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The cousins’ startup aims to help both buyers and growers HUBBALLI: Shridhar Pawar, 30, and Sharad Kumar Suryavanshi, 29, were adversely impacted by the lockdown but spotted an opportunity in vegetables in the twin cities. The cousins floated a startup to help city dwellers get fresh vegetables at competitive prices and help growers secure a better deal for their produce. They launched Suryavanshi and Pawar Pvt Ltd and initiated 'freshbuy' on wheels. Pawar, a BCA who worked as a web designer with IT majors in Bengaluru for six years, ran a web design training institute in Hubballi since 2017. He said: "After the lockdown, the institute incurred losses and we had to shut it. We were inspired by the Prime Minister's Vocal for Local and chalked out a vegetable business. When we approached a few nationalised banks in Hubballi, they said they can't give loans to sell vegetables. However, Sirsi Urban Cooperative Bank stepped in. We invested Rs 4.5 lakh for the vehicle and Rs 1 lakh to customise it. We rented a godown-cum-office and our total investment was about Rs 10 lakh."