Established in 2021, Thooya is a company with a focus to provide comfortable elite and Unique toilets which are safe and hygienic to use.
The mission is to build a digital facility ecosystem that would redefine the labelled methods while enhancing the dignity of neglected service staff.
About the founders:
Mr. Venkatesh. C.R – Managing Director who is also the founder of other companies including Dot Com Infoway, Magzter and Galatta Media. A serial entrepreneur, investor and author who believes that everything is possible, especially the Impossible.
Mr. Tamilmanian Nagalingam – CIO (In charge of Innovation. A thought Leader. Highly experienced in the area of sustainable energy and Healthcare for more than 30 years.
Mr. Rajarathinam Ilankovan – CEO (Thought Leader and he is a builder/promoter and heads BNI Madurai as Executive Director of the region.
Mrs. Poornima Venkatesh, COO (In charge of Liasoning with Government with experience as Chairman Yi Madurai and whose dream is to make India open defecation free.
We are publishing an interview with Mr. Venkatesh C.R., Managing Director, Thooya Innovations:
Q.: What is the problem you are trying to solve? Please share with us any insights that led you to believe that this is a big enough problem?
Ans: It was the Social Commitment which has brought together the founders with an innovative approach to make their Vision and Mission a reality on Public hygiene for a better tomorrow.
Open defecation free cities by providing hygienic Sanitation Facility
Access to Luxurious, Sustainable, Safe and Hygienic toilet experience to 200 Million People by 2025.
Q.: Tell us about the Product / Service. How did you get your first customer? Explain how you went about the Product-Market Fit Process.
Ans: Apart from providing a host of facilities, these luxury washrooms are designed to cater to the requirement of physically challenged, women, and other commuters. The prefabricated structures become ready to use in just after a day of installation. The first washroom is expected to go live by mid June 2021
Q.: What is your USP? What is the insight that you have about this market, which no one else has? Uniqueness about your Startup.
Ans: The biggest challenge in the public toilet is the maintenance, the reason being lack of resources. To solve this problem, we combine a revenue generating business model like Cafe for providing hygienic maintenance of the toilets.. Thus providing a better Sustainability.
Q.: What were your assumptions when you entered the market, learning that you have? Who in your mind is your ideal customer? Do you have at least one of them signed up?
Ans: We readily assumed that it would click with people because of the lack of clean public toilets on the whole. The ideal customer, to us, is anyone who wishes for a free and clean toilet. And given what’s currently being offered, we were right to assume that they are many.
Q.: How are you pricing the Product/Service? What is the logic behind it? What is the model you are following – Free / Freemium / Premium etc. ? Explain your thought process.
Ans: As I said above the luxury-oriented washroom is free, but the products in the cafes aren’t. The former attracts people and encourages them to use the cafes in the process. The revenue from the cafes will help meet the costs of maintaining the toilets thereby providing a sustainable model.
Q.: Please tell us about the investors (if any)
Ans: We are self funded and we are looking for strategic investors. We are planning to have Associate Partners in various parts of the states who will make this vision a reality
Q. : Since inception, give us a sense of the value of business done by your venture? Please explain in detail.
Ans: Free, high-quality sanitation may seem like too lofty a dream, but we believe it could and should be achieved. We are making something now easily accessible. I believe that’s where most of our venture’s value comes from.
Q.: What is the big picture of your startup? Is this Product/service leading to something bigger? If so, how?
Ans: We hope to cater to 200 million people by 2025. The total market size of Tamilnadu, Karnataka, and Pondicherry combined is over 5,000 toilets. We’re confident that we can cover this within 5 years, with the help of our associate partners located in different cities.
Q. : Who do You Perceive as Your Competition? How do you differentiate yourself with them?
Ans: Currently there is no competition as we have joined hands with the leader in this space which is LooCafe.. They have multiple patents and also copyrights which prohibit any other competitor in this space.
Q. : What would be your goal to accomplish in the next six months? Any other information you would like to share?
Ans: Our immediate goal is to find Associate Partners in the regions of Tamilnadu, Karnataka and Pondichery who can help realise the dream of Thooya Innovations
Q. : What message do you want to convey to fellow entrepreneurs?
Ans: Never stop brainstorming ideas. Today’s challenges offer plenty of opportunities to solve big problems while helping and uplifting millions of people along the way.
Thanks Venkatesh. All the best!
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