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Annasha

Annasha Dey is an NIT student, who apart from studying engineering is also a content writer. She has a great interest in photography, writing, reading novels, and travelling as well. She is a foodie who loves socializing and hanging out with her friends. She is also a trained Kathak dancer and a big fashion enthusiast. Dey also loves watching TV series, which includes F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and Big Bang Theory. To be a better writer she prefers to read more

Ritesh Agarwal : A 23-years Millionaire Who Founded Oyo Rooms

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Ritesh Agarwal, founder and CEO of OYO Rooms, has become a significant figure in the entrepreneurial world, after his gargantuan success. It is quite commendable for an eighteen-year-old to start a business oh his own, and make it worth millions over a span of six years.

Early life and career

Born into a small town, called Bissamcuttack of southern Odisha, Agarwal belonged to a middle-class Marwari family. He was born on 16th December 1993 and resided with his parents, until he decided to establish a business of his own. Unlike the typical Marwari families, Ritesh’s family wasn’t financially predominant, but they always supported his dreams and trusted him. From a very tender age, Agarwal had a keen interest in software and coding. He started learning beyond the limited syllabus of school and delved deeper into computer languages. At an early age of eight, he started learning to code, and by the time he was in his tenth grade, became quite a good programmer. He loved programming and wanted to make his career in it.

Ritesh Agarwal Oyo Rooms
Image Source: telegraphindia.com

Agarwal did his schooling from Odisha. Later, he moved to Kota to prepare for his IIT entrance exams. So, he was just a common head among the mass, who wanted to pursue engineering. But that never happened. He took admission in the University of London’s India campus. But after just a few days, he went on leave and never came back. He wanted a different life for himself, and the outdated studies at the college could not give him that. As they say, some feathers are too bright to be caged.

He launched a website Oravel Stays, his first start-up at the age of eighteen after he dropped out of college. The website was designed to enable customers to look for budget-friendly accommodations in various places. This was when he realized that there is a great scope of improvement in the hospitality sector and started back-packing across the country to learn and explore more and get accustomed to the realistic scenario. He also sold sim cards during the journey of his immense struggle to meet the financial needs.

After his venture of three months, he stayed in more than a hundred hotels, bed and breakfast homes, and guesthouses. He, finally, whirled from Oravel Stays to OYO Rooms in 2013. Since, he stepped into the real world from the very beginning to gain genuine understandings of how the business on his interested field works and what it lacked, the success of OYO Rooms escalated even more rapidly than Oravel Stays. He was also the first Indian to be chosen for Thiel Fellowship and was granted $100,000, as he was under twenty and a college dropout. Agarwal, in one of his interviews in 2015, said that OYO is the abbreviated form for ‘On Your Own’.

The success story of Ritesh Agarwal and OYO Rooms

OYO Rooms was founded in 2013 and turned out to be the country’s largest hospitality company. The company has its headquarters in Gurgaon, Haryana. Soon after the establishment of the company, the business expanded exponentially not only among various cities of India but also across Asia and Europe. OYO has also grown firm roots in China, Malaysia, Nepal, Japan, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom.

In May 2014, the company raised $650,000, followed by raising $24 million in an investment round led by Greenoaks Capital in March 2015. Companies like Lightspeed Venture Partner, Sequoia Capital and DSG Consumer partners also participated in the round. In 2015, another round of $100 million was raised by the company from Softbank Group.

In August 2016, the company raised $90 million from Softbank Group, Innoven Capital and other investors. This gives a clear picture of the growth trajectory of the company since it was formed.

In September 2017, OYO closed a $250 million round of funding, which was led by a new investor Hero Enterprise along with Softbank. By this time, the value of the company had reached around $850 million-$900 million, changing the face value of this Indian company across the globe. In the same year, OYO launched OYO Home to manage short-term rentals in more than 10-holiday destinations of India, and in the very next year, it launched its first international OYO Home in Dubai.

In September 2018, the company raised $1 billion, where most of the funding was led by the already existing investor Softbank Group’s Softbank Vision Fund, where participation of Lightspeed Venture Partner, Sequoia Capital and Greenoaks Capital was witnessed. The company also received a funding of $200 million from an investor the company denied to reveal the name. After this deal, the company’s value was $5 billion giving it an unexpected leap.

In May 2019, OYO announced that it would acquire a rental business (Leisure Group) based at Amsterdam.

Currently, OYO has a network of 2,200 hotels in more than 154 of India. The current CEO of OYO is Aditya Ghosh, and there the company has around 1500 employees working in various sectors to spread across the entire world to provide the best shelters to the travellers even at offbeat destinations.

