11 Disrupting Web 2.0 Internet Companies that will Change India

These disrupting startups are likely to upend existing industries and create new entrepreneurial opportunities. We spent considerable time finding these companies and qualified them based on:

1. Their funding (can they make it as a going concern)

2. Are they changing the rules of business

3. Are the majority owners India based and will the business spawn new entrepreneurial activity for greater job creation

4. Must not be a simple clone of another more popular technology

We begin in no particular order with Nautanki.tv. We chose this as one of our disruptors due to the overwhelming popularity of video outside of India. However, we recognize that video will become popular in India in the next 12 – 24 months and feel this start up is well positioned to monetize its content and change the way India advertisers reach their audience.

Nautanki.tv - South Asia's Online Video Network

ABOUT: Nautanki.tv creates original Indian video content for the internet. They"ve created a google adsense equivalent for video advertising. A network of publishers that use the Nautanki.tv content plus video ads make money. This has become a platform for over 300 film makers to distribute their non commercial work and make money while having fun.

Musicnmovies.com - Bollywood Hot News

Musicnmovies really defines our #2 qualification above. The powerful search engine finds Bollywood movies online and allows users to quickly download them. The site claims the movies are free but there probably are some movies that are not supposed to be free listed. This disruptor is important because eventually Bollywood will have to contend with this site as Hollywood is contending with a host of other sites allowing users to download their movies. Bollywood will have to change its own rules to combat or partner with sites like Musicnmovies.com

Musicnmovies is also important outside of India because it will allow foreigners that are interested in Bollywood to quickly gain information on the emerging Bollywood industry. Currently limited to India for the most part, we predict Bollywood will be more important globally as it develops films more suited to a global audience.

ABOUT: Music 'n Movies is based on free media Meta-crawler, which searches on the media file hosting servers for free bollywood movies, indexes them and present them in well format on this portal.

Musicindiaonline.com - Listen to Indian Music

Similar in scope to Musicnmovies, Musicindiaonline.com is a one stop shop for Indian music. The site is the largest Indian music resource on the internet which means they have significant influence on the India music industry. If they are smart they will leverage the site to promote India music worldwide drawing new listeners from all over the world thus creating higher revenues for everyone involved.

ABOUT: Musicindiaonline.com, gathers all Indian music at one site so people that enjoys listening to this kind of music, can look for songs and listen them online. Users may search by making use of the search engine provided by the site were they type a keyword (the exact word or what it sounds like), select a category, and simply click search.

Brijj.com – Business Networking

Corporate social networks are particularly valuable to MNCs with globally-collaborative teams. Knowing even the simplest details about your co-workers helps create a more collegial atmosphere. This is especially important since the world is flattening and more dispersed company employees are becoming integral parts of multicultural teams. Imagine if you're in a far flung office and wanting to network within the organization for a promotion. By using the social networking site, you can quickly discern who the key people are and build a virtual relationship with them.

Therefore we believe Brijj.com while not currently the most used site, but is a well funded (owned by Info Edge Ltd.) start up that can leverage its sister companies to create a powerful integrated network.

ABOUT: Info Edge (India) Ltd., the company behind sites like naukri.com, 99acres.com has launched its people networking site Brijj.com (pronounced as Bridge dot com) and subtitled as - "Brijjing People" (read as - Bridging People), the site is much alike to LinkedIn which too has same website theme that is networking activities by people who join it i.e - Social Networking + Business/ Professional Networking.

At Brijj.com people can build profile along with details like companies they worked for, educational institutes they have studied at, their best skills, professional expertise, business expertise/ plans, or any other professional or personal details and then making this profile online which enables you to be matched by profiles of other people you might know in past or people who are related to you or interest of you professionally, of same business interest, your past colleagues etc.

Chikka.com – Mobile Portal

Since high speed Internet usage in India is low and will take awhile to build up due to major infrastructure issues, Chikka.com is a disruptor because of its plan to become the portal for mobile content via the web and mobile phone. Mobile phone usage in India is skyrocketing with no let up in site. Therefore it will be extremely important to use the mobile interface for web 2.0, social networking and ecommerce.

ABOUT: Chikka Inc., a company known for delivery of Mobile content and enhanced mobile messaging has brought a service to enable Asian users send two way messaging i.e. from their PC to mobile phones and vice versa. Users can register to avail services like - messaging to buddy/ friends list in their IM (messengers) like - Yahoo!, AIM, MSN, ICQ and the recent one is Google Talk.

Chikka messaging service is available on nearly all major mobile service provider incuding Hutch, Airtel, BSNL, Reliance etc. Chikka mobile & wireless apps are currently deployed through network of over 50 Mobile carriers in countries including India.

Onmobile.com – Mobile Technology Provider

This established company made our list because of its voice recognition technology that combines voice recognition with mobile use. Since internet adoption will take much longer than mobile phone adoption; onmobile.com makes it easier for mobile users to navigate and use their phones for mobile commerce activities like buying tickets, bill payment and shopping using a mobile phone. This disrupting technology will allow rural users and those without access to the internet to participate in the new India economy.

