In 2015, entrepreneurs Narendra Firodia and Rahul Narvekar launched India’s first WhatsApp based digital magazine, LetsUp. Now an app, it provides the latest updates in entertainment, national and international news, technology, lifestyle, health and more in English, Hindi, Marathi and other regional languages. That their partnership is clearly a winning one was proven when this app recently won the AatmaNirbhar App Award under the ‘AatmaNirbhar Bharat App Innovative Challenge. Now, they’re testing new waters in the OTT stratosphere with Letsflix, a streaming platform for Marathi movies, web series and original content. The two decided to opt for a Marathi platform based on the fact that the majority of the users of LetsUp are Marathi speakers and that there exists a gap in the market for Marathi OTT platforms. They plan to launch Letsflix in 2021.
Apart from being a successful entrepreneur, Firodia has also produced Marathi films such as Aga Bai Arechyaa 2 and Triple Seat (pictured above). Narvekar, who started out as a scriptwriter with Anurag Kashyap and Vijay Mourya strapped on his start-up shoes by founding Startup Studio, an incubator for Marathi entrepreneurs that mentors and invests in potential startups and the India Network, a platform for people from startups to connect and collaborate.