Monzo: A Banking Business that Turned Out to be an Innovative Success

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In a world where technology is advancing at an exponential rate, services like online banking are quite common to people. The banking apps that are being launched these days have already been proven to be very useful, due to the ease and the various facilities these provide. With the help of those apps, we are able to pay without withdrawing cash, transfer money abroad, and what not. Monzo Bank Ltd. is one such exclusive mobile-based bank, based in the United Kingdom. Only four years to its establishment and Monzo has made a jaw-dropping profit serving more than 2 million customers.

The History Behind the Success

Monzo was launched in 2015, with headquarters in 38 Finsbury Square, London, and back then, it was known as Mondo. Currently, Tom Blomfield is serving the company as the CEO, and Gary Hoffman is the company’s chief executive and the chairman.

Mondo was founded by Tom Blomfield, Jonas Huckestein, Jason Bates, Paul Rippon and Gary Dolman. The five of them used to work in the same challenger bank (Startling Bank) before they founded Mondo. The growth curve of the company impressed everyone since the beginning, especially when Mondo made history in the quickest crowd-funding campaign, in February 2016. The company raised $1 million within a time span of 96 seconds, and hence brought some good fame and lucrative investors to the house.

monzo
Image Source: bluegg.co.uk

Initially, the company was approved to have a restricted banking license by the financial regulatory bodies of the UK, but later in April 2017, the restrictions were withdrawn. The customers of this app used prepaid debit cards until the current accounts were accessible to them, and in April 2018, the prepaid scheme was shut down.

When the company carried business under the trade name Mondo, there were many complains launched and open challenges, that there already exists a company with the exact trade name. So, without going into many grimy situations, the founders changed the name of the company. They announced the name Monzo, officially on 25th August 2016. In the same year, Monzo raised around £4.8 million through ‘interim’ funding round, followed by another £2.5 million by Crowdcube crowd-funding campaign.

From 29th September 2016, the app for Monzo was made available to the public of the UK, and those who visited the office in person were provided with private beta. So, all you needed was a mobile app and a prepaid debit card to become a customer of Monzo and enjoy the endless facilities.

One of the biggest reasons that the company turned out to be such a mammoth corporation in no time was its transparency. The official website of Monzo had a live counter which showed the rollout with constant updates.

In July 2017, all the eligible customers were welcomed to sign in for a preview of the full current account, and in October 2017, Monzo declared that it would cease the free ATM withdrawals (abroad). The company replaced it with a new system, where it provided free withdrawals up to £200 and charged a 3% fee on each transaction after the limit is over. This new scheme started working on 18th December 2017. Monzo also issued Debit Mastercard cards for all the new and existing customers who signed up for the current accounts.

In June 2018, Monzo declared direct collaboration with IFTTT, which enabled the users to connect Monzo with smart devices. The company gained more attention and fame after it spotted a Ticketmaster (An American based ticket sales and distribution company) data breach in June 2018, which had held in April 2018. By this time, Monzo had already outweighed the competitions in the market and embraced more than a million customers.

In June 2018, Monzo declared that incorporation with TransferWise will now allow money transfers globally through the app. And later, the company announced that on savings of more than £1,000, it will provide interest in partnership with Investec. In November 2018, Monzo added another feature of paying cash into its respective Monzo accounts charging £1 for every deposit. And the year ended with Monzo having an enormous win in the Crowdcube crowd-funding campaign where it held £20 million and reached the target within a few hours.

In January 2019, Monzo declared its collaborations with Flux to give loyalty points to the customers and thus gaining more popularity.

Thinking Out of the Box

Undoubtedly, there are many other tech savages out there with better versions of online banking and finest technology, but what makes Monzo so different? Everyone focuses on the victory, the team has achieved in the journey of four years, but not the strategies that made them conquer it.

The major key to their success was the vivid observations that the team made, which helped them grab the earliest opportunity to expand the business with the beginning of the digital age. By the time Monzo established its business, more than 45% of the population used net banking for their daily purpose. So, only a little or no investment was needed to promote the technology among commoners.

The company focused more on listening to what the customers suggested, to make it more user-friendly, and the opinions were welcomed through social media platforms. This played a very important role in strengthening the bond between the customers and the company. And consequently, when the referrals increased, Monzo started making its customers feel comfortable and safe.

All these brilliant policies resulted in such an overwhelming success of Monzo, making every start-up dream about its glorious triumph. Today, the company has around 776 employers providing support to millions of customers 24/7.

