Indian Entrepreneur Ready to Take on Facebook

Indian Entrepreneur WorldFloat ready to take on Facebook, Twitter

I read this news in the morning today and was proud to find out that one of our Indian entrepreneur is ready to challenge the world with his innovation and leadership. Social networking is growing popular day by day and another addition is WorldFloat.com, a site which is virtual replication of real life in motion. Check this interesting story by Shobha.

Imagine being in Chandni Chowk and floating over to meet someone in New York. Or playing a virtual game and making money. Or advertising in a billboard in any city. Futuristic? It's already happening on WorldFloat, the only Indian social networking site. With one lakh sign-ups daily, it could seriously challenge Facebook and Twitter in the months to come. Pushkar Mahatta (37), its founder, says when he started the site last June, he got 12,000 sign-ups the first month. Today, it has 7 million users. "By December, I hope to have 30 million users. Presently, 80% are from India. We're in 1,600 cities and hope to scale this to 43,000," he says. Venture capitalists have offered up to $300 million to buy him out, but he's not selling. The idea is intriguing. WorldFloat works on Float technology which allows users to virtually float to different cities and connect with people by tapping the photos moving around. "It's not confined to groups like Facebook is. There is versatility of movement and cultures here. One can also put messages on the world wall and get a global response. Most users are men and women wanting to meet each other. Interestingly, women from smaller cities too are approaching men," says Mahatta. "And it is secure, as we have systems in place to block out offensive words." Surprisingly, Mahatta is not a Facebook user, though he uses elements from top websites for WorldFloat. There are also sections on travel, health, movies, etc. It also offers virtual billboards for advertisers in any city, making the revenue model a surefire success. WorldFloat's winning mantra, however, is Treasure Hunt, a virtual game which allows people to make money. Users have to notch the maximum points as they click on 100 denomination currency notes floating around. After each session, a winner will win Rs 10,000 if he has bought a Rs 100 ticket through WorldFloat. Otherwise, he'll get up to Rs 1,000. While Rs 100 is small change, it can reach humongous proportions if many play. Interestingly, Mahatta, a philosophy and psychology student from Australia, is into real estate in Delhi and Gurgaon and mining in Rajasthan. He admits he was always good with money. A voracious reader, Mahatta reads at least 10 tech blogs every day. So focussed is he that he retreats to a quiet nest everyday to put on his thinking cap. The idea for WorldFloat came to him after he read Steven Johnson's book "Where Good Ideas Come From", which talks of liquid networks. "I immediately saw people as bubbles. I then recruited some of the best IT engineers to put together this unique float technology which was hard to code," he says. Mahatta says any idea which is unique, has worldwide connectivity, is inexpensive and marketed well, will be successful. He has big plans. He wants to start brain games, an online education university and virtual shops. And eventually, fund innovative ideas. "There are many in India with brilliant ideas but no funding. I want to change that." Will he eventually be India's Mark Zuckerberg? News Courtesy: Shobha John TNN
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