We believe the cost of mobile/ notebook computing is way too prohibitive and that today's market leaders are just not capable of offering low cost laptops, even if they wanted to do it, because of their heavy fixed and operating costs, along with millions of dollars that they must spend on advertising to stay alive -- all of which you have to pay for when you buy your laptop!
And on the other side, we are also seeing some innovative models coming up, which are priced under $400, but they often lack something useful/critical - a good hard drive, a dvd player, or a good battery pack. With millions of new Internet users every year, there is no reason why we should not have a low cost laptops that can also do all the basic professional work.
And we have been thinking about this for a while now, and decided to use our collective technology and business expertise to come up with quality laptops that are still very low cost. We plan to do this by having a minimum fixed cost base and will let our satisfied customers advertise for us and pass the savings to them.
Our customers for these laptops range from students in schools and universities to professionals working in small and large companies. So whether you are an individual or a business, you will save money with 7iDigital.
Our team behind this venture includes experienced professionals, including alumni from various IIT-IIMs and other leading institutes. The venture team is being led by Apurva Sharan, who is a member-investor of 7Avenues, with techno-commercial expertise in computing systems, gained through working with Texas Instruments, Microsoft, Adobe, and other hi-tech companies. He is an alumnus of IIT Delhi (BTech, Computer Science & Engineering).
The Advisory Board includes:
* Ravi Shankar: Technology entrepreneur; Alumnus of National University of Singapore (NUS)
* Sairam T: Financial industry expert and business advisor; Alumnus of IIM Lucknow
* Mahesh M: Telecom industry executive with expertise in customer service; Alumnus of NIT Jaipur
* Saurabh S: Financial industry executive with IT expertise; Alumnus of IIT Kanpur
* Vivek Lodha: Investment banker; Alumnus of IIT Bombay and Thunderbird
* Prasad S: Banking industry executive with ITES/BPO/KPO expertise; Alumnus of IIT Madras
* Parshu Adiraja: Private equity investor; Alumnus of IIT Bombay and Carnegie Mellon University.
We are using our combined professional experience, in creating computing hardware and software, and in creating innovative procurement and distribution channels.
We are bound by business agreements not to share details till end-June. What we can share is that we are committed to bring the most affordable laptops in India and worldwide -- so that more people can benefit in their studies, work and life.
We believe this venture will also create new employment opportunities at various levels in the supply chain across India and every country where we will start selling our laptops because our business model will involve the local talent and entrepreneurs.
