to bring this to 70%, by optimum utilization of available inventory. Unlike other competitors, Jugnoo leverages the existing supply in the market, making it an aggregator in the truest sense of the word.
With a vision of changing the hyper-local commerce in India, Jugnoo soon entered the industry to bring efficiency in auto sector by increasing the earnings of drivers and providing affordable service to the masses. Within three years, the company started using its expansive logistics network along with other verticals. The company offers last mile delivery with Jugnoo Delivery under B2B services and offer auto rides, meals, and groceries under B2C services with focus in Tier II and Tier III cities of India.
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While it was curiosity and execution of the right idea which inspired the duo to start Jugnoo, it is also their vision to embark on the hyperlocal market which keeps motivating the entire team of Jugnoo. Today, the company has 400+ employees, 4.3 million users, 30,000 daily transactions and a fleet of 65,000 auto drivers as partners. The business is not limited only to auto-rickshaw aggregation, but to create a logistics network for the mass market within the country. By adopting the latest technology, the company is growing with the MoM growth rate of 10% in Tier II and Tier III cities and leading in terms of registered users, average daily user count and the number of active users. The company also turned cash flow positive with profitability on an EBITDA basis, earlier this year.
With auto drivers as the logistic partner in this aggregation model, Jugnoo was also able to create the socio-economic impact on the lives of drivers by increasing the income of 15,000 auto drivers by 40%, where 10,000 of them were introduced to banking, and over 5000 people became income taxpayers for the first time. On an average, Jugnoo drivers doubled their income and increased their efficiency by cutting down the idle time spent waiting for the customers. On the other hand, customers are now able to book hassle-free and economical rides with a mobile app.
Jugnoo’s scale and consistent growth, has led to the adoption of Artificial Intelligence and Analytics for making data-driven informed decisions, especially in case of service quality by predicting demand, optimising route, and pooling deliveries thereby saving costs to name a few. It also plans to use electric vehicles in delivery vertical of the company to support government’s vision of bringing renewable-energy revolution in the country. Jugnoo continues to adopt new technologies to improve its processes and impacting lives of its users and drivers. Since the scope of hyperlocal in Tier II and Tier III cities is abundant and untapped, Jugnoo wishes to reach almost 100 cities of India in future. While other aggregators are burning an enormous amount of cash to survive in the market, Jugnoo is adopting low cash burn model and is tapping the huge potential that, transportation and the hyperlocal market is offering.
At Jugnoo, a lot of focus is on the “Execution” part of the problem which keeps the team inspired and encourages them to work relentlessly. With its mission to make viable use of auto rickshaws- be it for a local commute or managing hyperlocal deliveries by integrating old-school logistics with new age technology, Jugnoo thrives on the mantra of ‘Changing lives through technology, one bit at a time.’
