When Friendicoes, an animal welfare organization was about to shut down due to lack of funds, they raised more than 60 lakh in 10 days. Kuntal Joshier, a software engineer had only dreamed of climbing the Everest. They made his dream come true by helping him raise more than 5 lakh in 10 days. If you have a dream, they have the platform. BitGiving proved that if you are passionate about something and you have the ardor to turn your dreams into accomplishments, then there is nothing that can stop you.
This is the story of Ishita Anand, a young entrepreneur and co-founder of BitGiving, a crowdfunding platform that powers dreams.
Building BitGiving bit by bit
As a film-maker and an entrepreneur, Ishita Anand tried to put together her first start up when she was 22. Her venture never went beyond the drawing board, and it made her realize how important it was to have proper funds to begin something.
“I saw how difficult it was to do anything that you were passionate about – one of the biggest hindrances being the lack of funds. In retrospect, had I tapped into the community that the product catered to, I might have been able to kick it off the ground. The experience of putting aside a concept I was passionate about due to lack of funds stayed with me.”
As the head of design department at DU Beat and as a graphic designer for a start-up while she was studying in LSR, Ishita Anand nurtured the spirit of entrepreneurship. She was also involved in marketing activities, theatre and film animation. She moved on to work for an ad agency, followed by independent projects for films. While working as the Product Head for Technology 9 Labs, Ishita met Fahad Moti Khan who became her friend and mentor, and together they founded BitGiving.
BitGiving is a startup that has been bootstrapped since inception. Ishita came from a non-technical background, and despite the misgivings that people had about it, she was there to stay. Apart from garnering funds which is a major challenge for any project, Ishita felt that it was more difficult to put together a team and make sure she had the right people on board who’d be as invested in the product as she was. With Fahad’s product expertise, they put together a team of skilled developers and built the platform. For a long time, their team consisted of 3 people, and they added the 10th member very recently. With a small but phenomenal team, Ishita built BitGiving into what we see today.
“The first few months or even years are all about hit and trials – the things you plan for months don’t work out while the last moment gut instinct works wonders. The challenge is to bring those learnings together, pivot when you have to and of course, being married to the idea of solving the problem and not the solution.”
Success comes to those who persevere
There are a lot of aggressive players in the market like Ketto, Wishberry and Milaap. But competition has only been a trigger to be the best and has contributed substantially in building the Crowdfunding ecosystem in India.
When asked what makes BitGiving different from its competitors, Ishita summed it up in two points. First was their approach towards technology. To her, BitGiving is not a transactional product but a community where they engage and invest in the campaigns they support. That has been their focus, and as a result it has some very active communities. Ishita explains about the way the platform has been built- whenever a campaign starts getting a lot of contributions in a short period of time, BitGiving’s technology helps in making sure that it starts trending within the networks of the contributors as well – it’s an added impact and is one of the reasons why so many of the campaigns have ended up trending on Twitter and sparked multiple conversations.
Second factor that makes BitGiving different is its success stories. In March last year, the National Ice Hockey team was on the verge of pulling out of the Asian Championship despite putting up a good performance, all due to paucity of funds. But with the help of BitGiving, they were able to raise Rs 6.5 lakh in 20 days.
“When the Ice Hockey team ended up raising the funds it needed to represent our country in Kuwait, I remember sitting alone, reading the comments on the campaign page and smiling to myself. We had made more than 400 people relate to a story and take action and each one of them had shared a small story of their own. It was the first time I realised the power what we had put together.
It was the Vice Captain of the team who told me at their pre-departure press meet that it was for the very first time that they felt like a national team. I personally hold this campaign very close to my heart”
After that, there was no looking back for the National team. Big names like Anand Mahindra, leading telecom company Micromax and even the Sports Ministry took interest in the team and the players left for Kuwait to participate in the Championship by the end of March.
Apart from that, BitGiving has raised money for transition shelters in Nepal and Chennai and saved Friendicoes from shutting down. From supporting Kuntal in his dream to summit the Everest, Inderjeet Singh with his goal to win a medal at the Rio Olympics, Shabia making sure that Saba from Karachi got funds for her treatment to the community of BITS Pilani coming together for Chimpooji of Blue Moon, BitGiving has given wings to many dreams.
BitGiving has received partnership from several recognized names like RED FM, CNN IBN and the Quint . Many contributors came forward with faith that never shook and gave BitGiving the open ground to make these stories come to life.
Steps to launch a successful crowdfunding campaign
To explain how crowdfunding works and what makes a campaign a success, Ishita shared the following tips.
“First and foremost – do your research. Understand how crowdfunding works, look at other projects and campaigns and reach out to campaigners or experts to understand the realities. Secondly, be realistic – both with your campaign funding goal and your campaign duration. Make budgets, access your networks/partners and plan your campaign accordingly. Thirdly, Be persistent – a typical campaign will have its active and lull periods, know when to push harder and get the momentum back. And lastly, Have fun – let your audience know how passionate you are, it always helps.”
Ishita on taking the leap
Being a woman entrepreneur, Ishita feels that the only thing that can deter a woman from achieving something is self-doubt. It all starts when one stops questioning their ability and take the leap towards their goal. Irrespective of the gender, you are the only one that can and has to take charge. Once you visualize a dream, it’s about how you chart out your map and take on the responsibilities heads on. Ishita thinks of her journey as rewarding as she has had the opportunity to work with some great entrepreneurs. And she thinks of each one of them as the best mentor one can possibly have.
Ishita’s role model in life is her brother, who once told her, “Every entrepreneur has an internal compass that directs him/her to the right direction - call it your gut, instinct or subconscious. When the going gets tough, and when everyone is telling you what to do -your internal compass shows you the way. It’s your own sense of direction that will push you forward with conviction and will make you give it everything you’ve got.”
Ishita advises budding entrepreneurs to consider the opposing perspectives, be open to questions and introspect because the answer lies in oneself.
“If the compass directs you towards an idea or a leap of faith that is against conventional wisdom, go with it — for all you know, it’s the best decision you ever take. Disruptive companies were never made on conventional wisdom; they were made with the instinct to do something differently.”
As one of the young entrepreneurs in the country, Ishita is empowering and inspiring dreams. Through BitGiving she aims to tap into communities and raise funds to make amazing things happen.
