Kopykitab Revolutionizes Higher Education with Personalized and Accessible Virtual Learning

In India’s tier-2 and tier-3 cities, the path to a professional career is often blocked by a simple, physical barrier: the cost and availability of textbooks. While urban students might take a nearby bookstore or a fast delivery for granted, students in "Bharat" often rely on blurry photocopies or second-hand markets. Sumeet Verma, Co-founder of Kopykitab, is dismantling this barrier. By digitizing and "sachetizing" the higher education lifecycle, Sumeet is ensuring that 6 million students across India have access to the learning materials they need at a price point as low as a samosa.

Sumeet Verma’s transition from the world of global luxury retail to the trenches of Indian EdTech is a story of grit and clarity. After building a high-flying career at Coca-Cola, 3M, and a startup vertical in the US, Sumeet left his Green Card track to return to India. Alongside his childhood friend and co-founder Amit Shrivastava, he launched Kopykitab to solve a fundamental problem: the broken accessibility of higher education content.

The Problem: The "IP Moat" and the Cost of Learning

For decades, the Indian higher education market (serving over 40 million students) has been governed by physical textbooks. These books are expensive, heavy, and often unavailable in remote areas. The result? A massive shadow market of photocopies and used books where students try to save money, often at the expense of having the latest content.

"Publishers have been around for six decades," Sumeet explains. "Convincing them to hand over their intellectual property in digital form was an uphill task. There was no existing model in India for this. I had to visit one publisher exactly 100 times to get them to sign up. They were afraid of their IP being pirated like the music industry was by MP3s."

The Solution: Sachetization of Content

Kopykitab didn't just put books online; they reimagined how students consume them. Taking a lesson from the FMCG industry (like Coca-Cola’s shift to one-way packs), Sumeet introduced "sachet pricing" for education. Students can buy or rent individual chapters, notes, or previous year question papers.

The Evolution: From Physical to Digital

Kopykitab didn't start as a digital-only platform. Initially, they tried to "indianize" the US model of renting physical textbooks (similar to Chegg). However, Sumeet quickly realized that physical logistics—warehouses in every state and two-way delivery costs—would make scaling impossible.

"What I learned from Coke was that two-way logistics is a costly affair," Sumeet recalls. "The western world was moving to digital, and we wanted the first-mover advantage in India. We pivoted early from physical to digital, which was a tough but necessary call."

Organically Scaling to 8 Million

Perhaps most impressive is how Kopykitab reached its scale. Without an army of sales agents or a massive marketing budget, the platform has seen 8 million downloads. The secret? **SEO and Content Strength.** Co-founder Amit Shrivastava leveraged his deep tech background to build an organic engine that captures students right when they are searching for their curriculum topics.

Building a Lean and Character-Driven Team

Despite managing millions of users, Kopykitab maintains a remarkably lean team of around 65 members. Sumeet attributes this efficiency to hiring for "Character over Skillset."

"Skillset can be taught, but right attitude and character are inherent," Sumeet asserts. "I call our team the 'Kopykitab Family.' Everyone feels like it’s their own company. We don't rush into hiring; we wait for the right person who aligns with our vision of making a difference, not just taking a job."

Lessons for Entrepreneurs

Sumeet’s journey offers a roadmap for founders who want to build "solid" businesses rather than just "loud" ones:

1. Know Your Industry

Don't just pick a "hot" sector. Sumeet recommends starting a business in an area where you already have domain knowledge. Acquiring industry knowledge on the fly is a major time-killer for startups.

2. Complementary Co-founders

Sumeet (Sales/Marketing) and Amit (Tech) provide a perfect balance. Having a co-founder you can trust implicitly makes the "bottom-hitting" low times manageable.

3. Focus on Sanity, Not Vanity

Avoid the trap of chasing "billion-dollar market" dreams. Focus on unit economics and real revenue. "Don't be a chicken entrepreneur—trying to keep a safe salary while building a business. You have to be fully committed to the cause."

4. The Long-Term Game

EdTech isn't a two-year exit play. It requires a decade of commitment. "There are many outcomes you can't control. Go with the flow, but be committed for the long term. If your heart is there, the money will eventually follow."

Kopykitab is more than just a digital library; it is an infrastructure for professional dreams in India's small towns. By turning "Kopy" (stationary) into a "Learning Journey," Sumeet Verma and his team are ensuring that no student’s career is limited by the price of a book.

About the Guest

Sumeet Verma is the Co-founder and CEO of Kopykitab. With over 15 years of experience in marketing and sales at global corporations like Coca-Cola and 3M, Sumeet is an expert in scaling businesses and localized product strategy. A serial entrepreneur who successfully exited his previous venture in the US, he returned to India to democratize higher education. Under his leadership, Kopykitab has become India's leading digital platform for higher education content, serving millions of students in Bharat.

Kopykitab is a Bengaluru-based EdTech company that provides a comprehensive digital library and learning ecosystem for higher education, competitive exams, and professional courses. By partnering with leading publishers and offering sachetized digital content, Kopykitab makes learning affordable and accessible for students across India's tier-2 and tier-3 cities.