What started as a Goan dream in Goa College of Engineering (GEC) has today become a reality and is churning out greenbacks and the promise of growth for IT greenhorns. Genora Infotech was incorporated in 2011 and in three years has entered foreign markets.
Initially it ventured into website developing software service and content management. Today, Genora has 40-plus engineering staff working across its Goa and Pune offices while their marketing activities are controlled from the London office. Most of the business is sourced from US and Europe. The company works with a few but elite customers in more than 19 countries globally, among which include Wipro.
Amidst competition, Genora has the edge and that was servicing. "Unlike its competitors," says their mentor Prashant Shinde, "Genora officials would call back to see their product was running and this made the difference".
They would add artificial intelligence to the products, big data services and absolute quality products. This is what differentiates the company from the competition, thus giving a fillip to Genora as it continues to climb the ladder of success.
These technologies need the topmost minds for a skillful execution and Genora is best in the business, says Milind. "However, high costing for this expertise has forced the company to explore global markets since there is a limited customer base nationally.
Innovations, as Genora believes, are initiated at college level. "Innovations will happen where minds are fresh and can think that they can change the world. The company has been working closely to support our young engineers to explore their ideas in developing unique softwares," says Milind.
Apart from the above project, Genora is working on developing a crowd sourcing mobile application which has been funded by some of their global investors. Android and iOS app Beta versions for this concept is expected to be launched in mid-2015 in Goa, Pune, Silicon Valley and Israel, following which the company plans for a global launch by end of 2015.
Realising the fact that sourcing global business was the need of the hour, Genora expanded in London in September 2012 in order to primarily source the European business. Eventually, it also tapped business from over 19 nations. Further, as the need for manpower increased, it also decided to expand in Pune in November last year.
Working with few elite and repeat customers has been Genora's core strategy. The company believes in growing with clients and working together in the long run. Core services include enterprise mobility, web services, cloud migration and IT consulting.
"The marketing team primarily looks out for hardware and other allied service companies wanting to expand their business in to new verticals by providing add on software solutions. For instance, companies wanting to venture into production of Android phones could possibly look out for partnering with Genora for software customization and maintenance or organizations willing to outrun the competition with intelligent software systems that provide insights for decision making," says Milind.
Genora's clients also include education, healthcare and finance, where the company's core expertise lies. "We have also been working with M-Governance, FMCG and retail, manufacturing, logistics and the entertainment segment, he says.
Innovations and ingenuity is what Milind Prabhu is made of. During the four-year IT degree course, he would put what was taught into real-time practice of developing websites and softwares. His IT acumen actually took off in 2009, in the second year of college, by developing website for small establishments, data entry softwares, invoicing and what clients ordered.
He was getting contract after contract which were too much for him to handle so he invited his colleagues. They would charge Rs 5,000 – 6,000 for a product, whereas commercially these products would cost Rs 30,000 –80,000 then. On an average, Milind and his collogues would earn Rs 5,000 – 6,000 a month.
One of his early clients, Girish Bharne of Persistent, who became his mentor in Verna Industrial Estate, was so pleased with Milind's software product that he spread the word, and a new IT avatar was in the making in Goa. "After graduating in 2011, along with a colleague Vishal Gaonkar, we took the plunge to go on our own by incorporating Genora Infotech in Goa," says the 24-year-old. Armed with a dream and a vision, today Genora Infotech earns foreign exchange. Genora also hosts free consultancy sessions for college students wanting to develop their software fantasies into reality. The company strongly believes that the nation's young generations will spark the technical revolutions globally.
In recent times, Genora has been spending maximum resources and time on Research and Development (R&D) activities. Its R & D department has been developing speech and voice synthesis modules which will act as a learning curve to their human mind synthesis project.
He says although much cannot be disclosed about some of the projects, it is certain that the company is going to be working very tightly with funds supported by well wishers. It intends to open up for funding globally only after completing the first prototype of its new product which is in the company's R&D.
Milind, a first generation entrepreneur, wanted to make it big in Goa and also set up an example that IT can also happen from Goa. Ideas can also be cultured and services delivered across the globe.
Genora was established in September 2011 and incorporated in Goa. The company further expanded in London and Pune. The name Genora was coined from two different words, Generation and Aura. Generation signifies the tech savvy future and Aura is the positive energy it generates around.