This startup helps spread warmth of written word

A city-based startup helped a Russian man win his wife back and a British woman to get a 45% raise with their personalised handwritten letters.

Anubhav Ankit, Shashank Srinivas and Jashwanth Cheripally set up The Indian Handwritten Letters Company, with the belief that no email or SMS can replace the warmth of a letter written by a human. 

One can compose the message and give it to the company or have it written by their writers. Once the message is ready, you can pick the kind of handwriting you want - elegant, cursive or a more human, clumsy style. Using premium quality paper and recycled envelopes for a vintage look, the letters are then shipped for a small fee through India Post.

The three friends have always been passionate about letter-writing and their love for this form of communication brought them together to set up the company. Anubhav has very fond memories associated with letters. “When I was in a boarding school in Indore, I used to write to my family in Odisha. My grandfather and I developed a very strong bond through these exchanges.”

They write all kinds of letters - love letters, apology letters, business letters and even resignation letters. A woman in UK wanted to resign from the company she was working with, on good terms. Unsure of how to break the news to her boss, she reached out to TIHLC, who wrote a well-crafted letter conveying the message.

Delighted at receiving such an unexpected, personal letter, her boss offered her a 45% raise and compelled her to stay on.

Within six months, they have sent out over 2,000 letters, shipping between 50 and  100 letters a day. Earlier, most of their customers were abroad in countries like USA, Australia and Russia, but they have been slowly gaining popularity in India as well.

Several corporates are making use of their service to create brand loyalty by sending handwritten letters to customers. 

They write in English, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil and Odiya as of now, besides writing two letters in Russian with the help of Google translate.

Even without funding, the startup has already broken ev-en despite earning only about Rs 5 per letter delivered. With upcoming initiatives to sell stationery kits and conduct letter-writing workshops, they hope to eventually get people to start writing letters on their own.
DH News Service