Startups are emerging rapidly as this nation’s youth have shifted their perspective to become independent of foreign nations for almost everything. In recent years, Nepal has seen many start-ups rise and turn into successful businesses with considerable revenue. Also, Nepal is a country that has thousands of problems, and the youth are using the opportunity to find innovative and unique solutions to those problems that are financially beneficial. This startup has reached various potential sectors, including tourism, agriculture, technology, renewable energy, service, and education. Now Accordingly, I have created a list of the top 10 emerging Startups in Nepal, which are listed below:
- FitBox Nepal: Eat Right Eat FitBox
Fit Box is a subscription-based food delivery service agency that delivers food from hotels and restaurants to customers’ doorstep. The founder of Fit Box is Denim Shrestha, a fitness enthusiast. When he started his gym routine, Denim felt the lack of a platform that could bring enthusiasts like him healthy meals; therefore, after intensive market analysis, he grabbed the opportunity. In May 2018, he launched Fitbox Nepal.
There are many similar startups in the market. Still, Fit Box is unique with its feature that enables its customers to plan their diet and pick the meal plan that works best for them and use ingredients that are high in quality, such as olive oil, whole wheat for bread and pasta, and brown rice. Their goal is to deliver healthy meals made with natural ingredients and love. They offer five different lunches and meals – Low calorie, High calorie, Keto Meal, Basic meal, and Deluxe Meal at different rates for a minimum of 15 days of subscription. Customers fill out forms to relay their demands for diet preparation to FitBox.
Fitbox’s CEO, Denim Shrestha, revealed that in the early days, he received 30-40 orders per day, and now the numbers have increased to more than 150 subscribers per day on average. Denim started his startup with Bootstrapped funding, i.e., a personal saving of Rs. 300,000 and an additional Rs 1.5 lakh borrowed from family and friends. For now, there is no competition with Fitbox, and they are using that as their competitive strength. The customers subscribe to Fitbox through their social media sites such as Instagram and Facebook, direct phone calls, and emails. Now they are also in the process of making their website so anyone can subscribe anytime.
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- Yatri Motorcycle: Silently Bold
Electric Motorcycle usage in Nepal has now been enlarged, thanks to Ashim Pandey, Founder of Yatri Motorcycle. It is an electric automotive tech company that has launched two products in the Nepali Market; The Project Zero and Project One electric motorcycle.
Ashim always wanted to design exotic cars at a European car company which he did, but on a trip to Europe with his cousin and now business partner, Batsal Pandey, Asim shared his desire to start a design studio in Nepal. In 2017, Ashim and Batsal launched Yatri Motorcycle with a vision and objective to provide no-compromise e-mobility with zero carbon emissions. Both of his bikes are made in keeping in mind the road of Nepal. These bikes barely cost NPR 0.3 per km, while other combustion engine motorcycles cost 20 times more. Yatri was built with a Bootstrapped fund method. Ashim is optimistic about Yatri’s future and believes that it has started a wave of change in the electric motorcycle trend in Nepal.
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- Heli Everest
Heli Everest is a private limited company that provides service to their customers to travel high altitudes, with experienced pilots and safety teams. Nepal is a country with enormous and beautiful mountains, which is one of the main tourist attraction points. Keeping that in mind, Lhakpa Gyalzen Sherpa decided to start a commercial Helicopter service in 2016 under the Air Operators Certificate issued by the government of Nepal.
Its main objective is to provide those valuable customers with exemplary service and experience and operate effective and immediate rescue flights in every emergency and disaster to save lives. In addition, The company runs under the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. The board of Heli Everest consists of Lhakpa Gyalzen Sherpa as Chairman, Mingma Sherpa as Vice Chairman, Phurba Gyaltsen Sherpa as Managing director, Rakesh Bhakta Bade as Board Member, and Sonam Sherpa as Board Member.
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- Portal Bikes: Bicycles That Empower
Portal Bikes is a company that designs powerful bikes created to transport loads in its oversized cargo area along with a smooth commute. When travelling in Nepal, an avid mountain biker, Caleb Spear, fell in love with its beauty. Once during his trip to rural Nepal, Caleb came across people removing corn kernels by hand and thought it was very time-consuming, so he came up with the idea of PTO, Power Take Off, a small machine that operated with its pedal power. In 2016, Caleb started the company along with his company director Emily. The bike’s body parts are imported from Taiwan and then sold in Nepal, which makes it more affordable.
The vision and objective of this company is to create the most innovative and adaptable bicycle in the world. The bikes can cost nearly Rs. 40,000, which is not considered affordable for bikes in Nepal. However, the company is surviving with its US-based subsidiary.
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- Bikalpa Art Centre: A Contemporary Art Platform
Bikalpa Art Center is a social enterprise for like-minded people who prefer to share knowledge, experiences, and products. Bikalpa Art Centre was recently established as Bikalpa Art Foundation In 2022. Mr. Saroj Mahato and Mrs. Mahina Singh founded and registered the Nonprofit organization with the Ministry of Industry, Nepal government. They are the founder and co-founders of the Bikalpa Art Foundation with the vision to provide an alternative common platform to people of one mind. The industry creates a safe place for artistic people and provides them with a platform to reach their customers.
