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Mobisy has clients such as Reliance Entertainment & Nokia

There was a time when mobile applications were developed only for smart phones. Now, even low-end phones sport apps that are fun to use and give access to information at the click of a button. Mobile startup firm Mobisy was among the first to tap this large segment.

“We have shown that this is the fastest way to develop your app, and then be able to run it across any of the various platforms like Windows Mobile and Android,” says Lalit Bhise, chief executive officer of Mobisy, or mobile made easy. Traditionally, an application used to take around six months to develop, or even more, depending on its complexity and sophistication. Now, on Mobisy’s platform it takes just two weeks from start of development to its completion, a remarkable improvement, which is the USP. This time saved, simply means more money, which is why the platform named Mobitop has been selling like hot cakes.

The success today has, however, come on the back of some risk-taking acumen. “It also was about the belief I had after working for some years developing software,” says Bhise, who graduated with an engineering degree in 1999 from Walchand College of Engineering, Sangli in Maharashtra. He then worked with various companies, including Wipro Technologies and Siemens. He got some good programming experience when he worked for a couple of years in San Diego and then, for another couple of years, in Birmingham in the UK. While working for Sendo Mobiles, he was exposed to the latest in mobile technology. By 2004, Bhise had decided it was time to make the move back home.

“I was eager to start something on my own as I was aware of the work I wanted to do. I understood the market and had the ability to lead a team,” says Bhise. Mobisy was born in December 2006, with just two employees. Even now, in four years, the team is just 15 people. “We mainly need people to maintain the technological edge that we have,” says Bhise.

“Our platform uses standard technology. So, the publisher of the apps need not know anything about mobile platforms. He can just use existing computer platforms,” says Bhise. And best of all, the publisher can develop the app for any platform he chooses, which makes this very efficient. This is the product they started selling in 2006 and still remains their flagship. Revenues have grown to around Rs 1 crore and the next fiscal should ring in the first million dollars (Rs 4 crore).

The good part is that their clients, like Reliance Entertainment or Nokia, have stayed put, as has the core team. The company has enough to cover its operational expenses, so the new funding is set to go towards scaling up abroad, in Europe.

Mobisy is already looking for $1-2 million funding to develop new products. They also need quality manpower to create a first in India—a whole new app store, which currently only companies like Apple, Nokia and Blackberry have. This one will be with a difference that it will offer apps targeted only at Indians, which means work in more regional languages and games that make use of local cultures and geographies. “That will be our great leap forward,” Bhise says.