‘It’s 2008. Had the 11th class form in hand for admission in Kendriya Vidyalaya. I was standing in the queue waiting to submit the form, when I got a call on my friend’s mobile from my house.
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I didn’t even have a mobile at that time. After talking on the phone, the friend said that he had to go home. I said- Now I will go home only after submitting the form! Without telling anything, he somehow took me home.
When I reached home, I saw a crowd. When I moved a little further, my father’s dead body was in front of me. I went into shock. 14 years old, couldn’t understand what happened. Now what will happen next? Later, mother had to work in a wire factory to run the household.
Right now I am in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. In front of me is Neeraj Sharma, co-founder of ‘MakenBreak’ company, who is telling about the initial days.
Neeraj’s company makes products that teach children things related to maths and science while playing. Neeraj is also accompanied by his wife and co-founder of this company Mansi Gupta.
MakenBreak co-founder Neeraj Sharma is telling about his products. Neeraj grew up in Delhi.
The product has been displayed in one area of the company, while in another area the board sheets are being cut by a machine.
Neeraj says, ‘This design is set by computer. How does the Earth revolve around the Sun? Why lunar eclipse and solar eclipse occur, we make all these things physically with the help of this board sheet.
Children learn all these things while playing. They don’t even realize that they are reading. We can call this a learning kit. We have prepared more than 30 such products.
Let me show you a product shaped like a turtle and a frog. It has a battery and motor. This product starts running as soon as you turn it on. We sell it in kit format. Children make it themselves as per the instructions given.
Neeraj’s wife and co-founder of this business is Mansi Gupta. Mansi has studied Mass Communication from Delhi. She is a resident of Rajasthan.
Did anyone in your family already do such work? Neeraj started saying, ‘After shifting from Agra to Delhi 40 years ago, father started milk business. Then started working in transport. Both of us (Neeraj and his wife Mansi) are the only ones in the house who started the business.
After father’s death it was difficult to manage the house. Mother started working in the factory. My dream of admission in Kendriya Vidyalaya remained unfulfilled.
After completing 12th the question was what to do? There was a senior where he lived. When I talked to him, he advised me to do mechanical engineering. After completing the course in 2015, I got placed in a company.
Now the family members were feeling that the boy has settled down and should get married, but I wanted something else. During my job, I met some clients who made learning educational kits. Seeing this, I thought – how fun it is to physically create something that we have read about in books and in college.
Neeraj makes different types of science, engineering and maths based products. These are in kit format. Children make it by themselves.
Neeraj says, ‘The place I come from. Never thought there would be a company. When his father died in his childhood, it seemed that now even his dream of education would remain unfulfilled. Somehow, after studying, you will have to do some job.
Neeraj says, ‘Meanwhile, a learning program started in IIT Gandhinagar, Gujarat, in which I got an offer to work. I shifted from Delhi to Gujarat. It is about 2017. I worked here for two years.
He used to make products related to science and mathematics and conduct workshops for children and teachers. This is where I met Mansi. After a few years we got married.
This is Mansi’s family photo. His mother has studied civil engineering. Papa is a CA.
Mansi is designing with her mother. She says, ‘I was a project manager at IIT Gandhinagar. I am resident of Rajasthan. Papa is a CA. When our family members came to know about our marriage, they did not agree. I left the job. After that took admission in MBA.
Then Neeraj and I together started working on this business. Started making different types of learning products based on DIY i.e. Do It Yourself. TIE Ahmedabad provided guidance regarding business. We had invested approximately Rs 2.5 lakh. We had only this much savings.
Mansi is showing some products. She says, ‘It is like a toy, which can be played by children ranging from two years old to the elderly. All products are based on alphabets, science and maths.
For the first time in 2022, we made 50 kits. Took it to the exhibition in Odisha. We thought that some products would be saved, but all the products were sold on the first day itself. Parents liked this product very much.
Mansi and Neeraj are with their team. Along with him, his mother also does designing work.
After that we started selling the product through website and e-commerce platform. Till now we have sold more than 30 thousand products.
Now our products are also available in different Army Cantts. The range of products is from Rs 150 to Rs 1500. Till now we have done a business of about Rs 1.5 crore.
Mansi says that her company comes in STEM i.e. Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths industry. The global business of this industry is worth Rs 86 thousand crores, while India has a market of Rs 1600 crores. It is increasing by 10% annually.
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