ABOUT: OnMobile Systems, Inc. offers turnkey solutions, including platforms, applications, content, and professional services to deploy and operate telecom value added services for telecom operators, media houses, and corporates-merchants. Its solutions include managed services; network products, which allows operators to provide services for users; music solutions, such as download of ringtones, song dedications, and karaoke-based applications; infotainment products, which are used by mobile consumers; mCommerce; and customer care solutions.

	Total Subscribers Reached	301,000,000
	Total No. of Unique Users	129,705,521
	Calls Handled in Jun'07	2,665,966,732
	Portal Users in Jun'07	16,401,186
	Portal Traffic(Minutes) in Jun'07	73,764,332

OLPC – Cheap Laptops for the Poor

The OLPC's noble mission is to spread computer technology among millions of children growing up across the globe, so as to improve their education and learning ability. By making the laptops affordable or cheap, the company will put technology in the hands of those that otherwise would never have access to it. Therefore highlighting our #3 qualification the business will spawn new jobs and careers because these kids will grow up with knowledge and experience on the internet. This laptop has a visionary price of $100 which is higher than their production cost.

ABOUT: OLPC a Projects initiated by Nicholas Negroponte to put Laptop computers in hands of children around the world especially in lesser developed countries and remote regions of countries where there is no reach of respective countries' education policies and programs.

AutoIndia.com – Vast Repository of Auto Information

This next pick highlights our #2 qualification of changing the rules of business. This site contains vast amounts of information about the auto industry in India that is user driven. We were impressed by the ratings and reviews section – that it seems objective and had multiple view points. The site will change (and has already) the way Indians buy automobiles because of the information is power concept. Unlike Westernized countries, most Indians are buying cars for their first time so a site like AutoIndia is very important.

ABOUT:

• Buy and sell any automobile (cars, bikes commercial vehicles, etc)

• Buy and Sell new and used automobiles in India

• Search for certified automobiles (but there is no information about how one could get the vehicles certified)

• Find dealers

• Apply for Loan

• Apply for Insurance

• You could do research and compare

• Find reviews and ratings

• Gets Tips and advice

Burrp! – User generated Local Reviews

We almost omitted Burrp! from the list because we didn’t understand how it could be a game changer or disruptor technology. However after using the site we realized not unlike AutoIndia that users will have much more transparency into restaurant reviews, recreational activities and events that the mainstream India press doesn’t cover objectively. It’s a disruptor technology because in the future most Indian’s will be getting their objective information from sites like burrp! that allow them to make informed decisions instead of trial and error.

Right now Burrp! serves the Mumbai, Bangalore , Delhi NCR Chennai , Hyderabad , and Kolkatta area and planning to release it for Goa and Pune. Fortunately the search feature works well because without a decent search tool, the site is less than useful.

ABOUT: burrp! is a fun way to find and share your views on local stuff, ranging from restaurants to bars; cafes to roadside stalls; and much more.

HolidayIQ – Intelligent Travel Search and Booking

One of the best travel sites we’ve seen anywhere on the web. The site combines user feedback with recommendations for travel not unlike what amazon.com does for products. As Indians become wealthier they will begin to travel more. In the past they would use travel agents or try to handle on their own, now they have an intelligent system that makes recommendations based on other user experiences. This disruptor will certainly change the way India travels in the future.

ABOUT: HolidayIQ which started life in April 2004 as India Resorts Survey brings the combined feedback of millions of travellers to provide you unparalleled power for planning your next holiday. Here you will find actual guest feedback on hotels, detailed user journals & photos on tourism destinations, holiday deals from multiple travel agents, downloadable e-guides, deal alerts and much, much more?

BharatStudent – Social Networking for Indians Only

Although clearly a social networking clone, This Facebook like site is for Indians only which is why we chose it. Since India has the highest number of young people in the world, we expect the site to rise in popularity as internet usage increases in India. While clearly not as powerful or popular as Facebook, if the site builds a user base, BharatStudent.com will have significant leverage in monetizing the site. For obvious reasons the site is a game changer. No longer are students and young entrepreneurs isolated from their friends. They can tap their network for job opportunities, reviews of interesting products and locations, watch videos and help other students who want to study abroad.

ABOUT: Bharatstudent.com connects Individuals, Gangs related to Schools, Colleges, Workplaces, Regions and other interests. Bharatstudent.com is a social utility that brings together all the young Indians living across the globe. Bharatstudent.com helps young Indians better understand the world around them. Bharatstudent.com is focused on providing comprehensive solutions for any personal and professional issues of young Indians.

Honorable Mentions

We didn’t choose this site to be included on our list because we do not think it will disrupt the way India does business today. However, gaming will be important in the future and will have significant monetization possibilities.

ABOUT: Zapak Digital Entertainment Limited (Zapak) is a full-service software gaming entertainment company and a part of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. We've got the best and the most exclusive game contents to please and titillate both the casual and the hardcore gamers.

Zapak.com is India's largest gaming portal brought to Zapak. From world-class contents to quirky Indian titles - we have it all, here at Zapak.com. Adding to the list will be some of the world's best, most wanted, and the most addictive international games. Cutting-edge gaming genres such as MMOG's (Massively Multiplayer Online Games) will soon be featured as well.

While Khichdee.com is certainly popular, it’s clearly a clone of Craigslist and without much innovation. If the site can innovate its way to disruptor status we will notify our readers.

They have 2,199,301 listings as of the time of this writing which is staggering.

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