Paresh Satra, a navi Mumbai resident, tests a new feature on the Hear2Read app that enables users to access audio books in regional languages. Pic/Sneha Kharabe

In 2014, Mumbai-based entrepreneurs Kalyani Khona and Shankar Srinivasan launched Wanted Umbrella, an offline matchmaking agency to help the differently-abled find love. "We were disheartened by the lack of opportunities that people with disabilities had in finding romantic companionship. But at the time we were testing the waters to see if there's a requirement for something like this," says Srinivasan. To their surprise, the agency received 2,000 registrations in the first seven months. But, the duo had bigger goals: They wanted to go global with the initiative. "According to the United Nations, there are about 80 million people with disabilities in the world and there was no way we could target the community manually. Technology was necessary," says the 25-year-old, a graduate of Churchgate's Jai Hind College.

It was with the same thought that Vivek Sharma, a corporate professional from Mumbai along with a friend Sushil Dugar established Divine Relations, a matrimonial app and a website for those with critical health issues. "Marriages for patients have always been a problem but nobody took it seriously," he says. While the initial idea was to help people with chronic illnesses find love, Sharma received a letter from a user to include the disabled in this. "This, we thought was a great suggestion," he says.