From a Rickshaw Seat to a 400 crore Startup. The Story Corporate India Didn’t See Coming

A boy from Saharsa once failed a peon interview because he could not recognise the iPhone logo.

Years later, the same boy is building one of Bihar’s fastest growing mobility startups.

This is the journey of Dilkhush Kumar. And it did not begin in a co working space. It began on the worn out seat of a rickshaw he drove to survive.

Dilkhush grew up in a small village in Saharsa. After his 12th, the money ran out and education paused. To keep the household afloat, he pulled rickshaws, sold vegetables and drove autos across the Saharsa Purnia Patna belt. On a good day he made 300 to 400 rupees.

But every ride showed him a pattern.

Passengers struggled to find reliable transport. Drivers earned less than they deserved. There was no transparency, no safety and absolutely no system. While others studied case studies, Dilkhush experienced the problem firsthand.

In 2017, he made his first attempt at solving it with AryaGo, a local cab aggregator. The app broke often. Drivers were sceptical. Customers did not understand app-based booking and he had no funding, no degree or tech support. But failure turned out to be his greatest teacher. He learnt how demand shifts in small towns, how pricing can make or break trust and how drivers think about income stability.

In 2022, he tried again with RodBez. A mobility platform built around the realities of Bharat, not the assumptions of metro cities. Intercity taxi booking. Verified drivers. Fair pricing. Call center support for users who prefer voice over apps. Cash and UPI. Simpler tech. Real world solutions.

Today RodBez has served more than 25 lakh passengers, onboarded over 5,000 drivers and rides surge to nearly 400 a day during peak season. The company is valued at more than 400 crore and is backed by leaders like Ritesh Agarwal and Namita Thapar.

Here is what this story teaches entrepreneurs and operators:

• Ground truth beats boardroom theory

• Products for Bharat must respect local behaviour

• Simplicity is a feature

• Failure is only fatal when you stop learning

• Real credibility comes from lived experience, not English fluency or pedigree

Not all founders start with pitch decks. Some start with survival. And sometimes that is exactly what builds the strongest companies.