Content365BlogFrom the founder
Made in India AI startup: why we built Content365 for India's shop owners
Made in India AI startup Content365's founder on building for Indian shops: festivals on the right day, Hindi captions, and ₹3,999 including GST for a year.
By Divyaprakash Jha, Founder & CEO, Content365
Say "AI startup" and people tend to picture a glass office, a pitch deck and a product made for other tech companies. When my team and I picture the person we build for, we see a kirana counter: the weighing scale, the open sacks of rice and dal, the notebook of regular customers' accounts, and a phone that keeps ringing with orders for home delivery.
Every day that owner plans to put something on the shop's page, and most days the hour never comes. Ask around for help and the quote arrives as though a page that stays alive were some grand undertaking. I run a made in India AI startup, and that owner is the reason it exists. I want to explain what "made in India" means to us in practice, because for us it is a list of design decisions, not a sticker on the box.
A decade of building, turned towards the counter
The four of us at the core, Vaibhav Jain, Vikas Jha, Zeeshan Khan and I, go back ten years. Our first work together was Python software; later came machine learning, and after that AI, all of it for commercial clients.
Over that decade we noticed the same thing again and again. A small business that wanted help with social media was quoted several thousand rupees a month, so it often did without. A grocer, a dentist, a tuition centre or a mithai shop needs to be noticed and remembered just as much as a national brand, yet it has far fewer ways to manage that.
For ten years we have built AI and machine learning systems for commercial clients. Content365 is the first time we have put that work directly in the hands of the shop owner, the doctor and the teacher.
It makes me proud that Indians built this to solve something so Indian. That pride is not a dig at anyone else, since excellent software comes from every corner of the world. It is about knowing our customer closely, down to the festivals they decorate the shop for and the language they bargain in.
The Indian year runs on its own calendar
Indian trade moves with the seasons, and customers move with them. A generic tool tends to treat every month the same way. We decided our calendar had to start from the Indian year.
That is why Content365 places Indian festivals, and the financial year, on the days they actually fall. Diwali moves between October and November, and your greeting is waiting well before the crowds arrive. April's new financial year gets a post of its own. None of it depends on your memory.
If you run a grocery store, this is roughly how the year looks from behind the counter, with the kind of post that fits each stretch:
| Time of year | What your customers have on their minds | A post that fits |
|---|---|---|
| January | New Year plans, the harvest festivals, Republic Day | A New Year greeting, til and jaggery for Sankranti, a respectful Republic Day post |
| February to March | Holi, exams at home, the end of the financial year | Holi snacks and colours, quick meals for exam weeks |
| April to June | A new financial year, the summer heat | A thank-you for the past year, cold drinks and summer staples |
| July to August | The monsoon, Independence Day | Stock up before heavy rain, home delivery hours, a greeting for 15 August |
| September to November | Navratri, Dussehra, Diwali, cleaning and gifting | Dry fruit and sweet boxes, cleaning supplies, the Diwali greeting |
| December | Christmas, the year's end, winter | Baking supplies, winter staples, a thank-you to your regulars |
Then add the days that belong only to you: the shop's anniversary, the local mela, the market's weekly holiday. Keep them in a diary and share a photo from the counter on those days, next to the planned post. It tells people that the shop belongs to its own street.
Your trade will have its own version of this table. Our festival calendar for business posts goes through the year season by season, and our page of kirana store marketing ideas has a weekly plan made for grocery shops.
Hindi is part of the product, not an extra
Stand at a kirana counter in much of the country and the conversation is in Hindi, or in an easy mix of Hindi and English. A page that speaks only English is talking to some of those customers in their second language.
That is why each day in Content365 includes a Hindi caption, next to separate ones for Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and X. You pick the one that suits the moment, or use both. Here is a simple way to put them to work:
- WhatsApp Status: use the Hindi caption. Your Status reaches your saved contacts, often the neighbourhood regulars who already talk to you that way.
- Instagram and Facebook: use the English caption, or pair it with the Hindi one, for a wider mix of customers.
- Festival days: lead with Hindi. A greeting reads warmer in the language a family celebrates in.
Our guide to Hindi captions for business posts goes deeper into when to choose Hindi, English or Hinglish.
Priced in rupees, for Indian budgets
The price was an India decision too. Paying an agency or freelancer often runs to several thousand rupees a month, and for a small shop that becomes a monthly choice between the page and the stock. We wanted a number an owner could plan for once and then stop thinking about.
Why yearly, and not monthly? Because a shop already thinks in years. The books close once a year in March. The Diwali stock is ordered weeks ahead. A yearly price fits the way a small business already plans its money, instead of adding one more bill to chase every month.
Content365 is ₹3,999 including GST for one brand for the whole year. That works out to about ₹11 a day, and there is no monthly bill. Each extra brand is the same ₹3,999 including GST.
We want every independent business in this country to get the quality that big brands get, for ₹3,999 including GST for the whole year.
I mean every business, not only the ones in the metros. A mithai shop in a district headquarters, a hardware store beside the highway, a clinic up the stairs from a chemist: every one deserves a page as polished as a city chain's. Our sample library spans 25 industries, kirana stores and dental clinics among them, along with jewellers, builders, transport firms and software companies.
The format is built for the way India shares, too. Every post is one 1080 x 1350 image with a square-safe centre, so the same picture works on WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and X. You can use Content365 in a browser or on Android, with a reminder each morning at 9 am.
What being made here does not change
Being an Indian company is not, by itself, a reason to trust us. These are the reasons I would offer instead.
The page stays yours. Each day waits in a private gallery until you have seen it, and you are the one who posts it. Content365 never puts anything on your pages.
Your logo is never redrawn. The image model is limited to painting the scene, without any lettering. The studio then lays your real logo, business name, phone, website and offer on top, character for character as you entered them.
Every picture is checked. A vision model inspects each picture for stray lettering and other faults, and each day gets up to three attempts. If a day still fails, you receive it anyway, clearly marked with a warning.
Nothing is invented. No rating, testimonial, award or statistic is added unless your business has confirmed it.
Your contact details are protected. Before any model reads your text, phone numbers, e-mail addresses and WhatsApp links are stripped out.
These are not exciting lines for an advertisement. They are, I hope, the reasons a shopkeeper can depend on us. You can see each step on how it works.
Frequently asked questions
Is Content365 an Indian company?
Yes. Content365 is an Indian AI studio that I started together with Vaibhav Jain, Vikas Jha and Zeeshan Khan, our core team. We make it for Indian businesses, so Indian festivals and Hindi captions come as standard.
Does Content365 plan Indian festivals?
Yes. Your calendar carries Indian festivals and the financial year on their actual days. Festivals such as Diwali move from year to year, so the calendar follows the actual year rather than a fixed list.
Are the captions available in Hindi?
Yes. Each day includes a Hindi caption as well as captions for Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and X. You can use either, or both together.
Will it suit a kirana store outside the big cities?
Yes. Kirana stores are one of the 25 industries in our sample library, and the posts carry your own shop's name, logo and phone number. Where your shop is does not change what you get.
How much does it cost, and is there a free plan?
One brand is ₹3,999 including GST for the whole year. The free plan gives you 2 posts for your brand every 48 hours without paying anything, and you can see pricing for the full details.
Built here, for the counter on your street
For me, made in India boils down to one plain idea: whatever the town, an independent business ought to be able to appear on its customers' phones each morning. If you run a shop, try it with your own brand first. Sign in with Google and start free, and when you want the whole year ready, choose the yearly plan.
