IoTfy’s GoCo Bags are enabled with UVC LED to disinfect the contents inside the bag.
At a time when companies are struggling to keep up with their work due to the Corona virus-led lockdown and restrictions, Delhi-based IoTfy has adopted a unique idea for its survival during this period.
Started in 2017 by serial entrepreneur Arpit Chhabra, Sushant Taneja, Shashank Saxena and Shivam Dixit, IoTfy is a chip-to-cloud startup that helps consumer durables add (Internet of Things) capability to their device categories.
The three-year-old startup stalled when the epidemic of coronavirus spread to the world and India grew like a lockdown starting on March 24, but a team with an entrepreneurial spirit did not sit idle in the meantime. It used the time to accelerate work on future capabilities and found its idea to remain in the online food delivery space.
IoTfy has now made UVC LED enabled GoCo bags. The bag is designed to disinfect the inside luggage. Operates with buttons installed on the bag or with the Android app, which enables users to operate it from anywhere.
The name GoCo, says Arpit, is inspired by the common sentiment ‘Go Corona’ which is still raging in India and all over the world.
Overcoming challenges
Arpit told YourStory that since his business relied on enabling IoT for product lines in the home appliances and lighting sector, the lockdown affected startups due to production cuts and supply chain disruptions.
As a result, cash flow got stuck. Arpit says that the team did not feel clear until June as sales continued to be predicted even during these uncertain times.
He says
“Since we had to do a lot of interaction with our customers, it became difficult for us to determine what the speed of that pipeline would be. It also turned out to be a cash crisis. ” Additionally, IoTfy did not have large cash reserves due to being bootstrapped.
The younger generation in India relies on ordering food online and there is a general fear among all when they discuss ordering food, says Arpit. He explains that the possibility of contaminated food and the possibility of the virus in the delivery bag discouraged many of the items being ordered along with food. It became a use case for startups and a reason to start working again says Arpit.
Thus, the idea of a UVC box was conceived by the team, and it immediately began work on its production.
IoTfy also prides itself on the fact that the company fulfils Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s objective of ‘Vocal for Local’ and self-reliant India, as it is contributing to this vision.
GoCO Bag
The ‘Go Corona’ bag comes with a capacity of 30 liters and allows users to disinfect many items at once, such as mobile phones, groceries, food, milk packets, gloves, masks, clothes, shoes, baby products, etc. Allows doing.
“Anyone can start the sterilization process by clicking the ‘UV Disinfection’ button or they can use the app to start it,” Arpit explains.
Research by the Harvard Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Oxford suggests that viruses can live on masks, cash, phones, clothes and packages for up to three days, making them potential carriers. Various studies suggest that ultraviolet light can help fight COVID-19 and that exposure to UVC light can destroy nucleic acids in viruses and bacteria and eventually eliminate them.
Arpit says the bags were initially developed to help online brands and food delivery companies so that items in UVC disinfected bags to restore trust and comfort in users’ minds when ordering food and other items online To be distributed.
They say
” However, with the rise of Kovid-19 positive cases in India, we are facing a lot of questions from our professional and personal networks for these bags that people want to purchase for their personal use.”
This is when the startup decided to make these GoCo bags available for direct purchase to users through the GoCo Bag website.
IoT Support
Arpit, he says, believes the company’s relevance increases now. “Before the coronavirus epidemic, we were looking at IoT as a facility, but now technology is seen as compliant and confident in a ‘contactless’ world.”
With the new product line, the company is able to generate capital to survive and its core business is back on track with an ‘unlock’ phase in various parts of India.
It is now working with big brands to add UVC filters to air conditioners so that AC kills viruses in the air.
To support its scale and growth, IoTfy plans to raise more funds this year or early next year to bring in more talent and add more categories and keep its business going.
Arpit says, “IoT is our DNA and will have many consequences as time requires.”
