Delhi Comic Con: A marketing platform for start-ups

Dubai-based couple Mohan and Shweta who started "Comic Planet" last year in September, decided to start their venture and participate in the three-day-fantasy event after they noticed the latter's popularity among pop-culture fans here on an earlier visit.

"We got the idea to display our start-up here after we saw the enthusiasm amongst people for Comic Con. When we were roaming around at an earlier Comic Con, we found that a lot of toys which were actually bought from online portals, were being sold at much higher prices here," they told PTI Bhasha.

The duo now use the same strategy and purchase toys from China, Hong Kong and Dubai, which are then sold here at relatively higher cost.

"We make sure that our products are not of cheap quality.

We have been to every Comic Con in India, besides starting an online portal as well," Shweta said.

Franchise toys of DC and Marvel superheroes like Batman, Spiderman, Avengers were available at the 'Comic Planet' kiosk.

Merchandise start-up "Tathya", selling t-shirts and photoframes in innovative designs was also at the festival to establish business.

"Displaying our collection here is a boost for us since the products we deal in have a huge target audience here," Isha Nagar, co-owner of Tathya said.

According to her partner Govind Mittal, such opportunities are a way to reach out to a large number of people and increase the visibility of the brand, without spending much money.

Former adverstising personnel Tarun Jangid, who launched his venture called "Utpatang.com" two years ago, came to the Delhi Comic Con for the second time this year, with a larger and varied stock of products.

"Last year when we displayed our products here, they were very popular with the visitors. We have come here with more expectations this time," he said.

Jangid, who started with an investment of less than Rs 5 lakh is running his business without any external funding.

To expand his business further, he is getting into a range of franchises. Several products inspired from the recently released Bollywood film "Dear Zindagi" starring Alia Bhatt and Shah Rukh Khan were on display at his stall.

Other start-ups like Garbage Bin, Sculp art, Ek Do Dhai, Wear Your Opinion, Being Indian, and Bewakoof.com were also part of the Delhi Comic Con this year.