There are many prodigiously bright officials working for India’s Civil service, but one super-smart decided to leave a promising career there and start a Fin-Tech Real Estate company, RedGirraffe.com. It’s now worth millions.
Meet Manoj Nair, Founder & CEO.
Background
Manoj comes from an Army family background. He was born in Bangalore and bred in New Delhi. The bright spark holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering, is a gold medallist in Masters in Law, an Ex- Indian Civil servant and a high merit alumnus of both the London School of Economics and Harvard Business School.
About the Company
RedGirraffe.com technologically integrates with all the leading banks in the country where it operates and facilitates tenants to pay their monthly rentals (to their landlords residing in India or globally) using credit cards. They do this at a low cost of 0.39% via a financial technology platform named RentPay. India is the first country where RentPay has launched. Banking integration in Europe and Africa is currently underway.
Early influences
Manoj Nair says, “The growing up days were hard. We had limited resources so we were subconsciously trained in being clinically disciplined, organized and efficient. During the summer holidays, my friends and I would distribute newspapers in the army-housing complex for cash. At Grade Ten, I tutored junior classes. I wanted to break the shackles of financial hardship.” Manoj variously became an Electrical Engineer, an Energy Entrepreneur, a Civil Servant in India, and a Managing Director at an Asset Management Firm in London. Now he’s an Entrepreneur again; this time using cutting edge financial technology, bridging the gap between two mega sectors; Banking and Real Estate.
The Indian Civil Service
The Indian Civil Service exams are some of the toughest on earth. There are 700,000-odd candidates applying every year. “I was 26 then and was reasonably successful, leading my energy venture. We were a team of 80. I knew the captive power plant business was getting into a competitive space. Around that time, a few friends were preparing for this prestigious exam. Meeting them exposed me to a wider possibility of learning.” Manoj had by then accelerated his energy venture, and was looking for a much bigger challenge.
“I was intrigued by this examination and the massive commitment required to ace it. I knew I was taking a big risk but guess I was ready to start all over again. My strategy was to take three synergic subjects instead of the conventional two. Mine were Masters level Anthropology, Psychology and Sociology. I ended up with an All India rank of 157 and was among the top rankers of the civil service interview in the year 2005.”
The Indian Civil Service gave Manoj insight into various businesses, related regulations, corporate functioning, legislative policymaking and matters related to international economics. But after seven years with government, he knew it was time to move on. He thus resigned before the President of India in February 2012.
Teething Problems
Redgirraffe.com took four years of pre-launch work with seven different business model experimentations. “We just kept failing endlessly. The technology had to be right. We were to manage big financial transactions, so the technology stack was critical. Then there was hiring the right talent, the technological integration with all the largest banks, global corporate relationship unlocking, coordination with regulatory bodies, legal, enterprise structuring, investors, etc.”
No wonder Manoj turns to the book Abraham Lincoln by James M Mc.Pherson for inspiration.
How does RedGirraffe.com work?
“Tenants can now pay monthly rental to their landlords using their credit cards at 0.39% without having to share any credit card details with a third party website. Our patent pending platform facilitates this. We have launches planned for seven more product platforms; one every year hereon in. We partner up with few of the largest banks in every country where we launch and cooperate, rather than lock horns, with financial institutions. Tenants get cash redeemable reward points, a 45-50 day free credit period, retail brand discount offers initiated by banking partners, a dashboard to manage their rentals, month on month rental payment advice. Finally, with a better credit score, tenants can potentially avail of cheaper home loans (by over 1% in India, for instance). Landlords get bank-verified tenants, rental payment credit triggered by banks and with that, no more tenant-related hassle,” the articulate Manoj explains.
The Challenge?
“We needed early consumer adoption,” the brainbox says. “Reaching out to pan-India customers would mean a massive cash burn on advertising. However, unbelievably, India underwent demonetization just about that time. With the government’s massive drive to arrest cash transactions and lead India towards an era of transparency via digital payments, we found ourselves in just the ‘right place at the right time’ digitizing the government’s biggest concern; Real Estate-related cash transactions,” says Nair.
“The massive initial consumer traction level tells a story. It’s the word of mouth publicity that’s playing in our favour. That said, I hold a considered belief that we have barely got started,” says Manoj Nair.
