During 2020, when the whole world was impacted by COVID, the founders, Ritika and I, Abhilash, moved to our farmhouse and stayed there for about 9 months, Living a life amidst nature inspired us to make our city lives greener and better as well. In 2021, while shopping for plants ourselves for our home in Mumbai, we realized the pain points that Indian homeowners and plant lovers face in finding good indoor plants. This led to the idea of Greenkin, a platform that allows people to shop for exotic and easy-care indoor plants for their homes.

Q2. What made you start working on Greenkin and executing this idea?

Before Greenkin, I had run another start-up. Post its exit, I wanted to build another business that I was passionate about that had scalability and a growing market. When I realized the existing market opportunity that Greenkin had and the genuine pain points that consumers face, it was hard for me to keep myself away from following my passion for making the world greener.

Q3. When did you realise the need to raise Venture Capital - Seed funding?

Right at the idea stage, we knew that building something as big as Greenkin required capital. There are thousands of MSMEs that sell plants and yet, the problems that end consumers face haven't been solved. Solving big problems needs great ideas and a good amount of Capital to bring the ideas to fruition.

Q4. How has 100X helped you at the beginning of your journey?

Capital, Mentorship, Connects! When I think about Greenkin, I cannot imagine it without 100X and the kind of mentorship we have received from the beginning. 100X has been a part of this wonderful journey from even before the website was launched when we were working hard to set up everything that was required to bring Greenkin to Indian Consumers.

Q5. What challenges did you face & how did you overcome them?

Challenges are a part of an entrepreneur's daily life. We have always been aware that every problem can be solved in various ways, and we apply design thinking to solve most of our challenges at Greenkin. We always create multiple paths to solving a problem and prioritize these solutions. If Plan A does not work, we try Plan B, and so on. 

Q6. What stage is Greenkin at present?

Greenkin is at a very early stage, and we have shipped over 7000 plants already. We are currently recording double-digit month-on-month growth. Our aim is to help Indian consumers make their homes beautiful with plants and natural elements, and we have yet only scratched the surface. We see tremendous potential in Greenkin, and feel that we are solving a very common pain point in a very large market.

Q7. As founders, what are your goals for the next 1-2 years?

Our vision is to make Greenkin a self-sustainable venture, where our Customers fuel growth. Over the next 1 to 2 years, we are looking to grow multi-fold with a track of exceptional customer service and NPS. Greenkin aims to be in every household in India, and we are focused on creating memorable experiences for our consumers.

Q8. What keeps you motivated & keeps you going?

I, and the whole team at Greenkin, are extremely happy with the work that we are doing. With every plant we ship, we are spreading happiness and bringing a smile to people's lives. Frankly, it is hard to get demotivated when one is doing something that brings satisfaction to their work life, every day. At Greenkin, our philosophy is that our work should keep us going, not the other way around where we need to keep going to do the work.

Q9. Your message for Startup founders building in the same sector?

Gardening as an industry is one of the oldest industries, and still has thousands of MSMEs operating in India. Modern consumers require fresh ideas, so build something unique. Also, I believe founders need to keep in mind that since we are dealing with live plants, there is an extra layer of handholding and support required for Customers. This is a huge space in itself for new ventures.

About Abhilash Pandey:

Abhilash is a business graduate from IIM Calcutta. He has worked with Global Conglomerates like Microsoft and Facebook. He founded and built InfiSecure, from 2016 to 2019, as one of the top Bot Security businesses globally, and has a keen understanding of building and scaling a start-up. He is currently heading business as Co-Founder and CEO at Greenkin.