Bikalpa Art Foundation has conducted various events such as residency programs, international exchange, workshops, art exhibitions, and local marketers. As they have become an established centre, the Bikalpa Center Foundation is also giving local and international artists, entrepreneurs, social enterprises, and start-ups a platform to come together and share different ideas with common goals.
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- Doko Recycler
Doko Recyclers is a social enterprise that manages and recycles dry waste. Their main goal is to clear the waste dumps that are of no use to environmental protection and convert them into valuable resources within Nepal’s economy. In 2017, Kushal Harjani, CEO of Doko Recycler, along with Raghvendra Mahato and Runit Suria, established Doko with the vision and objective to develop a green economy and sustainable future for Nepal by reducing, reusing, repairing, repurposing, and recycling.
Doko has created a model in which they segregate the collected waste into different categories before putting them into their waste stream. They believe in intelligent sustainability and want to reduce household, institution-level waste from becoming landfills. As a result, today Doko has 35 dedicated teams, has reached 4000 households and 123 sustainable partners, and has recycled 14,000,000kg of waste.
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- Mheecha:
In 2016, Nishan Bajracharya, Partik Shakya, and Anish Bajracharya came together to create a backpack revolution, Mheecha. The word, Mheecha comes from the Newari language, meaning a pouch. The founders viewed the extensive use of fashionable, durable, and affordable backpacks and decided to launch their brand. Mheecha delivers bags for every age group, but most customers fall in the age group of 18-35 years old.
Mheecha is determined to become the bestselling backpack in Nepal by providing world-class standards and quality. The bags are simple and minimal in design with durable standards and provides more than 50 unique colours. The team is currently planning to about 70-80% of the market, which is challenging to maintain because of dominant imports. Likewise, Anyone can order a Mheecha backpack through their Instagram, Facebook, and website or visit their shop at Durbarmarg.
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- Hatti Hatti Nepal
Hatti Hatti is a nonprofit organization formed to empower women of relegated communities by teaching them skills and educating them. In addition, Priya Sigdel, a Nepali actor and president of the organization, has taken a step toward fighting gender inequality. In 2014, Priya Sigdel, Bhushan Pyakurel, Abita Karki, Sulav Baral, Bijesh Ranjit, Dharma Raj Giri, and Rumi Raj Bhandari founded Hatti Hatti to give the ladies a stable source of income. They also focus on the sustainable growth of women’s communities and environmental preservation.
The organization runs classes for women to teach them skills to earn stability, such as Tote bags, bow ties, cushions, jeans pouches, headbands, scarves, Kimonos, and many more items. They are helping women become skilled tailors, creative entrepreneurs, and independent individuals. Hatti Hatti helped upcycle the old sarees and make them sellable in the market.
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- Brocade
Brocade is a clothing brand that pioneers Nepal’s modern fashion at an affordable price producing comfortable wear. A fashion designer, Alisha Gautam, who dreamed of pursuing a career in fashion, gathered the courage and launched Brocade in 2020. Alisha says her mother was a massive support in the business and has made her first venture in her memory. So, From a young age, she used to tailor and design dresses for her friends and family.
Brocade has two different Ventures; Okasan and Brocade. The first Venture, Okasan, is the premium version which is only affordable by some and has a high price range, whereas Brocade is affordable, comfortable, and preferred by everyone. In Nepal, the customers could be more picky regarding clothing; if Brocade were to sell clothes at the price of international brands, the customers would be more likely to choose international brands. Therefore, Brocade is focusing solely on becoming the number-one brand in local clothes and covering the market. Likewise, those who want to buy premium clothes are also welcomed wholeheartedly by Okasan. However, even though the price differs, Brocade and Okasan do not differ in the quality of their products. They have successfully opened stores in Pokhara, Chitwan, Marajgunj, and Pulchowk. Moreover, They also sell their products through social media sites such as Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, Mail, and websites.
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- Mad Honey
Mad Honey is a Nepali startup founded by Travel enthusiast and blogger Sanjay Kafle in 2019. During research on bee hunters in Nepal, Sanjay came across the Nepalese Gurung tribe members who climb mountains, risking their lives to retrieve the purest form of Mad Honey. The bees collect nectar from the white rhododendron Ericaceae family in the breed of Apis, and their honey is intoxicating and relaxing when taken in small quantities. Also, Mad Honey is certified by the government of Nepal’s Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development and is regulated under the guidance of the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control.
Mad Honey offers honey tours and expeditions, including Honey-Hunting, Trekking, and Camping Trips. They also export mad honey on international platforms and are gaining a good response in the market. Sanjay believes his company helps the local honey hunting places by including them as tourist attractions and creating a stable source of income for the livelihood in the Himalayas.
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Nepal has many other startups now making their way into the market. And in the future, Nepal will have enough successful businesses and companies to become less dependent on foreign products and services. These emerging startups are doing well and contributing a great help to Nepal’s economy. We are full of innovative and immensely talented youth with both desire and opportunity for growth. Nepali entrepreneurs and investors can significantly impact the country with proper support and resources.