<p style="text-align: justify;">India is becoming one of the world’s largest economies but today only about 16 out of 1000 people in the country owns a PC. While the penetration is quite low, more than 1.5 lakh tones of e-waste is generated annually most of which is quite harmful for the environment. Technology is being updated faster than what it was five years ago which means that we are leaving behind large amounts of redundant and outdated devices and hardware. A Gurgaon based startup called Reboot, has taken this as an opportunity and has been managing e-waste efficiently by refurbishing and selling unwanted electronic items.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Reboot started off in 2012, by founders Rahul Chowdhury and Anand Tater, where the company buys old electronic items for reasonable rates and then refurbishes them in their factory to sell them off at a much affordable price. The idea of refurbishing electronic goods is nothing new though as companies like Overcart and Greendust are some well-known names that have established themselves in the country. So what is so new about this startup?</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Rahul comments, “We (Reboot) are the only company worldwide that provides a full one-year warranty on the refurbished products that we sell. One of the biggest issues a customer faces when he buys a refurbished product is that it feels as if he is investing in a second hand or a used product. But we make sure that what we sell to the consumer is of high quality.”</p><p style="text-align: justify;">All the old products go through a 16-point check to ensure quality and then they are packed in boxes and sold to customers online as well as through physical stores via a zonal partner program. The have established close to 20 experience centres around the country. Reboot is also a Microsoft Registered Refurbisher which means it installs genuine Windows and other licensed products (starting at Rs. 600) on the laptops and desktops that it sells. The most affordable PC starts at Rs. 5000 and they also sell refurbished smartphones that start at Rs. 999.The founders said that currently they are selling to a variety of consumers and have classified them into four categories. Educational institutions have the highest demand as 40% of the total sales comes from that category. Small to medium sized enterprises, NGOs and retail consumers each constitute 20% of the total sales.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The company is also working on a program where it is planning introduce the Reboot Certified Engineers / Entrepreneurs program. This will include training of over 10,000 individuals who will provide their expertise to remote places in the country via the REBO (Rural Empowerment and Business Optimiser) platform. Each REBO will be trained for duration of 4-6 weeks via formal in class training and handheld device training so that they can act as an aid consumers in locations where there is communication or lack of understanding. They are also planning on setting up its own metallurgy recycling plant where it will be extracting metal and plastic parts and trading them directly.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Reboot is certainly one of the few companies that has taken the vision of refurbishing to a new level. Instead of just selling refreshed old products, the company is offering a more reliable way to buy them and where the customer is assured of the quality. So does the company aim at eradicating the dubious scrap markets of Nehru Place? Well the founders say that apart from aiming at reducing e-waste and providing a better solution for selling old electronic items, they want to spread awareness about the fact that outdated electronic products might be useless for someone but it can be quite valuable for someone who can’t afford a new one.</p>
