BackAim to make cloud storage affordable, accessible for Indians, says DigiBoxx CEO
There is a better and more affordable cloud storage alternative available online besides the usual ones pushed by big tech companies, states DigiBoxx CEO Arnab Mitra in an interaction with Mint.
PremiumData storage is an essential part of our daily digital lives. The democratization of the internet, with cheaper and faster broadband plans, has led to an exponential increase in data consumption. Physical storage offers higher capacity but less flexibility when it comes to ease of access and ability to share and collaborate while on the move. Cloud storage answered this need and there are plenty of services available online to cater to individual as well as businesses. DigiBoxx is one such service that entered the fray in 2020. Arnab Mitra, CEO of DigiBoxx, shares his thoughts in an exclusive interaction with LiveMint on what sets them apart from the competition.
Excerpts:
Q. So DigiBoxx is essentially a cloud storage service. How is it different from Google Drive, Dropbox or other such cloud storage services?
Arnab Mitra: Yes, DigiBoxx is a Storage as a Service. Its USP is that it has been developed in India and users’ digital assets are stored in data centres located in India. We identified the unmet need of the citizens who wanted a service that made sure that their data stayed in the country. It is also highly scalable, meaning it can cater to the needs of individuals, freelancers or gig workers, small businesses and enterprises.
Most cloud service providers offer paid plans that are not as affordable as DigiBoxx. To put this in perspective, one month’s 100GB subscription of Google Drive is equivalent to a 2TB three-month plan on Digiboxx. It is very economical for the average user and business.
It also includes the recently-launched DigiFotos feature, which lets users sync their photos automatically from the smartphone to their DigiBoxx cloud drive.
Q. Data protection is one of the major concerns these days, especially when storing in cloud-based services. With brands like Google, Microsoft, and Dropbox already in the market, why should people trust you?
Arnab Mitra: All the cloud storage services you have mentioned have their data centres located in multiple locations – in India and around the world. However, users are not given the choice as to where they would like their data to reside. With growing concerns over data ownership and digital IP, it is necessary to be more conscious about where your data is being stored. The service is encrypted and the plans, including the free one, are ad-free and does not track usage. Another reason why people should trust us is the fact that we are here for the long-term. The team is constantly finetuning our existing service and adding new features like regional language support, Android and iOS apps for anywhere access and backup, the DigiFotos feature that lets people carry their photos wherever they go, and more. DigiBoxx is also available as a storage option in the Jio Photos app in all Jio set-top boxes (STBs). In addition, we are now working on releasing a Windows desktop app soon.
Q. You claim this service to be purely 'Made in India', is this the only thing that you are banking on or there's some other offering that may attract people to switch?
Arnab Mitra: DigiBoxx is proud about being an indigenous service, which is why we are so vocal about it. But that is not our only USP. The storage as a service we offer is very affordable and can cater to the individual user as well as an SMB, scaling from basic cloud sharing features to multi-user, asset tracking, collaboration capabilities.
The plans on offer are extremely competitive. Individual users can invest ₹30 to get 2 terabytes or 2,000GB. Small businesses can avail of 500GB at ₹999 and this includes access to 50 users, which is not offered by any international cloud storage service. This makes it more cost effective for companies to collaborate over digital campaigns and creatives via DigiBoxx, get web traffic insights and create custom workflows.
Q. Looking at a broader prospect, how has been the reaction of people since the launch of your services? What sort of common concerns they flagged?
Arnab Mitra: The response from day one has been phenomenal. DigiBoxx has, within six months of launch, had a million people registering on its platform. The numbers have doubled now when it comes to registration and over a million customers are currently using Digiboxx on a daily basis. The reaction has been very positive, many have lauded the fact that it is an aatmanirbhar service. There are have been a few concerns over data access response times, though this is also dependent on connectivity issues. Our customer care team works diligently to respond and resolve such queries. The DigiBoxx team also receive a lot of positive feedback on how we can improve the service, user interface and feature set. These are essential in building a better product for the people of India.
Q. What about funding? How is the firm carrying on its business since 2020?
Arnab Mitra: DigiBoxx has been bootstrapped by private investors including Vivek Suchanti, Ashish Jalan, Avik Sanyal and myself. At present, our valuation stands at 30 million and we are looking to raise 8 million in our next round at the same valuation.
Q. Lastly, what's the future plan and where do you see your firm going in the next 5 years?
Arnab Mitra: We are growing our footprint in India with more data centres. We are already present in Noida, Mumbai and Indore. Very recently, we opened our first full-blown development centre, micro-DC in Kolkata and also hired local talent there. We have conducted campus recruitments partnering with large engineering groups like Techno India and standalone private institutes. Our target was to recruit 100 new talents by this fiscal.
We have identified six hubs in all and also want to have a presence in Bhubaneshwar. Some of our engineers are based in Bengaluru and Hyderabad too. This is because all these cities I have mentioned are also strong engineering hubs from where we can tap quality talent.
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