With their creative and affordable brick production company, David Gogoi, Rupam Choudhury, and Mousam Talukdar—three young engineering graduates from Guwahati—are making waves in North East’s building industry. Founded in 2018 by three young graduates from Assam Engineering College as their collage project, Zerund hopes to close this fiscal year with almost 32 crores. The venture started off with less than Rs 50 lakh of capital after the trio obtained a patent of their product.
Converting Idea Into Reality
Zerund, composed of cement, fly ash, organic compounds and plastic trash instead of the typical red clay bricks, are priced 15 to 25 per cent less than the standard bricks found in stores. “Cement is our primary production expense. Just waste materials make up to 60 to 70 per cent of the raw materials,” said David Gogoi, one of the co-founders and CEO of Zerund. “As a gesture to support our innovation, National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) is offering us fly ash for free,” added David Gogoi.
To create microbeads for the brick-making combination, the trio have developed a three-step machine that shreds discarded plastics. By increasing the bricks’ tensile strength and strengthening its resistance to water absorption, plastic eliminates any chance of moisture in the structures. These lightweight plastic embedded bricks have tiny honeycombs inside that serve as air bubble insulation sheets to prevent penetration of extremely cold or hot temperatures. Since its incorporation in September 2018, Zerund has obtained certification from Assam Engineering College, Public Works Department and the National Test House. The prototype was actually a seventh-semester project that the founders began working on while still in college.
Future Roadmap
Zerund currently operates out of a single production facility in Azara, Guwahati. Remarkably, when they leased it out, the plant was completely operational. “Setting up the plant didn’t need us to pay more money. For less than a lakh, we merely required workers to operate the machines,” said David Gogoi.
According to David, “The operations itself were the source of the operations costs.” The business has chosen to use the same strategy of integrating and expanding existing plants going forward, motivated by the cost-effectiveness of doing so. They are currently negotiating the purchase of plants with a few partners within the State.
Even though the startup’s primary business strategy is B2B, the founders aren’t abandoning B2C since they believe it will provide a superior revenue flow.
In the next ten years, founders of Zerund hope to become the biggest brick company in India, with customers across the North Eastern States. When asked about the business’s existing limitations, David quickly responds that these are chances for growth. They would, however, require substantial funding to grow because they operate in a capital-intensive sector. According to David, it is expected that Zerund would purchase ten more plants over the course of the next three to four quarters, which will cost roughly Rs 15 crore.
Employment Creation
The founders of Zerund are not creating pure profitable business for them only. The company is creating jobs for the youth of the region. Currently, the company employs 45 youth and with the planning of expansion the startup will generate employment opportunities for a couple of hundreds youth in the region.
Secret of Success
The founders of one of the most successful startups of the North East region feel that consistency and innovation are keys of success for startups. They feel innovative ideas that solve people’s problems in a sustainable and cost effective manner hold the opportunity to succeed in the long run. As incubatees of Assam startup – The Nest, founders of Zerund are positive that benefits including increased business acumen and fruitful relationships will generate from the State-owned startup incubation programme of Assam, When the company founders state that they are here to concentrate on their business and make money rather than spending time becoming social media celebrities, it appears that they have a good understanding of the situation. “We don’t need thousands of people to know about our business,” David summarised. “We also don’t want to be social media celebrities. We simply require a small group of decent, resourceful individuals who can help our firm expand and who sincerely care about our items,” he added.
