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askLaila co-Founder Mr Kiran Konduri

Archana Venkat

Chennai, Jan. 2

He calls himself and fellow co-founder Mr Shriram Adukoorie as ‘overheads’ and his 20-strong team of engineers as ‘working capital’.

Mr Kiran Konduri of askLaila.com, a Web site aiming to be a one-stop local information service, has been hopping cities last week, —“in connection with our launch in the four metros in the next 3-4 months” — he told Business Line.

The Beta version of the site, launched four months ago in Bangalore, has been generating enquiries by thousands, he said showing his inbox.

Unlike other start-ups focusing on local search, askLaila does not buy or use data on places of public interest from providers such as Infomedia and Yellow Pages. Instead it employs agencies to obtain data from scratch and verifies for 99 per cent accuracy.

askLaila is targeting a 22-city presence in one year and has already established partnerships with data mining agencies in these cities, Mr Konduri said, without disclosing the current database strength.

The company has designed a 4 to 48-field comprehensive information sheet for recording data. For instance, information on a nightclub would include not just the name, address, telephone number and the nearest landmark but also what music it plays, whether stag entry is allowed, cover charges, car parking, cuisine served and DJ information. Additionally, user reviews and other relevant information would be available.

“It took us 6 months to figure out how not to collate data,” Mr Konduri said.

Currently, the Web site has information classified into 384 categories including Zoroastrian temples and paying guest accommodation – all focused on the consumer and not enterprise.

What is more, askLaila’s search engine filters in all common Indian English usage to give relevant results. “Nokiya periyarity daler”, “get a haircut in Koramangla” and “0 g” were some expressions that yielded accurate results on Nokia Priority Dealer, beauty parlours in Koramangala and Zero G (a pub), respectively.

The company expects to generate revenues through local advertising opportunities on the site and will start seeking ads from next year, Mr Konduri said.

“We expect to break even in the next 2-3 years,” he said. When asked what were the revenues he expected from advertising, he said he could not make any projections as there was no study on the local advertising market. Information providers like Yellow Pages India charge businesses Rs 50,000-1 lakh per ad per location, he added.

“But we will have to work out a business model for advertisers. Some may pay us merely to stay on the site while others might pay us for securing leads, or on the basis of sales,” Mr Konduri said.

AskLaila, part of Four Interactive Pvt Ltd, has completed two rounds of venture capital funding raising about $12 million so far from Matrix Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners and SVB India Capital Partners. This is expected to fund its expansion plans.

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