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hen Rahul Bajaj arrivedinAustralia as an internationalstudentin 2009, hefoundit was achallengetoidentify servicesthatfulfilled his Indianneeds,agoodtiffin serviceor immigrationlawyer.

A chat with fellow MBA studentatthe University of Melbourne, Vineet Singh, sowedthe seedforastart-up: a mobileappthatwould provide thisvery infonnation.

Tenyearslater,wellintotheircareers asn1anagementconsultants,Vineet and Rahullaunched DesiPedia, aplatfonn thatprovides informationabout Indian servicesatyourlocationin AustraJia.

"There's noother consolidatedplatform that tieseverything Indian here in Australia,"Vineet Singh told Indian Link."Ouraimisto provide a sin1ple,sn1artandeasyto-usetool that lets you quickly find •orpost-any Indianservice you 1night need."

Yourfirst stopatDesiPedia mightbesearching forbusinesses orservicesin grocery orrestaurantsorplaces ofworship,orcommunity groupsorIndian events, or perhaps renting orbuying property, oreven findingjobs.

"The coreofitis to buildupon theinherent trust thatexists within theIndian community, with aview towards mutual promotionin business, oratleast1nutual networking," Vineetdescribed.

He added, "DesiPediais agreatopportunity particularly forhome-based businesses,a sectorwhichwe haveseen rise impressively in recentyears-caterers,producegrowers, photographers,party planners, fasruonproviders,art classes,foodtrucks. Findthese businessesonourapp, orifyou area provider, thenco1nelistyourself. Withour credible,trustworthyreviews, we hope tobe providingthe usersavaluableservice, asweUas help these independent, individualenterprisestoget theword out aboutthe1nselves."

Businessesandservice providerswhochoosetolist, willown thedata theirlisting generates, andwill manageit themselves.

DesiPedia'spush notifications are anotheruseful feature."Ifa particularcommunity association hasan upcomingeventfor exan1ple, we will be able tosendout a notificationto thoseinterested."

Theuserbaseoftheappisjustover 5000atthemo1nent,con1inginlargelyvia its social mediahandles. "We're also reachingoutvia comn1unity associations,interestgroups,localbusinesses, andsmall business,offeringthemvisibility,"Vineetrevealed. In thepipelineareservicesforinternational studentsorientation services, assistancewith settingupetc. "We're hopingtoreachoutto themeven beforetheyarrivein Australia."