Bootstrapping a Rs 10,000 crore company: Route Mobile’s journey

A company in India was to acquire Route Mobile from entrepreneur Rajdip Gupta four years after he founded Route Mobile in 2008. The deal was almost final, with a term sheet valuing the firm at Rs 60 crore, until Rajdip received an email from the acquirer with specifics about his “exit plan”. Not keen to step totally away so soon, he thought things over and backed out from the deal. A few years later, the same company came with another proposal: This time, it wanted to be acquired.

Ultimately, Rajdip’s decision to stay put at his startup paid off: He has been able to build Route Mobile into a listed company on the Indian stock exchanges with a market cap of ~Rs 11,170 crore in 2024. The story of Route Mobile is not just one of perseverance and determination, but it also shows that businesses built with the right product-market-fit can scale without external funding. Rajdip did it and believes others can too.

“When I started working on my idea in 2003, the startup ecosystem in India was non-existent. The market was also wary of digital platforms after the dot-com bubble burst in 2000,” says Rajdip Gupta, MD & Group CEO, Route Mobile, in a conversation with Shradha Sharma. “But we thought ahead of the curve by performing a gap analysis in the market and identifying the next big business opportunity in mobile handsets.”

He has a point. India’s journey towards digitisation is nothing short of extraordinary. The country has over 900 million internet users. India is the world’s second-largest smartphone market and shipped 146 million smartphones in 2023. Mobile users have grown too. India had 33.7 million mobile customers as of March 2004, and this figure rose to ~1.1 billion at the end of 2023. Even as enterprises and corporations fine-tune their digital strategy, Route Mobile has had it going from day one.

Starting from a clean slate

Rajdip had a well-paying job in the UK before he was bitten by the entrepreneurial bug and returned to India. His family was apprehensive, considering he had two young children.

“I needed the support of my family, so I told them to give me a year to test my idea. If I were successful, I would continue. If not, I was skilled enough to find another job,” he says.

He had confirmed that CPaaS was an area with several emerging opportunities, and started building Route Mobile, with just $2,000 (~Rs 1 lakh), as a bootstrapped company. Even the initial platform was made from scratch by Rajdip himself, at home, using a second-hand PC.

Instead of looking elsewhere for feedback, Rajdip tested out the product himself. “You should build a product and try to be the first customer of your product,” he says.

Thereon, Route Mobile grew slowly but consistently. Since Rajdip envisaged Route Mobile as a global company, he adopted an M&A strategy to bolster his international ambitions.

Route Mobile’s first acquisition was Malta-based 365squared, an SMS-based firewall solutions company. This was followed by a few more in markets such as Latin America over the next few years.

The emphasis on understanding the dynamics of technology and being attuned to change helped Rajdip and his company. “We touch customers’ lives on a daily basis, be it through mobile banking OTPs or movie tickets on WhatsApp. In fact, we process over 10-15 billion transactions every month as a group,” he adds.

The sheer scale and scope of growth meant that Route Mobile was ready for its next pinnacle, a public listing. Although it attempted to list in 2018, investors were lukewarm about it. Rather than getting bogged down, Rajdip worked harder and restarted the IPO process amidst the pandemic.

Eventually, in September 2020, Route Mobile was listed on the Indian stock exchanges at a 105% premium over the issue price. More than the listing, what reinvigorated Rajdip was that the IPO became a wealth-creation event for his employees, including office attendants.

“An office attendant suddenly had Rs 3 crore in his bank account after the IPO. It was heartwarming,” says Rajdip.

It is all about customers

"We exist because we have customers," observes the founder. "I attribute 100% of my success to my customers and my people." Route Mobile currently has 1,500 employees operating in 22 countries and has been profitable from day one.

The early profitability stemmed from their first customer, based in Dubai, who despite being offered a free trial was happy enough with the product to pay at the outset. Marquee names such as Meta and Google also joined as partners in the early days.

Route Mobile now partners with 1,000 operators — 300 of whom are direct partners — across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. In certain markets, any communication by Emirates, Google, or Amazon is powered by Route Mobile.

At the helm of a global platform today, Rajdip believes that customers are essentially the same worldwide and treats each customer equally. "We serve $1 customers as well as $10 million customers. It is our duty that every single customer in the value chain gets the same respect and the same attention,” he adds.

Betting on the future

“Stickiness is good, but innovation is equally important,” according to Rajdip. This prompted Route Mobile to sharpen its competitive edge through acquisitions and constant innovation. He is aware that the market is fickle and ultra-competitive, so he ensures that he keeps a close eye on what is coming next.

“My advice to technology founders is ‘make sure to be aware of what change is coming next’,” he says.

While Rajdip focuses laser-sharp on scaling up Route Mobile’s presence and offerings, he is equally geared towards helping upcoming entrepreneurs.

“Entrepreneurship is about creating more entrepreneurs. I have built something, but I recognise that the wider ecosystem also needs money,” Rajdip believes. He has kickstarted the process with an investment into Biryani By Kilo.

Also part of his investments is an incubation centre in Virar, where as many as 25 companies, by founders from tier 2 and 3 cities, are building on their ideas using a Rs 10 lakh grant from Rajdip.

Acing the game of life

Entrepreneurs rarely have work-life balance, but Rajdip has now made it a point to take time off to do things he enjoys. Cricket is one of his top passions. In fact, he often plays with his team members at his privately owned cricket grounds in Mumbai.

“I wasn’t allowed in my college team cricket selections due to not having spike shoes. That setback stayed with me. Today, I own a few cricket grounds in Mumbai and also co-own the Chennai Singams team in the Indian Street Premier League,” he adds.

Getting back to cricket has added grit and tenacity to Rajdip’s other playgrounds. It is a reminder that you can turn the game around at any point in life.

“If you miss one opportunity in life, there is a second chance waiting for you. Don’t get disappointed,” signs off Rajdip. These are not just inspirational words, but a reflection of lived experience.