If you are a fan of Bollywood movies, you’d have come across Shadi Mubarak, a wedding planning company set up by young protagonists in the Hindi movie Band Baaja Baaraat. The startup helps families organize big fat Indian weddings. Bangalore based eVibe, wants to be Shadi Mubarak for the tech savvy.
Launched three weeks ago, eVibe.in, is an online portal to find the right vendors for weddings, corporate parties, birthdays or celebrations. The site simply acts as an aggregator connecting vendors with customers. Though the startup does not take bookings on client’s behalf, it does so in some special cases or when the client is an NRI. 
The portal has tied up with more than 100 vendors, majorly in four categories including photography, venues, catering and decoration. Users need to input their preferences such as dates, type of vendor, budget etc. The recommendation engine’s automated preference matching system selects the best vendors in database and offers suggestions in a week’s time, based on customer’s specifications. Complete portfolio of the vendor is provided, making it easy to compare and select.
eVibe is more than an online directory like Shaadionline, which simply gives contact details of vendors or wedding management software’s like Shaadi-e-Khas. The startup provides vendor information based on user’s preferences and likes, which helps in saving time and effort at user’s end. Just contact the recommended vendors and select from them.
Since the launch, the website has witnessed more than 1000 visits and has acquired four customers using the system to find and book vendors. The firm charges a fixed commission from service providers for each booking.
With eVibe, B Anjaneyulu Reddy (or Anji) and B Swathi, plan to disrupt the unorganized market for finding vendors. According to Reddy, “In India total amount spent on party vendors alone is $2.5 billion and with an average of 5% vendor commission, total market size per major city would be: around $16 Million”. These are huge figures and the startup plans to take a share of this pie.
The portal which currently offers its services in Bangalore plans to expand to other cities in coming days. It also aims to launch a “Qualitative Review System”, based on feedback given by customer after using the services of a vendor. Like Bharat Matrimony, the company wants to expand its presence through non digital mediums like stalls and brick-mortar stores in future.
The Indian wedding industry is estimated to be about Rs 1,50,000 cr in size growing at 25% year on year and online services like SayShaadi.com are tapping the opportunity to make the whole process this simple and easy.The site operates on a marketplace model where users can post a requirement for which vendors can bid.
Investors have also been active in the space.Wedding Planning Portal, BigIndianWedding raised funding from a privately held Indian business family recently. Myshaadi raised its first round of funding from the Indian Angel Network last year.
This Startup Coverage is part of NextBigWhat’s ‘India. Get Independent. #StartupCampaign’, supported by Canaan Partners and Shopify India. During this campaign, NextBigWhat will profile upcoming Indian startups. If you want to have your startup featured, please submit details here.]