NANNIES ON CALL

“A year ago, my mom had to travel abroad for work, our maid stopped coming and I saw my dad struggling without help,” says Gurgaon boy Avi Dayani, 13. “I came up with the idea for an app called Shanny, or Short Service Nanny.”

Avi is now in Class 7 at Shri Ram School and his friend, 12-year-old Nakshh Kohli, is his partner in this business.

“We did a survey in the neighbourhood and were surprised to find people will pay Rs 1,000 per two hours for an educated babysitter,” says Kohli. “We have fixed on Rs 700. We will take a commission.”

Residents’ associations are helping put together a list of babysitters, mostly college students and grandmothers. “We’re asking for government ID and references,” Dayani says. The app is aimed at nuclear families where both parents work.

The idea won the first prize of Rs 50,000 at YEA! India. The boys will register their company and launch a beta version of the app in March. Radhika Aggarwal, founder of e-tailing site Shopclues, has also invested Rs 25,000.

“What caught my attention was that Shanny aimed to solve a very persistent and age-old problem,” Aggarwal says.