TechCrunch: Success Story of the Leading Online Tech Publisher

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In this era, where the world is getting transformed into a global village, every single individual wishes to stay updated about all aspects of development, including the latest technologies, new trends in the scientific world, start-ups, new gadgets, in fact, about every news related to technology. Since it is contributing to most of our expansion, the technology seems to catch most of the attention from every community and nation.

TechCrunch is one online publisher that has created a firm base on the sphere of technology reporting on the latest trends of the Sci-Fi world. Well, undoubtedly it does more than just displaying news, and is a hotspot of knowledge for every tech lover.

TechCrunch is an America-based business, which was founded in June 2005 by Michael Arrington and Keith Teare. The company has its headquarters in the Bay Area, United States.

Michael Arrington

J. Michael Arrington was born on 13th March 1970, in California. He has a major in economics and is a former lawyer, graduated from Stanford Law School in 1995.

Michael arrington founder TechCruch
Image Source: thenextweb.com

Before founding TechCrunch, he was involved with many other endeavouring businesses. He was a part of RealNames that raised $100 million in funding as a startup. He was the co-founder of Achex, an online payment company. Zip. Ca, Pool.com, Razorgator, Edgeio and Folders are some of his biggest achievements, apart from TechCrunch. He also invested in Uber, Airbnb and Pinterest.

Michael Arrington had a huge contribution to the creation and growth of TechCrunch, even though, he is no longer the CEO of the company. Arrington is well known both, as a blogger and an entrepreneur. He has absolutely changed the idea of blogging for people who are passionate about it. According to him, ‘if you have to maintain a blog you need to update it every day, which makes it very tiresome. But if it is user-generated, it will make your blog even more informative as contribution will be much higher as compared to you alone.’

Michael Arrington believes in writing posts on stories that can easily go viral without putting so much hard work. Since blogging is what changed the fate of TechCrunch, Arrington can be considered as one of the most efficient tech bloggers in the entire world. Arrington’s passion and tenacity are what brings TechCrunch at the pinnacle of its power. He has even been selected as one of the most influential people in the world by TIME magazine.

The story and evolution of TechCrunch

It all started in 2005 when Arrington posted a very informative blog about the companies that were progressing expeditiously and gaining immense success. It turned out that his blogs were gaining popularity in no time and changed the entire outlook of business reporting.

The first blog of TechCrunch was posted on 11th June 2005, which eventually led to the establishment of one of the prominent site for start-ups and gadgets. Apparently, Arrington wasn’t too much involved in blogging as he was busy starting a new company, but a few months, he was totally engrossed in it and gave it a head start.

The future of the company turned its wheel in 2006 when Arrington was the first to post about the news of Youtube being Google’s new asset. Apart from this, the newsfeeds about the gadgets added to its gaining popularity.

In 2007, the company formed Crunchbase, a platform where anyone can conduct researches on start-up companies. It maintains a database which has information of start-ups, investors, total funding, acquisitions; money rose by acquisitions, upcoming events and featured stories about latest businesses. Initially, the company had more than 50,000 contributors which crossed 2 million in 2013. The companies or even a single individual registered and accessed the facilities of CrunchBase and submitted to the database.

In 2008, the company started The Crunchies, an award ceremony that gave away awards to the best start-ups, best mobile app, and in many other categories. They thoroughly analyzed the progress of the companies throughout the year, the funding they received, and thus awarded them annually. Apart from TechCrunch, the Crunchies was sponsored and hosted by blogs like GigaOm, VentureBeat and ReadWriteWeb. This helped the company grow even rapidly as it lured start-up companies from around the globe to see where they stand, study their competitors and not to mention the desire to win awards. In 2017, the company announced the discontinuity of Crunchies.

In 2010, the company was taken over by AOL which wield the sceptre from 2010-2017 followed by Verizon Media which is the current owner of the company.

In 2011, Arrington made his mind to resign from the position of the editor of the company as he faced disagreement with his decisions of starting Crunchfund (to invest in tech start-ups).

In 2015, the company declared that the Crunchbase is no longer a part of TechCrunch.

One of the most powerful tools of TechCrunch is the Startup Battlefield, a platform provided to the new start-ups at the annual tech conference, TechCrunch Disrupt hosted by the company. It allows all the new minds to sign in and share their innovative ideas with the investors, media and other parties to gain money and publicity. Now, who doesn’t want that? The exposure gained through it is priceless, and moreover, the winner receives prize money of $50,000.

