When the founder of DesiPedia, Rahul Bajaj, moved to Australia in 2009 to pursue his higher studies, he observed and realised that pretty much everyone from the sub-continent miss their festive celebrations, the warmth of meeting other Indians and indulging in their delicious local cuisines. It is the reason why the Indian population in Australia, which stands at almost 700,000 has recurring needs for everything Indian around them. It includes everything from food, clothes, decor, spices, services and events!
A sizable chunk of the Indian diaspora has a strong sense of community and are eager to connect with other desis or compatriots. The city-based Facebook Groups are filled with messages from desis who would like to mingle with other Indians or set up play dates for their kids. A few of them are also keen on doing business within the community. For instance, it makes more sense for them to hire Indian party planners as they would know everything that goes into making an event more fun for Indians. Similarly, new mothers often prefer Indian babysitters because of the cultural influence that they can have on their kids.
While the need to engage with fellow Indians is strong, there has been no platform to address it. To fill this void, Rahul developed a vision to help the Indian diaspora feel more connected and bring everything Indian under one platform. So in 2016, he founded DesiPedia, an app to knit the community closer in a foreign land.
DesiPedia app is an easy one-stop destination where users can find Indian restaurants, stores, events, religious places, Indian communities or home-based services near them. With its smart integrated features, the app is also a great tool for Indian businesses which allows them to list and promote their products and services using a simple and user-friendly interface and get instant access to thousands of Indian customers around them.
Available for use in all major capital cities of Australia, the app also helps people to chit chat, search for jobs, housemates or even share recipes. With DesiPedia on mobile phones, people can now connect with other Indians with just a few clicks. The platform is an effort in the direction to make the Indian community stronger than ever.
Since its launch, DesiPedia has an active user base of about 5,000 across Australia and over 8,000 Indian businesses and service providers.
“Initially, we were focused on the Perth-based Indian community as we were developing our platform features and services. In mid-2020, we launched in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide and have now started to gain traction among the Indian community here,” says Bajaj.
“DesiPedia is a comprehensive application providing a platform for “anything Indian” around you. We are focused on specific Indian needs and make it very easy to explore Indian restaurants, events, services, community, places of worship, jobs, recipes and accommodations. These things are harder to explore on the web as they are very generic and not tailored around Indian needs,” adds Bajaj.
Set up largely by the founder’s own equity, there is a growing interest from startup investors to make DesiPedia a ubiquitous app. A point of pride for Bajaj, who says, “We welcome investors and partners who share our vision for DesiPedia.”
With the app market exploding, what makes DesiPedia stands apart is its comprehensive application providing a platform for “anything Indian” around you.
DesiPedia is available for Android and iOS
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