Meet Dilkhush Kumar, Rickshaw-Puller turned CEO who now hires graduates from IIT and IIM

Born in a quaint village in Saharasa district of Bihar, Dilkhush Kumar worked as a rickshaw puller and vegetable vendor.

“For those who dare to dream, there is a whole world to gain,” said Dhirubai Ambani. Successful people will tell you that getting great in any field takes patience, courage and hard work. Countless stories about startups, the hot buzzword lately, have inspired us to dream big.

In India, we have seen how startups and unicorns have grown over the past decade. The number of startups in the country has increased tenfold over the years. India has several stories of entrepreneurs who dared to chase their dream and went from broke to millionaire. Dilkhush Kumar’s story serves as a beacon of hope for emerging entrepreneurs.

The success story of Dilkhush Kumar

Born in a quaint village in Saharasa district of Bihar, Dilkhush Kumar worked as a rickshaw puller and vegetable seller. Kumar is now the founder and CEO of RodBez, an app-based taxi service. He had studied until grade 12 and worked as a rickshaw puller and sold vegetables online to keep track of his financial expenses.

In 2011, Kumar moved to Patna and worked as a driver. He also worked in an electrical wiring job to make ends meet. However, he left the job because the salary never came on time. He tried his hand at being a vegetable seller but it didn’t help and so he returned to his old job as a driver. At that time, he began researching the availability of taxi services in certain areas.

“People want to use services that are cheaper and more convenient. And drivers want more passengers. We found routes with more demand for taxi services and availability of taxi drivers at a specific time. We designed an algorithm to match real-time taxis and passengers on the same route. With a simple search, it shows better availability of taxis,” said Dilkhush Kumar in a report by Better India.

Dilkhush Kumar developed the RodBez app, Bihar’s largest “one-way taxi, taxipool and carpool platform”, according to the company’s website. Customers do not have to pay return travel costs if they make a one-way trip. Verified customers come together and help each other through carpooling, taxipooling, and single rides through the RodBez app.

Kumar credits will be “berojgaari (joblessness) background for the inspiration behind the name of the app. “We come from a very backward area, which is notorious for badh (flooding) and berojgaari (unemployment). I was labeled ‘nikamma’ (useless) because I depended on my father’s income,” Dilkhush Kumar said.

Dilkhush Kumar started the business with a Tata Nano and his team has raised Rs 4 crore after launching the RodBez app in six to seven months. He has hired IIT and IIM graduates in his company.