Kitabwalah: Bihar's Book Haven, Unfurling Affordable Chapters, Empowering Readers

13 May 2024

Meet Akshay Kashyap and Srijan Kumar, two engineering students turned visionary entrepreneurs from Muzaffarpur (Bihar), who co-founded Kitabwalah.com, an online haven offering a treasure trove of books at pocket-friendly prices. Their journey is nothing short of a modern-day marvel. With an initial investment of a mere Rs. 800, they embarked on their entrepreneurial voyage, eventually clocking over 6,000 book sales and earning Rs. 8 lakhs within a span of two years.

Akshay, who comes from a humble middle-class background, struggled to obtain books while preparing for JEE. Right from school days, Akshay frequently resorted to purchasing second-hand books due to the exorbitant cost of new ones, a struggle he shared with many others. It was this realization that prompted Akshay and Srijan to launch their brainchild in 2022, catering to the unmet demand for affordable used books across various categories.

With grit and ingenuity, they leveraged their meager capital to kickstart operations, forging alliances with local kabadiwalas and expanding their reach far beyond Muzaffarpur. Their efforts didn't go unnoticed; they found themselves recipients of seed funding under the Bihar Startup Policy 2022, a testament to their innovation and impact. This support enabled them to scale up their operations, providing a stronger platform for their business growth. Today, the platform offers a wide range of used books catering to school students, college students, competitive exam aspirants, as well as fiction and non-fiction enthusiasts. Akshay hopes to make Kitabwalah a one-stop shop for all things books and school supplies. "While our primary focus is on used books, we also want to sell stationery, school uniforms, e-books, audiobooks, and more," he states.

Kitabwalah stands as a shining example of how passion, perseverance, and a commitment to society can pave the way for extraordinary success. And as Akshay and Srijan continue to script their entrepreneurial saga, they inspire countless others to dream big and dare to make a difference.