Thus, TechCrunch is the ultimate destination for all those who aspire to be a successful businessman, learn more about technology and blogging or anything about entrepreneurship. They post the most compelling and inspiring stories of start-ups with utmost transparency and high quality. It can also be considered as a study guide (Extra Crunch) for those who want to learn more about start-ups.

Volkswagen: A Startling Story of Success in the History of Automotive Industry

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Who doesn’t want to have a fancy lavish car and ride it all around the city? Even a 5-year-old kid drools over the cover page of his favourite car magazine and dreams of having one of those someday. And one such company that has made people go crazy with its classic designs and impressive capabilities is none other than Volkswagen.

Volkswagen is a huge German based automobile industry founded on 28th May 1937 by the German Labour Front. The company has its headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany and currently Dr Herbert Diess is the chairman of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand. Volkswagen is the German meaning for “people’s car”.

Volkswagen: A Walk Down to the Historic Lane

The Early Phase

During Hitler’s reign, especially in the 1930s, Hitler put forward ideas and scheme, so that every German could drive their own car. Under one of those schemes, the German Labour Front started making various prototypes of such cars (“KdF-Wagen”), and Volkswagen was one of them. The company was first established in the name of “Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutschen Volkswagens mbH” in 1937 and was renamed as “Volkswagenwerk GmbH” on 16th September 1938.

volkswagen
Image Source: thenypost

The vehicles that were produced in the plant, during early 1938, were designed by Ferdinand Porsche. In May 1938, a new plant was built in Wolfsburg, which shortly after manufacturing a handful of cars, started making military vehicles due to the war (Second World War). A lot of prisoners were forced to work at the plant during the war, which included prisoners even from concentration camps. This led to the filing of a lawsuit against the company in 1998 for compensation for the forced labours. So, in September 1998, a fund was built by Volkswagen AG to reimburse the compelled workers.

During the period of post-war, in June 1945, the charge of the company was handed over to the British Military Government, where Major Ivan Hirst took the responsibility of management. He was the prime person behind the existence of the company post-war, followed by mass production of Volkswagen Beetle. Not a single person expected the company to stand on its own, especially after the factory was bombed and captured by Americans.

In 1948 Heinrich Nordhoff was recruited to run the plant, and in 1949, Hirst left the company. After Type 1 (“Beetle” sedan), the production of Type 2 started in 8th March 1950. Soon, there was an increasing demand for “VW Bully” (The Volkswagen Bus), and in 1956 a separate manufacturing unit was built in Hanover for the production of the Transporter.

The Intermediate Phase

In 1961, the company introduced 4 new Type 3 models, and in 1969, Type 4 models were introduced. The latter came with much-modified technology, which included automatic transmission, electronic fuel injection, sturdier power plant and many more. On February 1972, Volkswagen broke the record of world car production, and the Beetle outweighed the popularity achieved by a model commonly known as “Tin Lizzy” by Ford. In 1973, Volkswagen Passat came into the market, followed by Volkswagen Scirocco, in 1974.

In 1974, the Volkswagen Golf was introduced, which set a legendary mark as a turning point of the future of Volkswagen. It was followed by Volkswagen Polo, in 1975, and since then, the company gave some serious competition in the automotive industry.

In June 1983, the company started producing the second generation of Volkswagen Golf, and it was the first time robots were placed in the manufacturing of vehicles. In the next decade, the world witnessed the second generation of Passat, Scirocco and Polo, which increased the production of the company on a very large scale.

In 1994, Concept One was launched, which had a retro theme and was a blend of Polo and Beetle. In 1999, the company hit another major success when they introduced Lupo 3L TDI in the market. This car consumed only 3 litres of fuel per 100 kilometres, and hence, became the world’s most efficient car.

The Modern Phase

After Bernd Pischetsrieder became the CEO of Volkswagen Group, many new models were introduced. In 2002, the production of Touareg, a luxury car marked a totally different segment of the company in the market. In 2003, the fifth generation of golf was launched, and since then, a lot of modified version of existing models were produced with an excellent change in design engineering.

In 2018, Volkswagen announced that they would stop the production of Beetle by 2019, the car that brought dynamic changes to the fate of this company. The company said that it would like to grow to keep the same pace with modern technologies, and hence, would introduce electric cars in future.

In 2019, they also announced to launch a Jetta sub-brand in association with FAW Group Corporation. Currently, China is responsible for the company’s 40% sales and is the biggest market for Volkswagen.

