“We knew right from the beginning our venture would be in the
field of technology as all of us have an engineering background,” Sandipan
Mondal says when asked about their maiden venture. “And doing something in
advertising space looked attractive to us as a lot of the methodology and
practices adopted were decades old. It looked like an opportunity to solve a
really big problem,” he adds.
Mondal, along with friends Deepak Baid and Sajo Mathews, started
media tech startup Zapr in 2012. The startup says it India’s largest media
consumption repository and audience targeting platform. The company’s
technology analyses the offline media consumption behavior of millions of
Indian television viewers. This helps the content owners identify their offline
audiences and reengage with them across the digital and mobile space. “We
thought having a better understanding of what the content consumption
preferences of millions of people are would be interesting. If we can provide
data along those lines, we would be helping the advertising and media
industry,” Mondal, alumni of IIM Ahmedabad, explains. Mondal, Baid and Mathews
were together in the 2008-10 batch at IIM and the three spent lots of time at
the institute planning their venture. After graduation, all three joined
various corporates. But within two years they regrouped. “But it was not easy
to start, as a couple of years in corporate life would hardly provide you with
the savings to put together a venture. We had to collect seed funds from our
friends, several chipped in with their annual bonuses to make our dream come
true,” Mondal recalls.
Zapr, which now counts Nielsen, NDTV and IMRB among its clients,
recently raised an undisclosed amount from e-commerce platform Flipkart with
participation from the founders of Saavn, Micromax, and Mu Sigma. Zapr was also
part of the first batch of GSF Accelerator. Mondal’s parents were “cautiously
supportive” of his decision to become an entrepreneur. “Obviously, if you pass
out from the best B-school in the country and then decide to turn into an
entrepreneur, eyebrows are bound to be raised. It was easier for Baid who comes
from a family of a business folk.” The three friends purchased a TATA Nano
together and, till recently, always drove to work as a sign of solidarity. “Keep innovating regularly” Mondal calls it
is the most important lesson he has learnt along the way. He also says it is
important to be surrounded by mentors as they serve as a guiding force. “We
were fortunate to have mentors who helped us at crucial moments,” he says.
Very informative content, Really impressive.
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