A founder bromance fuels this crowdsourced street food app

Armaan Kapoor and Rohit Gehe, founders of Samoza

Creative minds know that inspiration can strike at any time, especially when one isn’t prepared. Rohit Gehe found his idea about seven months ago when he got hungry running errands for his dad. His choice kebab shop wasn’t open, and as he wandered the streets on his pilgrimage for food, he found more than just sustenance – he had a revelation while watching a street vendor make parathas outside of his chosen chai shop.

“I was like: How do we find these guys? There’s no possible way online to find these guys. There’re blogs and stuff, but what about real time information?” he remembers. “There’s nothing available, basically.”

Armed with his new idea, he did what any of us would do – he called his friend Armaan Kapoor in his excitement. Neither knew at the time that it would be the beginning of their partnership.

“I came home, I called Armaan, and was basically like let’s do this,” he laughs, and Armaan picks up where he leaves off.

“It’s not only about the consumer. It’s also about the vendor,” he explains. “These vendors are [often] illiterate – they don’t have any formal education, but technology can empower them as well.”

The result, Samoza, is what Armaan describes as a “Zomato for street food.” Launched on January 1 on the Google Play Store, the app maps and allows for reviews of street vendors. It targets students, particularly those around university age who frequent street vendor stalls.

Samoza’s services are concentrated in Bangalore for the moment, which is also where both founders are located.

Two sides of the same coin

Talking to Rohit and Armaan, both of whom are under the age of 25, about their adventures in the world of startups is an adventure in and of itself. We don’t have video on, and they jump into each other’s sentences a lot and try to introduce themselves before they speak so I can tell who’s talking. Honestly, I have a hard time keeping up. The guys don’t have trouble keeping up with each other, though, and Rohit mentions what I’ve already realized – they have different working styles but complement each other.

“I have no basic regard for time,” declares Rohit, who prefers to work – and works best – in intense bursts. “It’s kind of an issue.” He describes his job, working on the app’s design, as something he does sitting “in the corner” in the morning and late at night. It’s a job that he just kind of fell into.

“We flopped on our designer, but I learned design in a couple of weeks,” he says. “I did that on my own one night, just zoned out for six hours and designed the app.” He adds that the learning curve has been crazy.

Armaan, who is in charge of business operations for the company, has a more standardized take on operations and explains that he thinks more in terms of to do lists.

The business of food