An exclusive interview with Founders and Co-founders of Bookvala.com
Bookvala is a student-led startup recognized by Startup India. Bookvala is from Books to Blockchain, wherein senior secondary students can buy and resell their books in 3 minutes with the innovation of a coin-based system and can trade in crypto. The founders include Varun Bali, Raghav Bali, and co-founders Lakshay Kalra and Ujjwal Pratap Singh, who are undergraduate students from Chitkara University.
An India-based startup with a focus on revolutionizing the book industry, Bookvala, has raised $180K in Ideation round to build the next generation of startups and use blockchain technology to modernize the book industry. Undergraduate student startup Bookvala has raised $180K at a valuation of $1.8M in an ideation round led by leading investors in India.
Investors participating in this round include Avidity Services Pvt. Ltd., Mr. Hemant Wadhwa, Director of Unicom India Pvt Ltd, Ms. Prabhdeep, Partner of The Little Seekers, Mr. Rajeev Gupta, Director Godavri Trading Co Pvt Ltd and Angel investor Mr. Rajesh Bansal.
The young, brilliant minds back off from placements and decide to build their startup and set an example for the youth of the nation. Varun and Raghav started working on their dream after class 12th. Later, Lakshay and Ujjwal joined them in the 2nd year of their college, and then they decided to make it on their own and worked in night shifts for survival to cover the company's expenses.
The startup will use the funds for technology building and bolster its presence in the Indian market, along with focusing on its base team, which will carry the company’s name forward.
Question - When were you founded?
Answers - The company was founded in the year 2021
Question - How many employees do you have?
Answers - 4 founding team members and 4 employees
Question - How do you get an idea to start this venture?
Answers - When we were in class 12 We were having a stock of books so we decided to resell them to a local book dealer, first the price offered by them was too less and there were certain books which the dealer just refused to take but they were having high demand among students but then we thought its better to sell them to a scrap dealer, then we decided to sell them online but at those platforms, we faced issues like waiting for a buyer, then negotiating the price, managing delivery just for a book it was too much hectic for us, then we started exploring this book market for more than 5 months we visited the local book dealer in Chandigarh Rajpura, Ambala, Zirakpur, Patiala to understand the market and then we did research survey’s among students making, making interaction with students and understanding their needs this is how we built idea.
Question - Is the company funded?
Answers - Yes, we have raised Ideation Round at a $1.8 Million valuation
Question - briefly explain about the business?
Answers - its a platform where one can buy, and resell books in 3 mins and further invest in cryptocurrency.
Question - What is the future Plan?
Answers - in regards to the future our vision is to be the first crypto trading platform for students without investment.
Question - What’s your revenue?
Answers - Revenue: we are in the ideation stage so no revenue as of now
Question - the skills you needed to start the business?
Answers - Both founders have 2 years of real-life work experience, they worked in The Babbu Maan stored LLP where they were handling a team of 7-10 employees. They first worked in the company as an unpaid intern to prove themselves to the company and after 2 months the company sponsored their complete university program fees.
Question - Who’s on your leadership team and what’s their background?
Answers -
Founder 1 - Varun Bali
BE CSE 3rd year student Chitkara University
Founder 2 - Raghav Bali
BCA 3rd Year Chitkara University
Co-founder 1 - Ujjwal Pratap Singh
BE CSE 2nd Year Chitkara University
Co-founder 2 - Lakshay Kalra
BE CSE 3rd Year Chitkara University
Our parents supported us since day1 they used to say us to do things for which we have passion. winning or losing is the end result. At least you are giving it a try.
Question - How much have you raised in total over how many rounds?
Answers - Raised Ideation round of $180K with 10% equity(dilution) at a valuation of $1.8Million.
