About GoCoop
“ Benefitting Weavers and making handloom accessible ”
GoCoop is an Indian organization committed to the socio-economic development of self-helps(SHS) and co-ops with the help of technology innovation. GoCoop.com, India’s online based global platform enables Handloom and Handicraft co-operatives and artisans in connecting directly with Buyers.
In detail..
GoCoop leverage information technology to enhance their operations aiming towards mutual synergies and other socio-economic entities across various sectors. In simple, Marketplace brings the producer organizations of weavers, artisans to market their production online by a significant reduction in the cost of marketing and to drive more efficiency and transparency in the Craft supply chain. The organization bolsters national and international Buyers including retailers, wholesalers, designers, brands and consumers in sourcing hand-made fabrics and crafts straight through producers resulting in a better price for buyers and sellers.
The root cause of GoCoop
GoCoop is founded in 2011 by Siva DeviReddy, Bengaluru as its headquarters. Siva DeviReddy graduated in Industrial Engineering and Management Systems from Arizona State University. Devireddy spent nearly 14 years in IT and Business Technology with large corporations like Exemplary Inc and Accenture. Siva once happened to visit his village in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. There he saw the distress of the weavers where he happened to see the miseries differently. Interaction with the weavers made him realise that the problem is not in the production or the quality in producing, it’s in the inability of finding the perfect avenue to market their products in a lucrative manner leading to the involvement of middlemen and other authorities making them drive extreme poverty. The dots he connected to solve the issue from the grassroots has been successful due to his previous working experience.
Devireddy spent the next two years consulting Regional Institute of Cooperative Management, Bengaluru and other grassroots organizations to understand the challenges and developing suitable strategies. Finally, in 2012, GoCoop was born to connect Indian handloom and handicraft producers to domestic and international consumers using the technology as a prime source.
How different is GoCoop business model from others?
GoCoop took initiation in bridging the gaps and aiding a sustainable life for the producers. The organization believes that technology is the only source can drive social change and established in 2012 as the first online, transparent and easy source platform in India.
Siva explains that the organization differs in quite a few such as focusing only on bringing producers online not retailers, the organizations supports both B2B and B2 sales undertaking bulk orders from the producers and thereby increasing their income levels.
The organization shows no difference in pricing, and they share the same price which weavers quote them. The charges of the commission are 12-15 percent which is taken into consideration by the weavers. Every producer receives payment within two working days in contrast to 15 working days on other e-commerce portals. If the payment is through B2B transaction, they ensure with a 30 percent advance, and the balance is paid soon after the product is delivered.
Funding
GoCoop raised a total of $70K with 5 investors namely Indian Angel Network, Kris Gopalakrishnan, Unitus Ventures, Saha Fund and Nitin Singhal funding the organization. The total annual revenue of the company is $5M.
Competitors
Craftfurnish, FleAffair.com, and Handmade Artists’ Shop, madeitmyself are the leading competitors to the GoCoop.
Weaving the growth way forward
Since the launch of the GoCoop online marketplace, it has on-boarded 44 clusters, 285 coops which have approximately 70,000 producers in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Orissa.
GoCoop has delivered more than 10,000 orders to over 11,000 registered buyers which is a good sign for a social enterprise building a sustainable model. The organization works with large groups like Aditya Birla and Reliance. According to Siva, GoCoop efforts resulted in an increase of 15% in income for all their weavers and artisans. The company aims to be another Amazon or Flipkart for handloom and handicrafts.
