On May 17, 2025, we hosted the first edition of Meet the Founders Behind Ahmedabad’s Breakout Startups — a new series by eChai Ventures and i-Hub Gujarat. The idea is simple: no pitches, no presentations, just real conversations with founders who are building from the ground up.
The format is intentionally stripped down. Two founders, one moderator, and a room full of curious peers.
For this first session, we had:
Vishvajit Sonagara, founder of Quicko, a tax infra platform used by over 2 million people
Eela Dubey, co-founder of EduFund, helping families across India plan and invest for higher education
“How do you design financial products around family conversations?”
That’s what EduFund is solving. Eela shared how her own experience with education financing shaped the product vision. EduFund helps parents across India plan for higher education through SIPs, mutual funds, loans, and personalized guidance.
The work isn’t just technical — it’s emotional. Especially in smaller cities, where the idea of saving for a child’s future still feels unfamiliar. EduFund has raised $3.5M+ and now partners with Tata AMC, ICICI, DSP, and HDFC Credila. But the real focus is building a brand families trust.
“What if your product is seasonal, regulated, and invisible — and still needs to grow?”
That’s the everyday challenge at Quicko. Vishvajit spoke about building infrastructure for India’s complex tax system — not to chase visibility, but to earn trust and simplify compliance at scale. Since 2015, Quicko has stayed bootstrapped while becoming a backend layer for tax professionals, salaried individuals, and fintech platforms alike.
Most of the company’s work happens behind the scenes — but it powers millions of filings every year. The product is built for clarity, not virality.
“What happens when you remove the pitch deck?”
That’s what this format hopes to answer. The room stayed engaged — not because of high production, but because of how grounded the conversation was. We talked about early hires, product pivots, and the quiet uncertainty that comes with building long-term. Many in the room were going through the same thing — and that created the most valuable kind of connection.
No scripts. Just stories.
“Where does this go from here?”
We’ll continue hosting Meet the Founders sessions every few weeks. Each one will feature two builders from Ahmedabad’s startup ecosystem — across sectors like SaaS, climate, healthtech, fintech, and consumer. The goal is to keep showing what building really looks like, one conversation at a time.
And alongside these events, we’ll be publishing deeper, chapter-style stories on the featured startups — starting soon with full-length profiles on Quicko and EduFund.
You’ll find those on eChai Startup Stream.
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