 "Business of elections: Here's how some startups are cashing in on nation's poll fever")
India’s entrepreneurs have been quick to capitalize on the ‘dance of democracy’ gripping the nation for the last year of so.
The_Times of India_today reports that several election-related startups have emerged just in time to leverage on the ongoing 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
A large number of these newbies focus on number crunching, real-time information analysis and voter education. The article highlights ventures like that between Bangalore’sSM Netserv Technologies and Springboard Public Relations, which helps candidates effectively plan campaigns by providing booth-level analysis.
Others like Frolle and Simplify360 focus on social media metrics, while Political Quotient works with candidates, once elected, to strengthen the connect between representatives and constituencies.
Marrying technology and voter education is the main mandate of several enterprises like iForIndia and Vebbler and Ask How India ,online citizen engagement platforms. Grassroute India helps facilitate interactions between candidates and their electorates to allow open discussion and questioning.
Since the youth makes up a significant share of the voters this time around and given that this demographic practically lives on their smartphones, innovators have developed apps that let citizens get the latest information about their candidates at the swipe of a finger.
The_Times of India_has also reported that initiatives like the Association for Democratic Reforms’ Election Watch Reporter that allows users to report code of conduct violations with a photograph. There is also Grassroute India’s mpConnect that gives voters contact details of various MPs.