Brian Hoskins

Director of Mobile Startups, Microsoft Corporation, Silicon Valley, CA

Chachii is solving a critical need around linking India’s vast labor market to the emerging middle class who have a rapidly growing need for personal services.  In the last year, India’s middle class spent an estimated " 1778 cr. ($362 million) on unskilledlabor services for a growth rate of almost 9.5%, yet a vast labor pool remains underused.  Given that mobile and SMS is reaching pervasiveness even among India’s poor, there’s an opportunity to improve how people find and discover services.  Chachii has built a simple web interface that allows people to bid on services, set criteria and spending limits, and schedule an appointment.  On the employee side, they are working with local reps and SMS to recruit and fill the employment slots.  By focusing on frequent, recurring services, and creating density by locality, Chachii has an opportunity to capture share of a rapidly growing segment.