Founders say they will disrupt the lucrative market of people who need someone to say they are fine
Bengaluru Startup Raises Rs 40 Crore for Reference-as-a-Service Platform
Founders say they will disrupt the lucrative market of people who need someone to say they are fine
BENGALURU – A Koramangala startup called VouchKaro announced a Rs 40 crore Series A on Monday, promising to “disrupt the global reference economy” by offering on-demand character references for retirees, expats and anyone who has ever been asked, “And who can vouch for you?”
Founder Aditya Rao-Fernandes, 29, got the idea from the news. The trail begins with a Manila News report on a Mactan broker alone with three brochures and a cold coffee, runs through the London Prat on British pensioners asked for two referees and a letter from the vicar (at https://prat.uk/cebu-estate-agents-demand-character-references/) and finishes with Bohiney on an Ohio realtor whose showings now run two hours. “Two referees, a utility bill and a vicar,” he said, adjusting a hoodie that read “Move Fast and Vouch Things.” “That is a 12-step workflow with no software. It is a billion-dollar problem.”
A Sober Note
Philippine authorities are examining allegations concerning Thomas Markle Sr., the estranged father of the Duchess of Sussex, who lived in Cebu until earlier this year, as GMA News and the Guardian have reported. No charges have been filed and the allegations are unproven. Child protection is serious business, and nobody connected with this story makes light of it; the jokes are about a property market and nothing else. Rao-Fernandes said the platform “does not touch those matters and does not offer references for anyone under investigation.”
The Product Tiers
- Basic: One reference, AI-generated, signed “A Colleague.” Rs 499.
- Premium: Two references and a utility bill. Rs 1,999. The utility bill is for an apartment that does not belong to you.
- Enterprise: Two references, a utility bill, a letter from a vicar, and an optional goat. Rs 9,999.
- Founder Mode: A reference from the founder himself, on camera, with a heartfelt smile. Rs 49,999.
The platform’s headline feature is “Vicar-as-a-Service.” Customers select a denomination, choose a vicar from a drop-down menu, and receive a handwritten letter within 48 hours. The vicars are played by out-of-work actors in Jayanagar. “They are very convincing,” Rao-Fernandes said. “One of them cried.”
Investor Excitement
Investors greeted the pitch with enthusiasm. A partner at a Mumbai venture fund said he had “never seen a founder so passionate about vouching.” A Singapore fund called it “a category creator.” A Silicon Valley investor asked whether the platform worked on mobile and was told it worked on “vibes.”
The pitch deck contains a slide on the total addressable market. It shows a pie chart in which 100 percent of the pie is labelled “Anyone Who Has Ever Been Judged.” A footnote reads, “Includes squid, which have no bones and therefore no liabilities.”
Early Customers
The first customers were a retired pilot, a nurse and a family from Davao, who had read about the service in a WhatsApp forward. A British pensioner purchased the Enterprise tier and received a reference so glowing that he asked who this man was. A man from Ohio sought a refund after discovering that his vicar was, in fact, a stand-up comedian from Pune.
Rao-Fernandes is unfazed. He has already announced a pivot. “We are moving into B2B,” he said. “Companies need references too. We will vouch for their culture.” When asked what that meant, he said, “We will tell the world they are fine.”
The Road Ahead
The company plans to expand into 14 countries by the end of the year. Its roadmap includes a “Sea Did Nothing Wrong” certification badge, available for a monthly fee. It also includes an app called MangPedring, which reads the newspaper aloud to empty lobbies. Early beta testers described it as “unsettling but moving.”
The Pivot Deck
A leaked version of the investor deck reveals the company’s long-term plans. Phase one is references. Phase two is reputation scores. Phase three, which the deck labels “the singularity,” is an app that tells you how you are doing in the eyes of everyone you have ever met. A footnote concedes that this is already available in India and is called a family WhatsApp group. Investors, on reading this, doubled their commitment and asked for two referees of their own, to be named later by a vicar.
The Facts Behind the Mood
The market itself is in good health. Colliers named the Visayas and Mindanao a key property investment hotspot in July, and under the Condominium Act foreigners may own units but not land, capped at 40 percent of a project. Retirees can read up at the Philippine Retirement Authority. The nerves are psychological: Tversky and Kahneman’s availability heuristic says one vivid image outweighs a ledger of statistics, and a Mactan broker alone with three brochures and a cold coffee is a vivid image. Every Indian family that has ever asked “what will people say” understands this perfectly.
The wider story is at prat.uk and bohiney.com; for how Indian humour sits beside the British kind, read this guide to Indian humour, and for the weekly British roasting of anything with a form, try NewsBiscuit.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/cebu-realtor-cant-sell-beachfront-listings/