New Delhi: E-commerce activities are booming in the urban areas of the country. However, the biggest challenge is taking them to rural areas. India is considered as a country of villages, where over 72% of the geography is considered as rural India. Poor internet connectivity, low internet penetration has made tapping the rural market a tough job for the service providers. Hesa, a Hyderabad company, is working to bridge this digital divide by taking all the e-services to the doorstep of the rural areas. The company is now reaching and making its presence felt across the country.
Hesa Technologies is still very young when compared to many other companies. It was started in July 2019, but in the last two years, the start-up witnessed exceptional growth. In these two years, it has covered over 8 lakh consumers from rural areas. It is present in over 5,000 villages now. The company is now in a big expansion mode across the country, making it one of the most vibrant start-ups in the country today. The company’s goal is to take the brands to the last mile-consumers and customers in the remote Bharat physically by leveraging the technology and human capital. Its unique model has won several prestigious awards, making it the most visible start-up with strong social values.
How does the company work?
The Hesa is engaged in providing services ranging from fast-moving goods to financial services. It joins hands with companies that want to expand their footprint in rural areas. What has made the Hesa unique is that it is not only helping the big brands but is working with rural entrepreneurs and farmers too to sell their products in the urban pockets. It is connecting urban India with rural Bharat. The doorstep service in the rural areas is another unique feature of the company.
The company’s point men called the ‘Hesaathis‘ (Hesa+Sathis) in the rural areas provide service using the tech platform developed by the company. Presently, the company has its presence in 11 districts of the five states- Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, etc. Over 7,000 ‘Hesaathis’ are working with the company creating thousands of job opportunities in the villages. The company is ensuring enough representation to women while recruiting the ‘Hesaathis’ to pave way for women’s empowerment in the true sense. Presently over 40 brands are associated with the company.
The company is providing many solutions under a single roof. For example, in a Hesa connected village, the customers can buy the products, sell the products or avail banking services or any other financial products by meeting the village level company representative or the Hesaathi. He will log into the Hesa digital platform. The partner companies include agritech, fintech, products, and various services.
Awards galore
In the span of just a few days, the company won prestigious awards. In March 2021, Hesa created history by emerging as one of the two winners among 200+ startups in the “Road to Elevate Competition” conducted by the Entrepreneurship Cell of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras. Start-ups from across the country had participated in this competition. In February 2021, the company was recognized as one of the top five start-ups, in the Innopreneurs Startup contest. But in which over a thousand start-ups from five countries, including India had participated. Recently, also Hesa Technologies won a bronze award in the Best Start-up category at industry awards 2021 organized by the Telangana government.
The start
This start-up was founded by Vamsi Udayagiri, a very popular name in start-up circles today. With 12 years of hands-on experience in supply chain management, he launched Hesa. Over the years he has built and established some of the finest expo brands like the Janatha Expo, HealthPlus Asia, AgriHorti Tech, Back to Farming, and Pakka Hyderabad. Pakka Hyderabad was Vamsi’s first retailtainment venture, but it was highly successful. The latest vertical HESA technologies are the amalgamation of all these experiences that Vamsi has gained over the years. Vamsi has a B. Tech degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati.
According to Vamsi, he is a dreamer, learner, and achiever. He says he is also a firm believer in affirmations. But he always believes that if our cause is big and our efforts are right. We can create a major impact. Vamsi says that he was always fascinated by the rural value chains. He thinks that the digital pathway that has opened up should provide ample space for everyone to ride on it, also including people living in the villages. According to him, he launched the Hesa with a mission of revolutionizing the rural economy.
“Our journey is just warming up as we have over 650,000 Indian villages on our radar,” he says.
