For almost two decades now, all of us at Digit have been driven by one single goal – to be India’s technology navigator. We just want to do our bit towards making our nation the technology superpower we know it can (and should) be. August is special to all of us, because we celebrate the birth of our nation after gaining independence in 1947, and while we usually celebrate Indian achievements in the form of articles and videos, we are always looking for ways to do more.
As a media company, our strength lies in spreading information to you, our readers. Every other media company does the same, and all of us survive off money earned from advertising. Companies want to reach you and inform you about their products, and they use media platforms to do so.
This system is slightly biased, however, because it ensures that big companies can afford to pay more to be in your face for a lot longer than, say, medium-sized companies, who in turn have much bigger budgets than small companies, and so on. As a result, starting off from scratch as an entrepreneur (not just in India) is like trying to run a race with not just your hands tied behind your back, but with your legs chained, and a backpack full of bricks strapped to you! It feels almost impossible at times.
Now, don’t get us wrong, we’re not veering towards radical socialism, or suggesting that we change drastically to start living as the Venus Project envisioned, or anything like that. The biggest companies are that big because they make awesome products, and there’s nothing wrong with them being big. However, we still see our role as being a media company that does its best to give you all the information it can. But how can we do that if we do not even know ourselves about most of the Indian tech entrepreneurs out there? Sure, we have a pretty good handle on the stuff happening in large metro cities and richer states such as Delhi, Karnataka or Maharashtra, but honestly, if you’re a tech entrepreneur in a much smaller state, chances are we’re never going to hear of you.
This has to change.
#IndiaProject
We want to hear from every Indian Tech Entrepreneur out there, who has put his or her life into building a small tech company. More importantly, we want you, our readers, to hear from all of these budding Narayana Murthys. So how do we do it?
We’re going to dedicate a month or two each to states and union territories in India and invite technology entrepreneurs based in that particular state to give us details about their business. We then help them create a dedicated page about their business on our website and also create advertisements, social media posts, and even print advertisements for a select few who we will choose via lucky draw. We will foot the bill for all associated manpower and material costs for doing all of the above.
What we need from you, our readers, is to share this article, the pages of companies you find interesting, the advertisements, and the social media posts (they will be tagged “#IndiaProject” to distinguish them from everything else), so that we can collectively help spread the word about uniquely Indian companies.
Begin!
So where do we start? We’ve chosen Jammu and Kashmir as the pilot project. There is only one thing that transcends all boundaries these days, and no, it’s not music anymore, it’s technology. So let’s all get together and spread awareness of the work our brothers and sisters in J&K are doing, and if you know someone from the region who is a technology entrepreneur, share this article with them, and get them to contact us to share their work and their passion for technology.
We don’t want to jump too far ahead, as it’s a pilot project that’s just taking off, but next on our list is Sikkim… Watch the space below for changes to the current project area.
Copyleft
It is in India’s best interest that this idea is not limited in any shape or form. Instead of trying to copyright it, we’re releasing this idea as copyleft (public domain) instead. We actively encourage all other media houses or influencers with a whole lot of subscribers (on Instagram, YouTube, Twitch, TikTok, etc), to do the same thing in their own vertical. If you’re a popular actor, maybe you could do this for small Indie film producers across India. Media houses could do this for entrepreneurs in whatever field they write about, including technology. The sky is the limit!
If you want to use the same hashtag as us – “#IndiaProject” – we welcome you to do so. If not, and you want to come up with your own catchphrase, we welcome that too! Our only aim is to help small scale Indian entrepreneurs get some free advertising, and as long as you’re doing that, we love you!
If you’re a reader and are sharing this with your friends, thank you so much for helping your fellow Indians.
Jai Hind!
The not-so-fine print for entrepreneurs
Current Project Area – Jammu and Kashmir
Write in to India@digit.in and give us details of your company and what you do. Being a technology media house, Digit requires that your product or service be in the technology space, preferably targeting end users of technology in some way.
Your company has to be founded in the project area listed above, and we will require you to share a Company Incorporation Certificate with a Registered Address showing in the specified region.
As we are doing this to help small companies, you have to have a turnover of under Rs 5 Cr per annum. Please include a copy of your latest audited P&L statement in your application.
We will select between 10/15 companies for web advertising, social media promotion and magazine advertisements per month. This selection will be via lucky draw only, and once selected for an advertisement, social media or print ad, the company’s name will be removed from the draw to ensure each company gets only a single benefit.
If so desired, companies can purchase subsequent advertising at discounted rates, but this will not be under the banner of ‘#IndiaProject’. All advertising/promotion under ‘#IndiaProject’ banner will always be free and selected by lucky draw only.
No relatives of any employee of 9.9 Media is eligible for this offer.
Team Digit
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