VALET PARKING, ON THE GO

K evin Thakkar, 17, from Mumbai participated in the Mumbai leg of the YEA! contest and won second prize for a business idea called My Valet. “I noticed that most traffic jams were caused or worsened by illegal parking or drivers waiting in idle vehicles,” Thakkar says. “I conducted an online survey of about 200 adults and found that about 80% were willing to pay for an on-the-spot valet service like the one I was planning to offer.”

Kevin is designing an app that will guide car-owners to the nearest valet point, where waiting chauffeurs will take charge of and park their cars.

“I won Rs 40,000 for my business,” he says. “I plan to launch in May and I will approach tech and app-based companies for investments too. I have started talking to valet providers in Mumbai about costing and other matters.”

“I loved Kevin’s idea,” says Namita Thapar, CEO of Incredible Ventures, the Indian franchise of YEA! USA. “It came from his personal experience and offers a workable solution to an India-specific problem. We have made investments in the ideas that are given highest rating by the expert investor panel. The prize money is seed funding to motivate our budding entrepreneurs.”