Founder Interview: Benjemen Elengovan

Editor's Note

In this edition, we sit down with Benjemen Elengovan, founder of MyGigsters, a financial infrastructure platform powering the gig economy across Australia and India. From his early days in India to building a life in Melbourne, Benjemen shares how his “authentic duality” shaped his approach to expansion, and what it really takes to build fintech infrastructure in one of the world’s fastest-evolving markets.

The Founder & the Idea

A New Home, A New Chapter

Benjemen grew up in India, where he studied biomedical engineering and worked as a management consultant. He moved to Australia to pursue a Master's in Business Administration and Health Administration, continuing in consulting before stepping into the startup world in 2018.

Building the Rails for the Gig Economy

Benjemen is the founder of MyGigsters, a financial infrastructure platform for gig economy companies. The company helps platforms such as Airtasker, Expert360, Zomato, and Swiggy manage payments, compliance, benefits, and financial services for their workers through deep API integration (not as a standalone SaaS product).

Prior to MyGigsters, he was running a software development business headquartered in India with ~60 engineers, building software for other founders. This business was a foundational resource that enabled him to launch MyGigsters.

Why India?

The Three Pillars of Expansion: Opportunity, Culture, and Timing

Benjemen pointed to three key reasons for expanding into India: 

1. The Economic Opportunity. India is one of the fastest-growing contributors to the global gig economy, representing strong potential for MyGigsters’ model.

2. Cultural Connectivity. Having grown up in India, Benjemen had a natural advantage, understanding the market and its audience.

3. Timing. India is a young, high-growth market that he believes is still 3–5 years away from maturity in sectors like the gig economy. He saw strong tailwinds from evolving government and financial regulations supporting workers which aligns with his vision of positioning himself as a market leader.

Local Roots and Lean Operations

He initially started his India expansion in Chennai, with access to his most connected network as well as family connections. Additional visits to other tier-one and tier-two cities helped him to understand regional market nuances and government policies.

MyGigsters runs as a remote-first company, with separate entities in Australia and India rather than under a parent company structure (for now). This approach allows Benjemen to build local partnerships and connections in each market, and raise capital independently.

The Indian business of MyGigsters was officially launched at the Bangalore Tech Summit in November 2025. A year prior to this the team started preparing the market and acquiring customers, leveraging the learnings and product from the Australian business for the Indian launch.

The Reality of Building in India

The T-Shirt Test: Navigating Cultural Professionalism

Despite growing up in India, there were some nuances he had to re-learn. He shared one anecdote where he met a senior business person wearing jeans and a MyGigsters t-shirt, something he had done countless times in Australia. Following the meeting, he received feedback to wear more formal business attire for follow-up meetings. While he didn't take offense, he realised this reflected a business culture, where dressing formally signals you're serious. When he dressed up for the next meeting, he noticed a clear difference in how he was acknowledged and received.

The Myth of a Single Market: Understanding India’s Subcultures

The business practices, decision-making speed, budget considerations, and responsiveness vary significantly across cities and even within states. Given the complexity, it's easy to get caught up and derailed trying to win all of India at once. His solution is to focus on winning in one specific region first (like Chennai or Tamil Nadu) to understand what it means to be a market leader in that place, then expand from there.

Beyond the Transaction: Why Patience Wins in Relationship Markets

Another major learning was understanding how customers actually say ‘yes’ or ‘no’, as well as their sensitivity to pricing. In Australia, customers are more direct whereas in India, it's harder for people to say no upfront, so he had to learn to read the signals differently. He noted that India is a market "driven heavily by personal connections," adding, "I could get a deal if I knew you, or worked with you." Whilst this mirrors Australia in some ways, sales cycles are longer and can spread out over months. While this builds authentic relationships and provides valuable insights, it requires patience.

Catching Up to the Future: India’s Digital Leap

What stood out most for Benjemen was "the digital financial infrastructure that India has established in a short time period and the level of adoption…that blew my mind." He contrasted this with the typical narrative from Australian founders expanding to emerging markets. Instead of bringing a superior product, he actually has to catch up and match India's level. This was a pleasant surprise because it meant he's entering a market that's "accelerating faster" with rapid technology adoption.

Founder Advice

Benjemen outlined three key things he wishes someone had told him before starting.

1. Setting up an Indian Business is complex: “Prepare yourself, understand who your banking partner is, the registration if you are a foreign company coming in. You can't just land and register. It's not as easy as getting an ABN (Australian Business Number).”

2. Copy-paste Australian practices into India won’t work: “It requires a deep understanding of Indian work culture and business nuances… sometimes you have to rebuild or tweak it to make it fit for purpose.”

3. India is a multifaceted market: “There are so many markets in India… you could easily get caught in the complexity of these micro-markets.” Instead of trying to win all of India, his approach is clear: “We’re not trying to win India, we’re trying to win something in India to begin with.” That could mean focusing on a single region like Chennai, learning what it takes to be a market leader in one place, and then “doubling down.”

The Power of Roots: Turning Heritage into an Advantage

As an immigrant founder, Benjemen felt he “walked into India with more courage and less fear because of my background and my family roots… I used it to my advantage. I could land and go talk to anybody."

He also pointed to the strengthening India-Australia trade relationship, which he has been most tangible over the last few years of encouraging cross border business, agnostic of sector or business model.

The Demographic Play: Banking on India’s Youth

Benjemen shared two areas that he thinks are underrated about India right now: a large young work force and rising consumer spending power.

“With more than 50% of the population being aged less than 25, if you're building a product for people in their 20s, you're acquiring customers early and establishing market presence as they mature and increase their spending power.”

Website | LinkedIn 

Benjemen’s journey highlights that building across Australia and India is not just about accessing larger markets, but about navigating complexity with intention. From embracing regional nuance to leveraging personal roots as a strategic advantage, his approach reflects a long-term view of market building. As India’s gig economy and digital infrastructure continue to accelerate, MyGigsters is positioning itself not just to participate in that growth, but to help shape it.

See you on Thursday for our weekly brew on Indian startup and tech news!

Chai and Capital