Kiran Narayanan By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: When you newly move into a city, it’s always difficult to find an electrician or a plumber. If you find one, exorbitant charges have to be paid to get things done. With Joboy, things have changed. Launched in August 2017, the mobile app offers various range of home services to ease hardships experienced.

Joboy is the brainchild of Kochi-based brothers Jees V Kariyil and Jeevan K Varghese, who developed the basic thought of having an online personal assistant. “Many who live in the city find it difficult to find assistance when it is needed the most. We started by offering day-to-day services to our customers. We gradually enhanced the number of services to 21. Now, we diversified the service to health and fitness, technology, home maintenance, laundry, electronics repair, delivery service, events and so on,” says Jees.

According to the founders, Joboy is an attempt to move away from the existing pattern followed by similar apps on the lines of the e-commerce website. “Normally, customers select the services, add them to the cart and fill their address, only to find out the delivery isn’t available in their area. We envisioned immediate assistance like how online taxis are available for customers. On one instance, we provided an electrician within eight minutes of booking,” says Jees, who is also a former employee with National Payments Corporation of India.

Apart from the initial

investment raised by the founders and their friends and relatives, Joboy received a funding of `25 lakh from Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC). The app offers its services at a low rate and ensures flexibility in the delivery of their service. “We charge only `275 per hour. Even in peak hours, the charge remains the same and the service will be available 24x7.

Normally, if the services of an electrician or plumber are availed, at least `150 has to be paid for service, in addition to the expense of the equipment. If the personnel finishes work in 15 minutes, the customer can utilise the next 45 minutes for other works. As they come with the necessary equipment, they will be able to assist minor work at home,” says the co-founder.

However, the founders saw a major challenge in the lesser number of work by service providers. “The services such as plumbing are only needed once or twice a year,” says Jees. The issues were surpassed by diversifying the service. “We expanded to other services such as laundry, ironing, dry cleaning etc at a lower rate. Instead of remitting exorbitant charges, we reduced the price at the supply chain and increased the frequency of orders. As we are able to increase the volume of services, our service providers are also happy,” he says.

While launching a new service, the founders were certain the customers should receive Joboy-verified products and services. “In addition, we came up with store and ticketing, unlike many apps who go for third party service providers. If there a problem arises, we are responsible for that. Whichever service we added so far has met the baseline parameters such as the availability of professional service providers, on-demand delivery of service and assurance of service warranty,” says Jees.

The payment service offered by the app is also a hit. “The payment option can assist you with remitting phone and electricity bills and local cable TV charges in a go. After collaborating with various local brands, Joboy is now going to team up with Kochi Metro Rail Corporation, which will enable the passengers to book tickets through the app,” says Jeevan.

The app has grown into leaps and bounds and now launched in UAE and the UK. “Joboy is now the official app partner for Sutton United FC, who plays in National League, the fifth tier of English football. We have also launched our service in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah with a variety of 45 categories,” adds Jeevan. The app has received many accolades including SuperStartups Asia, the largest democratically voted startup award in 2018. They also became finalists of the prestigious Croydon Business Excellence Award in the UK in the same year.