Gatoes, a kashmir based hyperlocal platform emerges as themostdownloaded app in J&K

 February, Jammu & Kashmir: Gatoes, one of the only food delivery apps has seen its consumer base grow to 180K, a 3X growth in a year. Gatoes’ success story is one of a kind in the tech industry. When most apps cite low bandwidth in the age of 5G for poor performance, Gatoes is operational and booming in full swing. It becomes the fastest startup in North India to touch a million-dollar revenue benchmark in just seven months.

In a region that is mired with political instability and poor internet connectivity, the application has grown exponentially, clocking over 750k deliveries and providing employment to over 150 people, further helping the society to grade up.

According to Jibran Gulzar, Founder, of Gatoes, “Our primary mission has always been to build a tech product that benefits all stakeholders – users, merchants, and riders. While most hyperlocal players charge high commissions from their merchants and pay low wages to riders, for the sake of profitability, our merchants can choose between commission-based, or charge-based models, while riders are paid competitive salaries.”

Gatoes has taken a unique approach to its stakeholder management. Restaurant owners, who prefer a predictable, fixed cost for listing their restaurant, can opt for a fee-based model. The company also provides reasonable discounts rather than hefty ones, at the cost of the restaurant owner’s loss.

Commenting on the impact Gatoes has created, Jibran stated, “We, as a startup are trying to demonstrate that startups, even in Jammu & Kashmir, can succeed against multiple odds – whether political, internet, or weather instabilities. This mission is evident in our efforts as we have been able to create jobs for over 150 people and established ourselves as a successful startup in a challenging environment.”

The application has been profitable, and that too, after prioritizing the well-being and financial security of their riders; which is definitely an important chapter in the history of hyperlocal startups. It plans to expand its wings to 15 states and employ over 5000 people by 2024. And with these initial achievements, Gatoes appears well-positioned to achieve the same.