With ₹10L, 3 Friends Built ₹3Cr Revenue Software Startup In 2 Years

While working at a Fintech startup, three friends—Vishnu Sharma, Mihir Bhardwaj, and Shobhit Singh—encountered a significant problem that no business was addressing. They experienced the chaos firsthand at the startup app's launch.

The app encountered massive traffic, resulting in crashes, server overloads, and a surge of customer reviews and feedback. Quickly addressing these issues was crucial. And the startup they had partnered with lacked efficient tools and relied on time-consuming manual processes.

Driven to solve this problem, the trio dedicated themselves to their idea. After three years of relentless effort, they launched Rannkly in 2021, a SaaS product designed to help businesses efficiently manage customer feedback and reviews.

What is Rannkly?

The Noida-based online reputation management startup, Rannkly, initially focused on review management but quickly expanded its features to include social media management, campaign management, and bulk messaging.

With Rannkly, businesses can handle customer feedback, run marketing campaigns, and schedule social media posts seamlessly from a single platform.

"A standout feature is our AI-powered automation mode, which reads customer reviews, assesses them, generates responses, and publishes replies automatically without human intervention," explained the co-founder Vishnu during a conversation with Startup Pedia.

Rannkly Services:

1. Review Management: Rannkly allows brands or businesses to manage feedback from various channels and third-party integrations. AI analyzes feedback to provide insights into areas needing improvement, helping businesses respond efficiently.

2. Social Media Management: Businesses can connect all their social channels, schedule posts, track engagement, and respond to comments from a single dashboard.

3. Campaign Management: Rannkly simplifies running marketing campaigns via SMS, email, and bulk WhatsApp messages.

4. Complaint Management System: Brands can manage complaints and guest requests directly within the Rannkly portal.

5. Monthly Social Media Reports: Detailed reports highlight business performance and areas for improvement, enabling actionable steps.

Rannkly offers tailored subscription options: Basic (₹800/month), Premium (₹1800/month), and Enterprise (₹5000/month), with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Cost-effective, Time-effective, and Reputation Management:

Rannkly stands out as a cost-effective solution for businesses seeking to streamline their review management, social media management, campaign management, messaging, and complaint management.

By offering these functionalities in a single platform, businesses can avoid the expense of purchasing separate tools for each function.

"Our flexible pricing plans, including Basic (₹800), Premium (₹1800), and Enterprise (₹5000), cater to various business needs, ensuring cost efficiency at every level," said the co-founder of Rannkly while talking to Startup Pedia.

Time efficiency is another significant advantage of Rannkly. The platform automates repetitive tasks such as replying to reviews and posting content, freeing employees to focus on higher-value activities like developing content strategies and analyzing competitors.

AI-generated reports further save time, eliminating the need for manual reporting. The software startup also optimizes resources by reducing the need for multiple specialized roles.

"For example, the AI capabilities of Rannkly can handle tasks traditionally managed by separate content writers, social media managers, and customer service agents. This allows existing employees to work more efficiently and enhances overall productivity," mentioned Vishnu during a conversation with Startup Pedia.

Rannkly also plays a crucial role in enhancing a business's online reputation. Its centralized feedback management system aggregates reviews from multiple channels, providing a comprehensive view of customer feedback.

"This enables businesses to respond promptly and appropriately, addressing issues quickly and improving customer satisfaction. AI-driven insights analyze feedback to identify trends, common issues, and areas for improvement, offering actionable insights that help businesses refine their services and products," added the co-founder.

Growth of Rannkly:

Rannkly began in a coworking space with just the three co-founders and an initial investment of Rs 10 lakh from their savings. 

Launched in 2021, the startup initially worked with a few beta clients, including Radisson Sector 55 Noida and Nazeer Foods.

"Feedback from these early adopters was instrumental in refining the product," said the co-founder during a conversation with Startup Pedia.

The Noida-based startup quickly scaled, onboarding over 500 brands and 1,500 clients.

As Rannkly's customer base expanded, so did its revenues. Starting with ₹30 lakh in 2021, their revenue soared to ₹2 crore in the financial year 2023-24.

With a monthly growth rate of 10% and a 1-2% churn rate in the last quarter, Rannkly achieved over 1 crore in revenue.

During the initial product-building phase, the startup secured ₹25 lakhs from an angel investor. Last year, they further raised ₹1.25 crore from 100x.vc.

Starting with just three of them, Rannkly now has a team of 35 members headquartered in Noida.

"With a target of achieving a monthly revenue of ₹1 crore in this financial year (2024-25), we aim to expand our sales team, enhance technology infrastructure, and form strategic partnerships with digital marketing agencies," the co-founder mentioned while discussing future plans and targets.

Currently, the AI software startup focuses on the hospitality industry and intends to explore other sectors like healthcare and education. Though they have a few clients in these sectors, direct engagement is not active at present. The goal is to expand into additional categories in the future.

Despite competition from international players like Birdeye, Rannkly distinguishes itself in the Indian market with its comprehensive solution. It integrates review management, social media management, and other essential tools into a unified platform.

Struggle to Success:

Born and raised in humble families, the trio of co-founders at Rannkly have overcome substantial challenges to achieve their current success. Vishnu, hailing from Vrindavan, grew up in a middle-class family with limited financial resources. His father worked in healthcare, while his mother managed the household as a homemaker.

"I took on various jobs to earn pocket money during my college days," Vishnu shared with Startup Pedia.

Whereas, Shobhit worked at an airport to make ends meet before realizing he needed to learn new technical skills. After upskilling, he entered the corporate world, where he met Vishnu.