Kids are growing up and us parents are keeping their cherished clothes and toys as memories. In this journey, they outgrow their clothes and even toys. So we usually give away those items to the needy ones or stash them away in our store room as keepsakes.
One such item that they outgrow is the bicycle. Time flies when they are riding their tricycle and then before we realize it is time to remove training wheels from their bicycle. But what about the old ones?
A Group of Visionary Parents
Pruthvi Gowda was experiencing the same situation with his boy. But instead of pondering over what to do, he actually took an innovative approach. Having worked in the marketing industry, he was always passionate about entrepreneurship.
So, he came up with the idea of Gro Club and then he discussed it with his friends: Sapna M S Gowda, Hrishikesh H S, and Roopesh Shah. All of them are parents to kids between ages 5 and 14, thus, relate to the problem. However, they all have a strong believe that the idea of Gro Club is going to help in reducing the increasing garbage in the landfills.
In January 2022, he launched Gro Club, India’s Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) kids subscription platform landscape, which lends baby-use products (bicycles, bunk beds, strollers, and cribs) on a subscription basis. The startup is a blend of sustainability and innovation.
Obviously, it is a great approach through which the used baby products like cycles and other related items can be provided on a subscription basis to kids of that age. This way, the startup is promoting a circular economy.
Gro Club is operational in Bengaluru presently and has received overwhelming responses from parents.
How Does it Work?
Parents have to pay 50% of the product’s actual cost price in subscription. Generally, a subscription is for 1 year and the startup offers hassle-free home delivery. Also, parents can choose to pay on a monthly basis too without making any lump sum deposit.
Annual bicycle subscription starts from Rs 6,000 and goes up to Rs 20,000, depending on the type of product taken. Also, the monthly payment amount starts from Rs 500 and can vary depending on the actual subscription prices. Moreover, during the period customers get free maintenance too.
No, they are not second-hand products, but actually manufactured and refurbished by the startup to suit the need of different customers.
As refurbishing the products does not emit much carbon dioxide, it makes the whole process sustainable and increases the products’ life up to 15 years.
Success and Subscription
Welcomed with open arms, Gro Club have around 5,700 subscribers. Through this, their annual revenue is around Rs 3 crore. Moreover, the monthly run-rate of the startup is Rs 25 lakh.
Future Plans
The company received Rs 4.3 crore funding and the team is excited to try new strategies and explore other cities across India. In the next 2 years, Gro Club has plans to expand to Mumbai, Pune, and Hyderabad.