

I'm Nehul Malhotra, Co-Founder & CEO at GenWise. Ask me anything!
Hi Grapevine,
I'm Nehul Malhotra, Co-Founder & CEO of GenWise. We're on a mission to transform how India's elderly community connects, engages, and thrives in the digital age.
After spending several enriching years at McKinsey & Company and Paytm, I found myself drawn to a challenge that hits close to home for many of us - how do we help our seniors embrace technology while maintaining their independence and social connections? This led to the birth of GenWise, where we've built 'Connect', a unique platform that combines secure UPI payments with meaningful social interactions.
What excites me most is seeing how technology can bridge generational gaps. In just 19 months, we've grown to become India's largest club for elders and senior citizens, with over 1.2 million elderly users finding new friendships, confidence, and independence through our platform.
Whether you're curious about building products for underserved demographics, transitioning from consulting to entrepreneurship, scaling impact-focused startups, or learning from experiences at leading tech companies and consulting firms - I'm here to share my journey and insights!
Ask me anything, I'll be back at 7:30 PM to dive into our conversation! :)

You mentioned transitioning from McKinsey and Paytm to focus on elderly tech. What was the defining moment that made you realize this was the problem you needed to solve?

This question is very close to my heart. I come from a middle class family and saw my parents working hard to feed me. When my career started, giving them comfort in all ways was primary objective and to an extent, I delivered on it. However, as my parents were growing older, I realized that comforts were secondary and all they wanted was more of me and my time - whether its to just talk or fix their netflix or do their online payment. That was the defining moment and last 2 years have been amazing

Hello-
Thanks for doing this.
Since you're dealing with senior citizens here. How do you go about designing your app? I understand they're not the most tech savvy tg.
What are some interesting user behaviors that you discovered via data or interviews?

We target young elders (50-70 years) and 65-70% folks in this segment know how to use a smartphone. Remember, smartphones in India are 20 years old and hence, a generation has grown old with it. Problem is they mostly use YT, WA and FB because none of the other apps make UI which is tailored to them. We have taken few unconventional calls since day 1 to make it the UX more suited e.g a) all screens on app have an audio coachmark, b) color choices, c) handling of app even when default font size on the phone is big
With regards to user behaviours ,we have observed that retention on all metrices is directly proportion to age. With increasing age, conversion becomes tough but retention becomes easy. On a lighter note, we get lot of 1 ratings on playstore because our users think its 'Rank 1'
Lots more to write but some other time :)

Hi Nehul,
I hope you’re doing well. I have a couple of direct questions, as I’m curious about the space you’re working in:
- What is your revenue model?
- Following up on the first question, do you think senior citizens in India are ready to pay for such services, given their psychographic profile? From my perspective, seniors who are willing to spend on these offerings often already have a strong social circle. In that context, how does Genwise fit into their lives?
- Would love to chat with you - let me know if you can share your credentials.
Best wishes

Hi Akash. Given below is answer to your questions:
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Revenue Model - We are micro-transaction based company and charge for our features beyond a certain usage. Our app works with combination of free and paid features and each user has a choice to decide whether to want to only use free features or elevate to paid features
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I will give you an idea of psychographic profile of our users through a real life situation. Before starting GenWise, we ran a survey and got 250 responses from young folks and 250 from elders to one question - "what should be there in digital app made for old people". We were surprised that there was no commonality between responses of two cohorts. While young folks highlighted utility and emergency services like plumber, ambulance, vital measurement etc, elders said picnics, meet-ups, games.
I believe we have a big stereotype towards our elder generation and believe that all they need is 'healthcare' or allied services. We must remember that our target segment - Generation Wise (50-70 years) has also grown old with smartphones over last 20 years and their behaviours could be as social as ours.
Happy to chat - I am on nehul@genwise.club

Hey Nehul - as traditional joint families decline in India, how do you see technology platforms like GenWise evolving to fill the emotional and social support gaps while respecting cultural values?
Building trust is important. Was going through website - this says expert advices. Are these Saathis’ medically trained therapists? How do you ensure or moderate quality of conversations?


Our saathi's are not medically trained. They are experts in offering emotional and mental support to Indian elders and go through rigorous onboarding and selection process. Our Saathi's come from elite backgrounds like School Head-Masters, Lawyers etc
With regards to moderation, we have a real time in-house LLM to analyze calls and highlight any mis-happenings.

Not sure what problem you solve. And why money has to be associated with elder people ?

We solve the problem of loneliness and have also ventured into digital payments. We are a company which serves purpose but also tries to make up for itself. Hence, we charge money for few services :)

Hey Nehul, thanks for the AMA
Building for a consumer that's not as smartphone adept must be quite the challenge. How did you guys figure how your product should be? How does testing with your user work in your case?

Hi Nehul, is it true that old people today are lonelier than ever and many have been abandoned by their children?
How did you personally think about building in this space. Would love to know your story

Today, majority of elders are lonely. Check this - https://www.livemint.com/news/india/over-65-elderly-feel-lonely-amid-rising-adoption-of-tech-among-youth-survey-11658557665962.html
However, nuclear families are not the only reason and loneliness can get triggered due to multiple trigger like retirement, loss of partner, falling behind on current trends etc.
Since, elder loneliness is not a deep rooted problem, solutions also have to be non-medical :)

Hi @NehulMalhotra, great concept which is needed. How did you raise the initial funding? Or did you use your own capital? If you can give a brief about funding it would be helpful.