Rickshaw-puller creates start-up, hires IIT & IIM grads

Dilkhush Kumar from Saharsa district in Bihar worked as a rickshaw-puller and vegetable vendor. He founded a start-up with a second-hand car and now his company, RodBez, is worth crores. He has hired IITians and some IIM graduates are also working for his start-up.

There are some people in this world who have proved that working hard and not losing hope even in the worst of conditions will bring rewards some day. Dilkhush Kumar’s story reinforces that. He is from a small village in Bihar and used to be a rickshaw-puller and vegetable vendor. But now, he is the founder and CEO of RodBez, a company worth crores.

So, Dilkhush is from Bangaon in Bihar’s Saharsa district. He has just studied till Class 12. He wanted to start something of his own and provide taxi services in Bihar. So, Kumar started Rodbez. The startup is not like other taxi service providers, Uber or Ola. It is essentially a database company that connects customers with taxi drivers and provides vehicles for outstation travel of more than 50 kms.

While talking to GNT Digital, Dilkhush said that graduates from prestigious institutions like IIT Guwahati were hired to work in Rodbez and they also supported his vision. He also claimed that some students from IIM have also joined his startup on a part-time basis.

While reminiscing about his old days, Dilkhush got slightly emotional and said that he used to be a rickshaw-puller in Delhi. He also sold vegetables on the streets in Patna. When he went for an interview for the job of a guard, he was considered unpolished and uneducated. Dilkhush was also asked to identify the logo of an iPhone, which he couldn’t because he was seeing an iPhone for the first time. However, he never gave up as he had a family to feed.

Dilkhush learnt to drive from his father, who was a bus driver. He only studied till Class 12 because of lack of money and started driving to earn money.

He actually started Rodbez with just a second-hand Tata Nano. But in 6-7 months after starting Rodbez, Dilkhush and his team were able to raise funds worth Rs 4 crore. Right now, the company is providing service from Patna to every village in Bihar in the first phase. In the second phase, it will connect city to city. Their vision is to connect every village of Bihar with a taxi. Later, they plan to expand the services outside Bihar as well.