By Jose Kavi

New Delhi: Jees Kariyil and his elder brother Jeevan were excited to win an award at the second edition of SuperStartUps Awards, a platform to recognize the most loved start-ups in Asia.

“No word to define the moment!” gushed Jees, co-founder of Joboy, on his Facebook page on May 30 after receiving the award for the best Startups in the Asian continent.

The second edition concluded on May 30 at India Habitat Centre in New Delhi.

SuperStartUps debuted in 2016 with a vision of providing credible value to its winners that would differentiate it from other startup competitions. It is an award chosen by netizens of the world because the success of a startup depends on how resonant its product is among the masses.

With this vision, SuperStartUps undertook extensive research to ascertain the array of companies that were creating buzz and making impact. In 2017, the SuperStartUps India Awards celebrated companies changing the Indian startup landscape. This year, the same awards have expanded to other countries, recognizing excellence across Asia.

In an unprecedented online election comprising over 15,000 reviews from across Asia with 100,000 questions answered on different parameters, the SuperStartUps Asia finalists were decided. SuperStartUps Asia recognized and felicitated deserving companies in the segments like fantasy gaming, artificial intelligence, fintech among others.

Jees and Jeevan founded Joboy Uncomplicated Life that is now making waves in southern India. Jees through email shared with Matters India about their new venture.

Congratulations for winning the Super StartUps Asia award. How do you feel now?

Thank you! It feels great, especially when you are based in the small state at the southern end of the country and still are recognized with such awards. This is true recognition of the efforts and hardship that goes into conceptualising and building a startup

What is the award about? Can you briefly explain about it? Who gives it?

SuperStartUps Asia is a badge of honor for the most innovative and customer friendly startups of the Asian start-up world. The SuperStartUps awards are not presided over by any panel of judges but by the citizens, or rather Netizens, of India and neighboring countries. Thousands of ‘voters’ in and around the subcontinent choose the online brands they love, through online polls. For brands this is an invaluable opportunity to be recognized for the effort they have put in, for their quality control standards, for all their value additions and for all the things that make them stand apart. For consumers, the SuperStartUps title signals trust, reliability and an innate recognition that the brand is at the top of the pyramid

These awards are given by the SuperStartUps Council, formed by a group of industry leaders from advertising, Media, Angel Investing and successful entrepreneurs.

How many contestants were there this year?

The awardees are chosen from Startups across the continent, so I guess more than 6,000 startups.

What is Joboy? What does it do?

To put in simple words, JOBOY is a platform providing services and repairs to customer by using most recent technology. The technology platform, integrating a mobile application, website, and a backend system, connects customers to nearest background verified customers. Our service model ensures that customers receive services at the location they choose, at their convenient time, while ensuring low cost and customer safety. So we take away the pain of finding the right service provider, constant follow ups with them, the waiting time, bargaining for the correct rates, and the fear of them doing something wrong. We also provide a warranty to the customer based on the type of service, so customers can be assured that we send the right person for the job.

You are a co-founder? Who are the other founders?

JOBOY was founded by my brother Jeevan Varghese and myself

When did you start this? Why did you start it?

We started working on the concept of http://joboyworld.comJOBOY at the end of 2015 and launched a tested technology platform in July 2017. We wanted to make sure that the technology was tested well, and we made it user friendly before it went to the customer

The idea behind JOBOY comes from our own experience. We all find it difficult to get a repairman when you need them the most, especially in case of emergencies. Even if you find someone, the wait is long and you end up paying a heavy price, while not being sure about the skill of the person. This is a very unorganized sector in India, and to get people who are skilled/semi-skilled together and to make them break their traditional way of working, is a difficult task. It is from this experience that JOBOY was born

How has been your experience?

It has been a great experience, and the acceptance and feedback we received from customers proves that we are on the right path. It is not an easy journey to set up a startup and make it successful. We have had our share of hardships and we believe we still have a long way to go before we can say that we are successful. Winning this award is icing on the cake

Could you briefly explain about yourself? Your family, studies, earlier jobs

I have done my MBA in operations and worked with NPCI before we started working on JOBOY. I live in Kochi with my parents who have been very supportive in this venture. The same amount of support has come from my siblings and their families. There are family and friends who supported us financially too, while we were busy building JOBOY.

Who is your role model? What drives you forward?

There are different role models in different areas. There are people like Elon Musk, who are challenging the system and disrupting traditional ways of doing business. There are people like Mr Ratan Tata and Mr Azim Premji who are considered the epitome of business ethics. We take the best from people we see around and interact with.

Every milestone is an achievement, and the satisfaction that comes from it is the real driver. Support from people around you is also a real motivation

What are your future plans? Where will you be in five year time?

Our ambitions are big, and we plan to launch JOBOY services globally. Our immediate plans are to expand to more cities in India and to continuously innovate and make our services better. As we get through that, we will also look at the option of launching our services in more countries. We hope to become a globally recognized industry leading startup in the next five years. Fingers crossed!