Scaling Mobility and Community: Insights from sRide at DevFest Pune
DevFest Pune has always been more than a tech conference—it’s a celebration of ideas, technology, and the people building the future. This year, the founder community came together for a powerful session on “The Founder’s Journey: Scaling, Strategy, and Building Pune’s Startup Ecosystem.”
sRide’s Co-Founder & CTO, Amit Agarwal, joined an inspiring panel alongside leaders from OneCard, Partex.AI, and HyrGPT, moderated by Mahaveer Muttha (Birdvision). For sRide, this wasn’t just another panel—it felt like a homecoming to the city that helped shape our journey as India’s largest community-led carpooling platform.
More Than Just a Ride: Building a Social Movement
Amit shared a key truth behind sRide’s story: this was never meant to be “just a transportation app.” The goal was always bigger—to solve a daily human problem using technology, and to do it in a way that builds community and trust.
“Events like DevFest are where stories connect, ideas merge, and future collaborations begin. Our journey at sRide has been about turning a transactional commute into a social connection.” — Amit Agarwal, Co-Founder & CTO, sRide
Scaling to millions of users across India required far more than writing code. It meant designing for trust, safety, reliability, and real-world behavior—especially during peak commute hours, unpredictable traffic, and daily usage patterns. Through every phase of growth, the mission stayed consistent: making office commutes more affordable, more social, and less isolating.
A Simple Founder Framework: Painkiller vs Vitamin vs Sugar Candy
One of the most practical moments came from a common audience question: “How do we validate an idea before putting years into it?” Amit shared a simple filter that founders can apply early:
- Painkiller: Solves an urgent, real problem people already feel. These ideas have the highest chance of success because users truly need them.
- Vitamin: Useful, but not urgent. It can work, but you need strong differentiation and clarity on why people should care now.
- Sugar Candy: Nice-to-have, trendy, and easily replaceable. The market is often crowded—so think twice before investing serious time and energy.
The message was clear: don’t just chase excitement—chase real user value.
Why Pune Is Central to sRide’s DNA
Pune has a unique mix: a massive tech workforce (from Hinjawadi to Magarpatta) and a culture of collaboration. Amit highlighted how Pune’s early adopters helped validate the mission and push sRide forward.
Here’s what Pune made possible for sRide:
- Networking on Wheels: Turning dead commute time into conversations, relationships, and professional growth.
- Sustainability in Action: Fewer cars on the road and lower emissions through shared rides.
- A Culture of Sharing: From sharing code at DevFest to sharing rides on sRide—Pune thrives on community.
Pune-based companies were also among the first to see carpooling not just as a convenience, but as a workforce mobility strategy. These early corporate partners played a critical role by sharing feedback and real-world insights that helped sRide fine-tune features for working professionals.
The Hidden Benefit: Employee Wellness
Beyond cost and convenience, Amit spoke about one of the biggest outcomes of carpooling: reduced commute fatigue.
For many professionals, daily travel is mentally exhausting—traffic stress, solo commuting, uncertainty of cabs, and long waits. Carpooling changes that experience. Teams arrive less stressed, more relaxed, and often more connected—because the commute becomes a value-add, not wasted time.
In a city where “time is code,” sRide aims to make the commute feel lighter, social, and more predictable.
Join the Conversation
Whether you’re a founder building the next big thing, a techie looking to learn from the ecosystem, or a commuter searching for a smarter way to reach office—we’d love for you to be part of the movement.
Ready to find your community on wheels? Download the sRide app and turn your next commute into a connection.