Can you imagine a temple town Udupi, in Karnataka which is well-known for its beautiful Krishna temple and delicious food, to have an information technology firm? Well, then hang in there, for you can’t miss this story!
Robosoft And Its Beginnings
Before going into the story, let’s first dive into what Robosoft has to offer. Robosoft, based in Udupi, is a digital experiences agency that offers services varying from digital advisory, design strategy, UX/UI services, to maintenance and expertise in emerging technologies and many more.
Their vision lies in providing people with a delightful digital experience. It creates software products, apps, and games. Robosoft has previously worked with Vodafone, Paytm, NDTV, Ogilvy, Target, Voot, and many others. They provide services such as Banking and Finance, Enterprise Solutions, Media and Entertainment, etc.
The founder of Robosoft, Mr. Rohith Bhat, had entrepreneurship in his genes, as his father owned one of the first plastic manufacturing industries in Manipal. However, for Rohith, his journey began in his engineering college.
He said, “I learnt about managing there. When you don’t have access to anything, you have to make do with what you can lay your hands on. In college, I learnt more about life; how to live with scarcity, as constraint breeds creativity.” Later, he passed with flying colours and got the degree.
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Getting His First Client; Apple
After achieving his degree, he went in search of a job in Mumbai. There he landed his first gig, a software company at SEEPZ, situated in Andheri West. Luckily, in 1993, he got an opportunity to work with a company in Japan. For Rohith, this was his “life-turning moment”.
He was offered to develop word processors for the well-known Apple Mac Platform. Rohith recalls, “I worked for them for three years. The idea back then was to build a product to compete with Microsoft Word in Japan.”
Rohith’s mind stirred with the idea of doing the same in India. So, you see, how Rohith grabbed the opportunity in his hands. Initially, when he proposed his idea, he was opposed. However, his father and two of his elder brothers had his back.
With the hard-earned savings, he started the company, Robosoft. Now, you might think that the company would have been in a rented place, with at least 3 to 4 rooms, right? But no, he initiated his idea in his sister’s living room in Mumbai in 1996.
Robosoft started with the vision of developing apps for Mac. The first project involved creating tools that would blend with the Indian languages. Gradually, the efforts he had put in, started paying off and many other projects began coming up.
Idea Of Shop In Udupi
Rohith started working with a US-based startup, which ignited him with confidence to start his own shop in Udupi. He believed that the internet has the power to create wonders and thought of setting up his own shop.
At that point, Rohith decided to accelerate his efforts and made a deal with the National Institute of Technology situated in Karnataka and used their Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Program (STEP). He said, “We opened the facility at STEP in July 1998. I was the first entrepreneur at STEP.”
Later, he shifted the base to Udupi and the single space company by the year 2006 had four office spaces! When the iPhone 7 came to India, Robosoft created five of its apps. By 2008, his small-town start-up started gaining recognition. In the year 2012, Robosoft received venture capital funding from Kalaari Capital.
And now as we know, Robosoft stands with pride in a small town Udupi, earning 70% from customers residing outside India.
Image Sources: Google Images
Sources: Business Line, Your Story, LinkedIn
Connect with the blogger: Palak Dogra
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