{"id":23778,"date":"2022-09-19T18:40:33","date_gmt":"2022-09-19T13:10:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.instamojo.com\/blog\/?p=23778"},"modified":"2023-05-16T14:13:33","modified_gmt":"2023-05-16T08:43:33","slug":"instamojo-product-timeline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.instamojo.com\/blog\/instamojo-product-timeline\/","title":{"rendered":"10 years of Instamojo: Product timeline"},"content":{"rendered":"

A somewhat complete history of our first decade.<\/em><\/p>\n

2022 marks a special year for Instamojo: it’s our 10th birthday! \ud83c\udf89<\/p>\n

10 years of powering MSMEs across India and revolutionising the eCommerce world.<\/p>\n

Fun fact: Instamojo started as a side project. Looking back, it’s hard to believe that a small idea evolved into a brand that is spearheading the eCommerce revolution in India.<\/p>\n

Since birthdays are a time of reflection, to mark this occasion, we wanted to share a list (a highly incomplete one) of milestones in Instamojo history over the past decade.<\/p>\n

\"instamojo<\/p>\n

2012 – Setting up Instamojo<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In September 2012, Instamojo was co-founded by Sampad Swain along with Akash Gehani and Aditya Sengupta.<\/p>\n

It all started with Sampad\u2019s first project, Instastartup.com, a blogging site. He had trouble collecting funds online, which led him to understand the problem of online transactions. He brought in the idea of a payment gateway that can collect payments online and started working on it as his side project.<\/p>\n

The name of Sampad\u2019s blogging site \u2018InstaStartup\u2019 eventually inspired the name \u2018Instamojo\u2019 which means instant magic. The rest is history.<\/p>\n

From a small side project, Instamojo grew into a full-fledged enterprise worth millions of dollars, employing over 150 great minds, and supporting thousands of small businesses across India.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here\u2019s a look at what the first Instamojo logo looked like:<\/p>\n

\"instamojo<\/p>\n

When we designed our logo, we wanted it to be simple and have a sense of inclusivity to it. It\u2019s a symbol of our belief in growth and moving forward. The two colours used \u2014 mint green and navy blue \u2014 represent trust, empathy, reliability, and transparency.<\/p>\n

2013 – Launched Payment links<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In 2013, Instamojo introduced its flagship product \u2014 payment links<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With this product, merchants could sell digital products such as courses, eBooks, and templates directly to their customers by sharing a link.<\/p>\n

When a customer clicks on the link, it would lead them to a landing page which contains information about the product. They can make a purchase easily on this page. Customers can choose from payment methods of credit cards, debit cards, or net banking.<\/p>\n

The biggest advantage of Instamojo payment links was that they needed no integrations. Generating the link is a no-hassle process and merchants could share the link across socials or embed it on their websites.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here\u2019s what the old Instamojo home page looked like:<\/p>\n

\"instamojo
Instamojo – old home page (2013)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

2015 – Payment processing and simple online store builder<\/strong><\/h2>\n

By 2015, Instamojo established itself as a payment processing company, enabling businesses to start making transactions and sales within minutes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We stood out from other payment gateways because we innovated, localized & customized our products a lot. Without much physical paperwork, mandatory API\/technical integrations, ad-hoc requirements, and mandatory requirements of the website, sellers can just get started.<\/p>\n

The best part \u2014 they don\u2019t have to wait for weeks or months to start making sales.<\/p>\n

The same year, we also launched a milestone product \u2014 an online store with zero costs<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

With the domain instamojo.com\/{{username}}<\/em> merchants can get a ready-to-host and ready-to-market online store. They can start adding their catalogue, set pricing, and even add a brand logo. Here\u2019s a screenshot of a demo store:<\/p>\n

\"demo
A demo store<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This free store version is the predecessor of the current premium online store builder on Instamojo.<\/p>\n

2016 – Instamojo app store<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As our audience evolved, we understood that they needed more products that can be seamlessly used in their store without technical integration. This led to the launch of the Instamojo App Store<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"instamojo<\/p>\n

Instamojo users can access it directly from their dashboards. The app store has a suite of apps where you can subscribe to any app that will make your job simpler. Some apps are free, and some are paid. You can purchase credits from the Appstore to pay for them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

2018 – 2019: Launch of capital & logistic products, re-branding<\/strong><\/h2>\n

2018 was a huge milestone for Instamojo. We started laying the foundations for non-payment offerings.<\/p>\n

Instamojo underwent a major rebranding process and introduced two new products specially designed for MSME growth \u2014 MojoXpress<\/a> and MojoCapital \u2014 a shipping product and working capital product, respectively.<\/p>\n

To mark this milestone, we decided to change our brand identity to be more inclusive and represent how we evolved from just a payment gateway to a full-fledged growth gateway for small businesses.<\/p>\n

\"instamojo<\/p>\n

The \u2018i\u2019 in the Instamojo logo is designed to represent innovation. Navy blue symbolizes how we power small businesses with the best solutions.<\/p>\n

By this year, we also reached 500,000 sellers across India.<\/p>\n

In 2019, we launched MojoVersity<\/a> \u2014 a free online learning platform designed for entrepreneurs, the first of its kind. It has courses created by experts in different fields which can be accessed by anyone.<\/p>\n