With a struggling startup and a passion for technology, Ravi Saraogi and Umesh Sachdev met Prof Ashok Jhunjhunwala of IIT-Madras. He ripped apart their ideas at first. Impressed by the duo’s spirit, he offered to mentor them in RTBI (rural technology business incubator) within IIT.
With a vision to build a product in mobile telecom with a rural focus, they visited several districts in Tamil Nadu, including Dharmapuri and Mayiladuthurai to start a pilot project. Of all the issues they came across, it was low literacy and usage of varied dialects that stood out. “This became our problem statement,” said Sachdev . “We decided to use voice as a channel to bridge the digital divide.”
