Building A Digital Future For Construction Workers: Bettamint

Bettamint is a revolutionary app that aims to transform the lives of daily wage workers in the construction industry, unlocking their potential in the digital economy. Through the discovery platform, Bettamint connects verified frontline construction workers with reputable construction companies, matching them based on location, skillset, duration of employment, and proposed wage. In conversation with Kezya De Braganca, Founder, Bettamint. 

Bettamint aims to enable daily wage workers in the construction industry and enhance their participation in the digital economy. Could you elaborate on how the app helps workers optimize their income potential and improve their skills while building an authenticated record of experience?
Bettamint is a discovery platform for frontline construction workers helping them secure reliable income opportunities. We connect verified workers with reputable construction companies based on factors like geographic location, skillset, duration of employment, and proposed wage.

Our ability to construct a comprehensive digital profile for each worker, recording their skills, experience, earnings, punctuality, productivity, etc. allows us to securely manage their unique identity profile (UIP). As we accumulate more high quality data sets, our machine learning algorithms will progressively enhance the value we deliver, strengthening our promise to both workers and construction companies.

The introduction of 'BettaPay' is a significant step in streamlining payment distribution for informal workers. How does this infrastructure ensure convenient, swift, and secure payment processing without the need for complicated payroll calculations or beneficiary banking information?
BettaPay simplifies payments and incentives for workers who aren't on formal payrolls. It harnesses vital data like worker identification, banking information, primary skill,  daily wage, and attendance to automate payments, freeing clients up from tedious manual tasks. At the tap of a button an entire workforce can be paid without the need to collect beneficiary information or make complex payroll calculations. 

We also go a step further introducing performance based incentives. Tasks requiring immediate completion can be incentivised with bonuses, automatically paid out on timely task completion. This not only accelerates construction timelines but boosts productivity, engagement and retention at construction sites. Typically on such sites, there is also a reduction in overtime hours billed. A win-win for everyone involved.

As an early-stage startup, how has Bettamint gained early revenues within just two months of launching its product? Could you provide some insights into the company's strategy for acquiring and retaining enterprise clients in the construction industry?
Alongside leading developers and contractors in the country, we spent over a year researching and refining a product that zeroes in on the pain points of the construction industry – addressing workforce shortages, increasing productivity at the worker level, controlling labour costs, improving quality, and lowering attrition. Our clients are leading construction firms in India that grapple with these challenges on a large scale.

Our relationships with our clients extend beyond being a workforce solution. We work closely with them to understand their needs and co-develop solutions to enhance time and budgetary outcomes, improve cashflows, and better equip them to attract and retain top talent. Bettamint aims to become an irreplaceable tool in their arsenal.

Bettamint's long-term vision is to become a comprehensive source of data for the informal workforce in the construction industry. How do you plan to accumulate and leverage this data to strengthen the company's position in construction workforce enablement and potentially expand into other sectors?
Bettamint captures key social, financial, and professional data of an overlooked demographic, opening doors to crucial services like affordable finance, education, healthcare, skill development and welfare services fundamentally enhancing their lives. 

Consider the cash paid worker, with no paper trail of his income. He is unable to access credit. By simply recording his attendance with Bettamint he is empowered with tangible proof of his earnings and the opportunity to access credit.

Our data-driven approach creates a high-trust environment, rewarding punctuality, productivity, and reliability, creating a self-reinforcing ecosystem meeting unmet needs and deepening our impact. While our current focus is the construction industry in India, the scalability and adaptability of our model primes us for potential expansion into similar demographics in other emerging economies.

Can you share some insights into how Bettamint has leveraged in-depth empirical research, behavioral studies, and market research to identify the needs, gaps, and opportunities in the construction industry? What specific challenges did you uncover and how does Bettamint address them?
The construction industry grapples with alarmingly high attrition; with many companies replacing their entire workforce over four times a year. This revolving door of workers puts an incredible strain on a company to continually mobilize, verify, onboard, train, time track and manage compliances for a perpetually shifting workforce. Payroll fraud, unpredictable worker quality, low engagement, uncontrollable labour costs and low productivity are major concerns. 

Today workers lack verified records of their experience, earnings or identity and have limited incentive to be productive due to time bound, rather than output bound daily wages; exacerbating these challenges. At Bettamint we create a high trust digital environment where workers are engaged, motivated and efficient; allowing for companies to accelerate productivity.

As a rapidly growing startup in the construction technology space, what are some of the key challenges you anticipate in achieving Bettamint's long-term vision of becoming the cleanest and richest source of data for the informal workforce? How do you plan to address potential privacy and security concerns while still providing value to your users and clients?

First is ensuring the quality and integrity of the data we gather, particularly as user activity increases. Second, we're addressing the complexity of managing digital identities in an environment where devices, like cell phones, may be shared among family members, phone numbers change often and verifiable records of existing skills do not exist. This necessitates unique authentication protocols.

To address potential privacy and security concerns we’re employing stringent data protection protocols, protecting user identity and providing transparent communication around our data policies to build trust while continuing to deliver value to our users and clients.