How an Indian Startup Built a Circular Toy Economy Trusted by 7,000 Families

In 2021, when most young parents were worrying about screen time and overstimulated toddlers, Sourabh Jain was struggling with a problem closer to home: toys. Not the lack of them, but too many of them. His daughter would adore a new toy for days, sometimes just hours, and then leave it untouched forever. Meanwhile, the pile of unused toys kept growing. The cost kept rising. And the environmental guilt kept deepening. “It struck me that parents don’t actually need more toys. They need smarter ways to play,” Jain recalls. “Like books from a library or shows on Netflix, why couldn’t toys simply rotate?” That insight led to the birth of EleFant, India’s first tech-enabled toy subscription platform. Today it is quietly building one of the most transformative consumer models in childcare. A New Category in the Making: Play as a Service EleFant allows parents to order, play, and swap premium development-focused toys anytime through a mobile app. Each toy is deep-cleaned, sanitized, quality tested, and recirculated from company-owned operational hubs, ensuring reliability and safety for children. The experience is simple for parents but remarkably intricate behind the scenes. It involves logistics, sanitization standards, inventory rotation, personalization algorithms, and durability testing. Despite the complexity, EleFant has built the infrastructure with discipline and precision. Today, EleFant operates: In a subscription-driven economy where scale often comes at high cash burn, EleFant stands out for its unit economics discipline and operational efficiency. The Impact That Goes Beyond Convenience EleFant is not only making parenting easier but also reshaping the economics of play and consumption. The platform has already: The company sits at the intersection of three rising consumer priorities in India: child development, conscious consumption, and convenience. Parent Concern EleFant Solution Kids get bored of toys quickly Unlimited swaps Toys are expensive Subscription at a fraction of ownership Homes get cluttered Toys leave when new ones arrive Sustainability matters Circular reuse of toys EleFant has positioned itself not as a toy retailer but as a sustainability-first parenting service. Trust as the Core Business Metric To build a service embedded in family routines, EleFant made parental trust its primary KPI. Rather than outsourcing logistics or relying on franchise models, the company built centrally controlled operational hubs. This decision allows standardization across: This operational control is not just a service choice. It is the foundation of EleFant’s defensibility. From Personal Frustration to Scalable Movement What began as a parent solving his own pain point is now shaping consumer behavior at scale. Jain sums up the purpose with clarity: “Every swap we enable saves a home from clutter, a parent from guilt, and a toy from ending up in a landfill. That is the change we are building one box, one child, one smile at a time.” Looking ahead, the team aims to build the world’s largest play network, enabling learning to be accessible, homes to stay clutter-free, and play to become more meaningful for every child. As India emerges as one of the youngest countries on the planet, demand for child development solutions is rising rapidly. EleFant is placing a strong bet on the future of parenting: not buying more, but playing smarter. For thousands of families already on board, that shift is already underway. About the Founder Sourabh JainFounder and CEO, EleFantA second-time entrepreneur driven by parent-inspired problem solving. His core belief: scale and sustainability can reinforce each other when the business model is designed for both.

Ticket9 Raises Fresh Capital To Expand Into Europe, Redefining The Future Of Live Experiences

In a major boost to India’s fast-growing event-tech ecosystem, Ticket9, a Coimbatore-based startup known for transforming how live experiences are managed and discovered, has raised a fresh round of capital to accelerate its next phase of growth. The new funding will enable the company to expand operations into Europe, enhance its AI-driven personalization capabilities, and strengthen its partnerships with creators, organizers, and cultural boards across global markets. Bridging Technology and Live Experiences Founded in 2022 by Yazhini Shanmugam and Santhos Premraj, Ticket9 has quickly evolved into a next-generation SaaS platform built to simplify the event lifecycle from creation and marketing to ticketing and management. Speaking on the development, Yazhini Shanmugam, Founder & CEO, said, “This expansion reflects the trust and momentum we’ve built over the past few years. From India to Europe, our mission remains the same to simplify live events through technology and connect people through experiences that matter.” The platform’s latest innovation, Ticket9 RSVP, offers event organizers the ability to run invitation-based, community-first experiences, helping them curate exclusive audiences and deliver more personalized, secure, and premium gatherings. Scaling Globally With Proven Technology Over the last two years, Ticket9 has powered thousands of events across India, spanning music concerts, marathons, corporate summits, and cultural festivals. The company’s technology has also been tested on large-scale international stages, including Anirudh’s “Hukum” concert in Malaysia, which successfully managed over 22,000 bookings underscoring Ticket9’s scalability and reliability for global deployments. “Ticket9 is transforming the events landscape with technology that simplifies, connects, and enhances every experience. The platform makes it effortless for organisers and delightful for users to discover and enjoy events like never before. Backed by a brilliant team, I see enormous potential for this platform to lead the industry,” said Nayanthara, an early backer and supporter of the brand. A Step Into Europe The company’s European expansion represents its first international chapter and a strategic step towards building a global footprint. Ticket9 plans to roll out its RSVP model to a select group of organizers in key European markets before launching more widely across India and other emerging regions. “We’re building an ecosystem that unites everyone in the live event journey from artists and promoters to brands and audiences. The world of live experiences is about to get a whole lot more connected,” added Santhos Premraj, Co-founder of Ticket9. A Growing Player In The Event-Tech Space Operating at the intersection of technology and culture, Ticket9 is part of a new wave of Indian startups aiming to digitally transform offline experiences. Its comprehensive product suite helps event professionals streamline operations, boost engagement, and unlock new revenue opportunities all powered by intelligent automation and user-centric design. With growing investor confidence and a clear roadmap for global growth, Ticket9 is positioning itself to become a leading force in the international event-tech ecosystem. About Ticket9 Founded: 2022Founders: Yazhini Shanmugam & Santhos PremrajHeadquarters: Coimbatore, Tamil NaduIndustry: Technology, Information & InternetWebsite: www.theticket9.com Ticket9 is a next-generation event-tech SaaS platform built to simplify how events are created, marketed, and experienced. Its tools help organizers streamline management, drive engagement, and offer personalized event experiences for audiences worldwide.