Launched Android app; handles 30,000 requests a day
Akosha, an online complaints redressal company, is now Helpchat, a 
messenger based personal assistant platform which will help people get things done. Helpchat is available as an app on the Android store. “We’re here to end the biggest battle of our daily lives—the one against tasks,” says Ankur Singla, CEO & Founder, HelpChat. “We started as a complaint platform, but as more people started using our service, the nature of queries changed and we realised that people were seeking all kinds of help.”
Sensing a much larger play, Akosha entered into an elaborate repositioning exercise with the Mumbai based agencies Ogilvy & Mather and Open Design. To pin down the ‘big itch’ around which the service would revolve, the team mapped the customers’ needs and queries, which in turn revealed a major theme of our world today: people are drowning in tasks and are constantly looking for help.
Kali Charan Shukla, who heads brand strategy at Helpchat, says, “We live in a world complicated by information and choice, where every little task demands time and attention. We wanted to position Helpchat as a power tool in the hands of the people – one that amplifies their ability to get things done. Our promise: Do more, by doing less.”
“We are providing a helping hand to make every day easier. Imagine if you can message your personal assistant to get all kinds of things done,” says Singla. “From deciding your next purchase, ordering a laundry service to booking a restaurant table, from tech support to locating a medical specialist – everything that is part of our everyday task list. Being a mobile app, we are fighting for precious real estate. We want to become a default behaviour. Have to get something done? Put Helpchat in action.”
Based on the realization that businesses play an important role in getting things done for consumers, Helpchat provides priority access to large brands, including major players like Aircel, Voltas, Eureka Forbes, MakeMyTrip, Bookmyshow, Oyo Rooms, HDFC Life and Spice Mobiles. More than 100 local businesses in Bangalore (Kormangala and Indiranagar) across categories like grocery, fitness, laundry and beauty are using this app to help their customers.
Helpchat is completely free for users. To answer the customer’s queries, Helpchat has built a team of 600+ experts. “We are also using NLP/AI to automate the answering of these queries. Currently, more than 25% of the 30,000 daily requests are handled by a chatbot” says Vishal Chaudhry, CTO,Helpchat. Helpchat (then Akosha) had raised Rs.100 crores from Sequoia Capital two months ago.