Awards: A Few From the Ample

• Volkswagen was awarded European Car of the Year award thrice till date.

• It has been awarded five times in the United States Motor Trend Car of the Year award.

• The Volkswagen Type 1 Beetle was named as the fourth most influential car in the 20th century.

• It has been awarded four times with the World Car of the Year Award.

When companies rejected to take over the plant during the post-war period, the company rebuilt itself and surpassed all the efficient ones. Thus, from collapsing into the grounds to making all the way to the top, Volkswagen is indeed a story of real success the world has ever witnessed.

Clear Car Rental: An Offbeat Startup that Received Nationwide Recognition

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In this era of stress-laden life, we start working as a machine the moment we set off our foot from the bed. And while we hurry to reach office in time, the unreliable services of public transport are the real disappointment. In this scenario, online car booking seems like a silver lining and saves our day.

Clear Car Rental is one such online car booking platform that provides the best rental services across India. A vast range of services is offered by Clear Car Rental which includes one day trip, round trip, travelling to different cities, far-ranging packages etc.

sachin kate
Image Source: Facebook
Founder of Clear Car Rental

Sachin Kate, a 28-year-old Indian fellow, is the founder of Clear Car Rental Pvt. Ltd. He is from Maharashtra, who is currently expanding his business by providing services in more than 210 cities in India.

Early life

Born into an economically weak family, in a small village of Marathwada, achieving success was never really a piece of cake for Kate. There were no schools in his village that provided education after standard 4. But this could not kill his determination to chase his dreams. So, after completing the 4th standard, he moved out of his place to a nearby village to complete his high school education. But this wasn’t easy either. Since his parents were mere farmers, the financial crisis was a common thing in his family. He started selling newspapers to fund his own education, and when he was in standard 11, he bagged himself a job, in a computer institute. He worked there as an office boy, but he never missed a chance to learn and explore more. Seeing his great flair for computers, the owner upgraded him as an instructor the very next year.

Since his parents were mere farmers, the financial crisis was a common thing in his family. He started selling newspapers to fund his own education, and when he was in standard 11, he bagged himself a job, in a computer institute. He worked there as an office boy, but he never missed a chance to learn and explore more. Seeing his great flair for computers, the owner upgraded him as an instructor the very next year.

After passing out from high school, he shifted to Aurangabad to pursue his higher studies. Since he needed to sponsor his own education, he found himself a part-time job in a travel agency. This is the time when the idea of establishing his own business clicked his mind. While working with the travel agency, he became quite susceptible to the ideas and strategies of how the business worked. This was the stepping stone towards his success.

Career

Initially, Kate began by creating a few travel websites by means of the technical knowledge he gained during the course of his high school. Then he, eventually, delved deeper into the colossal domain of travelling and learned more about it. After thorough research and analysis, he realized that travel by road wasn’t developed enough in India, though the tourism industry was rapidly expanding and flourishing. And, if this mode of transportation was enhanced, it would gain more customers, since it would be cheaper than transportation by air. Seeing this as a golden opportunity to bring a bigger change in the field of tourism, he made his mind to establish an online car rental service company. Thus, in 2011, he founded Clear Car Rental Service with a team of four members. This is when he crossed the threshold of his path and aimed for reaching its pinnacle.

With time passing by, the company expanded, and by 2013, the team had more than 100 people working in different sectors, like creating travel packages, online marketing, business development and other fields. It took no time for the company to carve a niche in the sphere of Indian travel and tourism, serving customers in more than 200 cities. Today, the company owns around 14000 cabs that are ready to serve their customers with the utmost care and comfort. Though the company provides services in all major cities, including the metropolis, it is focusing more on small towns to create more convenience for common people. The company has also launched a beta version of their online car booking system to enhance the user experience and make it easier to use.

Kate understands very well that in a developing country like India, every corner of it must get access to transportation to help it grow faster. His strategic mind and sheer determination to create something of his own led him to where he is today, thus curving his own future.

Belonging to a poor family like his, nobody expects of having such exposure and gain fame in the real world, due to lack of inspiration, financial and moral support. But Kate here sets a perfect example, breaking the orthodoxy of the society and proves that if you have the knowledge, and you are ready to work hard, you can achieve your dreams. And the most awe-inspiring fact about Kate’s success is that he didn’t borrow any money from his friends or family, or asked any banks for investments.

The future of the company

Though the company has set a remarkable bar in the business of rental service, the team wishes to provide even better services and launch products that will create wonders both in the car rental and tourism industry.

