The Co-Founders - Manmaya Ray, Giridhar Bhat
The accomplished Advisors - Anisha Motwani, Suresh Mahalingam and Atul Gupta
iAssist Innovation Labs, Sharad Kumar (Founder), Manmaya Ray & Giridhar Bhat (Co Founder)
We are one of the first of it’s kind R&D (Research and Development) labs in the IT industry, run by experts from Product, Delivery and Finance and guided by the veterans of insurance industry. Where our patent Pending Technologies, and the products developed using them have already made a mark in the ever-competitive industry. IAILs’ (iAssist Innovations Labs) main focus is to find the gaps in insurance industry and develop a competitive Technology products that bridges the gap effectively and efficiently. Our product management and Product development team takes prides in claiming the success of these products (right from ground zero) as they serve the purpose for what they are designed and developed for, and have added lots of efficiency in the different portions of the value chain. The list of domains which use our products second our claim of being the Numero-Uno in the business with our own set of patent pending Technologies. Our products revolutionized the Insurance sector by reducing the waiting time drastically and this proved to be one of the highlights that the company has achieved so far. To give an example, to claim an insurance policy Motor, health or Marine (right from the submission of the documents to the reimbursement of the funds to the applicant), the usual process takes around 3-5 days (ignoring the time elapsed for the survey in Motor or Marine); with our products, the elapsed time varies from 60 -90 mins however the average time taken is not even 5-7 mins per claim, so if all the touch points are looked at holistically and thought through more strategically, a near real-time experience is not far away. And now, that is one of the ground-breaking innovation indeed in industry.
The idea and vision behind all this is none other than the pioneer himself, Sharad Kumar, who had this inception of building up a company where the software can be bought/chosen as off-the-shelf product (just like getting products from the counter) and after 2 years, the commencement of the idea is now a proud family of 36 IAILians, in terms of transactions more than 56 million transactions on iAssist Platform, in terms of products 33 different offerings across Health, Motor and Marine Insurance and in terms of technologies its 3 major breakthroughs (Patent Pending). Sharad worked in various capacities in different organizations. Be it a CTO, Vertical head at Oracle or pioneering Innovations in different capacities across.
Behind every successful man, there’s always a woman and this holds cent percent true in the case of Sharad. The co-founder, none other than the better half herself, Manmaya Ray, who is the head of Delivery and Operations as well. She is the main pillar behind the company and Sharad’s biggest strength without which the vision would have never seen the light.
Eliminate the doubts in our mind is the first assignment
Biggest challenge was to get this vision to reality. We faced many obstacles in terms of getting the first customer, the financials, the right talents and whatnot. Adding to these, the major challenge was to overcome the “another start-up” tag exactly when the Pandemic started, as we have seen many such instances where the companies failed to sustain the competition. As a CEO, our first task is to eliminate the doubts in our mind whether we are going to withstand the challenges. The thought itself causes uncertainty which leads to chaos. The positive and never give-up attitude was inflicted right from the start and even though we know we are in uncharted waters, we as a team (and family – as we all it) never gave up on what we wanted to achieve. The focus was always there to do what we must and all it took is the right set of attitude and right set of people, through which we are now forayed successfully in the market within a span of 2 years.
From the road of survival to the harvest
The first step and the first year was all about survival (in the IT words, sustainability). The second year was all about generating revenue (the Growth). And from the third year, it is all about working on the scale and turning those revenues to profits. The roadmap is well defined before even we set foot in the industry. Everyone within the company knows what they are supposed to achieve and what their goal is, eventually bringing out the common vision of the company which is to be the best in the business. The change has already started back in 2019, when the company was set up. I, strongly, believe that it's all part of the teamwork that takes us places.
Did you ever feel like giving up on as a CEO and what motivated you to pull this off?
One word. Never. Even though we have faced many impediments in the start, we never shied away in taking the risks as we always knew what the future holds for us and the company. The tremendous belief in what our products are going to achieve, we had the confidence right from the beginning that we will be a trendsetter in the market and this itself was the biggest motivation for the team to pull this off.
The biggest achievement
The fact that the company is now 2 years old and what started as a company with 2 people is now a proud family of 36 of the biggest and brightest minds in the industry, is nothing short of an achievement and the awards that we have achieved in this last two years says a lot about the character, without which this seemed impossible. The big achievement comes with the small ones that contributes to the biggest one, and here is the snapshot of the small ones:
Innovations: 3 Insurtech Innovations. Solutions: 33 Solutions as APIs. Customers: India’s 3 Largest insures, One of the Largest Brokers, 2 of the Largest Consolidators & 100+ AGENTS, Patents:3 Patent Pending Technologies. Volume: More than 56 million transactions. Board: 3 Big Names as Advisors, Strength: 36 TEAM MEMBERS, and Awards: 6 Prestigious Awards
Which takes about the pace in which we are working at and its and a huge win for us.
The motivational force for the kick off
The idea to set up the company started way before 2019. During the days when Sharad was the Vertical head for a reputed MNC, there’s always the question of “What-If”. The companies which used to shell out loads of money for a software, where the actual usage of the product is minimal. The question of “What-If the company has to pay for only what they need, only buying and using the product which is deemed necessary rather than buying the package with unnecessary products”. This is where the idea of setting up the business has started. Where the pricing is transparent, with no hidden costs and most importantly gaining the trust of the clients is what motivated to start IAIL. And we are proud to say that we have accomplished and gained the confidence of the clientele.
Onward and forward
As said earlier, we wanted to build a company to gain the belief of the customers who only need the necessary products rather than the whole package with exorbitant costs. The aim is to provide solutions to the Businesses so as they have the say to choose what they want and what is best for them. Our Patent pending technologies did exactly that and today the customers of IAIL stand by us and their testimonials are what drives our company. Onward and Forward.
Post a Comment