FastBeetle, a Startup, But Helping Others

By- Vinit Wahi 

The famous saying where there is will there is a way just fits in quite aptly in the case of Fast Beetle- a Kashmir based courier delivery service which has raised funding on reality show Shark Tank India thus giving a fillip to other budding entrepreneurs’ hopes from that region.

In fact,  it  has  raised nine million rupees on the show where these upcoming entrepreneurs present their product or a service to a panel of investors or “sharks” who then decide whether and if they want to put their money in their companies.

It all started when following their impulse, the company’s founders Sheikh Samiullah and Abdul Rashid applied to Shark Tank after seeing an advertisement about this show on Linkdln. In fact, it is the first such company from Kashmir to raise funding on the popular TV show. When one of the judges asked, he hadn’t seen more startups from this region, he was told they do not have such facilities there and that there aren’t people like you (Shark tank judges) who could support them and hence people from this area, called heaven on earth, are dependent on employment.

The entrepreneur duo is now hopeful the funding they receive will encourage more youngsters in the valley to start their own businesses. As a matter of fact, the Kashmir valley has a thriving handicrafts industry. Mr. Samiulah and Mr. Rashid started FastBeetle in 2019 and just about six months before Article 370 was abrogated. Prior to starting his own business Samiullah was working for an e-commerce company that delivered products across India.  It  was from here the idea occurred to him that why can’t a similar model be applied in Kashmir too and hence” we created our own brand.”

Accordingly, the delivery agents of FastBeetle would pick up products, pack them in their office in Srinagar and deliver the same on motorbikes and minivans. However, in the aftermath of Article 370 being scrapped, their hopes were dashed as business came to a standstill resulting in products not being delivered, except for emergency services, as vehicles weren’t allowed on roads.

However, their limited happiness was short lived as communication blockades prevented them from communicating with their staff for months together and this made them run into losses worth hundreds of thousands of rupees. But such was their determination and grit that this didn’t deter them and, rather, only made their resolve firm and to keep the things going. So, they paid salaries by dipping into their personal savings. But once things started normalizing by 2020- end, they decided to start their venture.

But  as  luck  would have, the covid-19 pandemic proved  to  be a double whammy for them as they had to contend with months- long lockdowns. They suffered like the rest of the world but never lost hope. Once things normalized yet again, they were back soon and realized that apple traders in Kashmir were finding it difficult to deliver their produce and hence stepped in to deliver the same across  the  valley. It’s worth mentioning here that the apple industry is the largest employment generator in the region and the profits they made by delivering apples  helped them overcome the losses they had incurred earlier.

In fact, during the peak covid period, they also delivered oxygen  cylinders and medicines to covid patients thus not only earning money but also their goodwill. Little wonder then that FastBeetle now delivers just about everything, and operates not only across India but in some other countries as well. As per their own record, it has so far delivered over a lakh orders in more than 55 countries and the list only seems to be growing by the day.  The company also works with over 1500 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

The duo maintains they also try to help small scale entrepreneurs by delivering their products at reasonable prices. And there are  several in the valley who would vouch for this. FastBeetle’s success story is also serving as an inspiration to other entrepreneurs in the region.