Garmin : The Global Leader & Supplier of Innovative GPS Technology Across Distinct Markets

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GPS is a very common term used while discussing technology, isn’t it? Well, it will also be wrong to mention only technology because you literally ogle at your phone and keep tracking your food through GPS until the delivery boy reaches your doorsteps. This is not the only usage of GPS navigation, but it has been widely used in the major fields, such as marine engineering, automotive industry, aircraft industry, and in many other domains too.

The two legendary personas who have created an entire empire of finest GPS navigating devices are none other than Gary Burrell and Min H. Kao.

Gary Burrell and Min Kao founded Garmin in 1989 in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. Currently, it has its headquarters is located in the United States.

garmin
Image Source: bizjournals.com

Gary Burrell

Born in 1937, Gary Burrell is a successful American businessman. He did his engineering (Electrical) from Wichita State University, and initially, worked for companies like Lowrance Electronics and King Radio Corporation. Along with Min Kao as a co-founder, he founded Garmin in 1989. Apart from being a businessman, Burrell is also a philanthropist who donated to the Indian Creek Community Church in Olathe. Burrell is married and has three children.

Min H. Kao

Min H. Kao was born in Taiwan, in 1949. He is an electrical engineer by education, a businessman by profession, and a philanthropist by passion. He completed his education from National Taiwan University and the University of Tennessee. He received a doctorate degree from the University of Tennessee. Before becoming the co-founder of Garmin, he worked with organisations, like NASA and the United States Army. He is known for making significant donations in colleges for new facilities and labs. Kao is married to Fan Kao. The two have a son and a daughter.

The story behind the success of Garmin’s technology

When the minds of these two brilliant engineers met, they built their territory from dust, which in this journey of 30 years has marked its excellence. Now, Garmin produces wide-ranging GPS navigation products which started only from a simple idea of making GPS more popular among people.

The first time when this idea clicked in their minds, they were working on a highly classified project for the US Defense. They wanted to take initiatives to grow their idea and implement it in the real world, but it seemed like their co-employees weren’t on the same page. They also didn’t get enough funding from R&D, and hence, they decided to start their own company. They wanted the extensive use of GPS in every field and started working on designs that would be helpful for industries like automobile, marine and aviation. They also thought of implementing GPS technology in fitness and received a huge positive response from customers.

From 1989-2000

In1993, Garmin launched the world’s first portable GPS navigation device for aviation, named as GPS 95. In 1998, the company introduced the world’s first GPS incorporated cell phone, and in 2000, the US government made GPS data accessible to the common public, which helped in increasing accuracy of GPS navigation. Garmin’s GPS technology has also been used in wars.

From 2001-2010

In 2001, Garmin released the world’s first portable GPS device which responded to audio and was known as StreetPilot III. In 2003, the company introduced the world’s first wrist GPS trainer. Just put in on your wrist like a watch, and it is all ready to track your distance and speed. The gadget was named Forerunner 201, which also provided an eye-catchy item for professional runners and fitness freaks. In August 2003, Garmin expanded its business and made a deal with UPS Aviation Technologies for its GPS units and cockpit systems. Hence, the company started making products for both private and commercial aircraft.

In 2004, Burrell retired from his position. In 2006, Garmin opened its first retail store in Chicago. In 2007, Clifton A. Pemble was appointed in the place of the president and chief operating officer.

From 2011-present day

In 2011, Kao was elected to National Academy of Engineering, and in the next year, the company received the 2012 Innovation Award for consumer products from The Economist magazine. In 2013, Garmin became the supplier of Mercedes-Benz for the in-dash navigation system, and in 2014, the company released an open platform for third-party apps.

In 2015, it launched another awe-inspiring gadget for the sports lovers, the Forerunner 225. It was Garmin’s first wristwatch that tracked heart rate while running. In 2016, Garmin unveiled Vivomove, a smartwatch with classic analogue designs, which opened a new path for its high popularity.

In 2017, the company was named manufacturer of the year by National Marine Electronics Association and won 8 Product of Excellent awards. In 2018, the company introduced its first professional dive watch.

The success, the mission and the future

From mere conversations over an idea to make it come true, Garmin celebrates 30 years of success. Today, the company has more than 9000 workers in 60 worldwide locations. The key to its success is that the company creates a product from scratch, starting from its designing, manufacturing to its marketing, which gives them the entire control over the product and freedom to experiment.

Garmin’s mission is to make more such superiors products of better quality and designs. The company believe in enhancing customer experiences and work in an environment built with honesty and integrity.