While we were pursuing Engineering, we built a Customer Query Bot on WhatsApp for Reliance Mumbai Metro as a side project. We used the same technology to create a WhatsApp Store for Medical Supplies (Covid-19 specific). We observed massive usage and interactions on WhatsApp. This made us realize the potential of WhatsApp. Our consumer insight was, "If people can buy products on WhatsApp, they can buy services too."

Q2. What prompted you to start working on Paperplane and execute this idea?

To validate our hypothesis, we reached out to 200 doctors in 10 days to understand if there was merit in our thinking. Close to 70% of these doctors were willing to use this product if we ended up building it for them.

Q3. When did you realise the need to raise Venture Capital - Seed funding?

We doubled down on 10 doctors as pilot users to try out our beta. As a team of 4, we were able to build an MVP but needed more engineering resources to create a fully-fledged product that could be scaled. We had the initial team that could work as interns and part-time employees, but we required a little capital to pay them salaries and stipends. That's when we understood that external funding would be necessary to scale quickly.

Q4. How has 100X helped you at the beginning of your journey?

As 4 college students who hadn't even graduated, we had no experience in running a company. We had what one could call a "Paper Napkin Idea" and practically no sense of how to scale a product into a business. 100X provided us with the initial capital as well as an understanding of how to run a business. The best part was that the process was tailored to Indian companies. Most literature on building a startup comes from the West, but Indian markets are fundamentally different. It requires building an intuitive understanding of how to navigate through challenges. 100X helped us grasp what is important and what is not. This has been one of the most significant learning experiences to date.

Q5. What challenges did you face & how did you overcome them?

Paperplane is a product for clinics and hospitals, used by doctors, clinical staff, and administration. The primary user being the doctor, their needs do not match in multiple cases. For instance, the needs of a nephrologist will never match those of an ophthalmologist. Hence, one must consider these differences before making product and sales decisions. It parallels FMCG or E-commerce companies where each category requires dealing with its own set of problems and solutions. After a few iterations, we understood that the tech stack needs to be customisable for different therapeutic areas, enabling us to scale without technical debt.

Q6. What stage is Paperplane at present?

Currently, Paperplane has 5000+ independent clinics and enterprise clients like Apollo 247 and Beato. We've managed over 600,000 patients and countless doctor-patient conversations on WhatsApp. We're starting to observe inbound traction from areas beyond healthcare that share similar business use cases.

Q7. As founders, what are your goals for the next 1-2 years?

Our goals for the next 1-2 years include achieving 1 Million ARR by the end of this financial year, launching in the US markets, and introducing our full-stack enterprise offering with built-in Gen AI capabilities.

Q8. What keeps you motivated & keeps you going?

The Indian economy is rapidly growing, with India's GDP at 3.5 trillion. Strong factors position us for high growth over the next 20 years. India is transitioning from a third-world country to a full-scale economic powerhouse, much like China but 15 years behind in terms of numbers and scale. This translates to exponential growth in consumption and production. Global companies are setting up bases in India, making it evident that new businesses will thrive here. Keeping all these factors in mind, one can persist until they find the right product and market fit.

Q9. Your message for Startup founders building in the same sector?

The ability to create opportunities even in times of duress is the most critical aspect of building a startup. Anything can change – the government might introduce new taxes, the underlying technology you're using could be repriced, potentially affecting your margins. Antifragility, the ability to grow during shocks, volatility, and attacks, will prevent your demise. If you're the last person standing in the ring, there's a high probability you've emerged victorious.

About Devansh Swarup:

Devansh was working as an intern in Product and Marketing roles during Covid-19, while still pursuing an Undergrad in Computer Science and Engineering at that time. He understood that his friends, with similar professional experience, had enough competency to launch and scale a product. When they finalised the idea of "Paperplane," he quit his other roles to pursue entrepreneurship. 100X.VC came in before he even graduated, kickstarting his entrepreneurial journey.

At Paperplane, Devansh leads Product, Sales, Customer Experience, and Investor Relations. He is an avid reader, and most of his free time is spent reading anything he can get his hands on.