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Neeraj Sharda and Sudhanshu Goyal (PGDM 49th batch, 2014-2016) who are management graduates from Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta have joined hands and launched two unique initiatives as part of their broad vision of transforming the offline advertising market. Their first solution is Chikoop which is an audio mobile marketing solution for all phones. Their second initiative is 8Hoarding is a revolutionary venture leading the much desired change in the way outdoor advertising industry work in India. It leverages big data intelligence, sophisticated mathematical models and inputs of advertising veterans to help brands select the right outdoor media for their campaigns.

“Indian businesses are adopting the online way of doing things and rightly so, but in a country like ours one cannot really discard the offline ways so early. They still hold the key to success given we leverage the power of technology and big data analytics to make them smarter”, says Sharda- Co-founder and CSO at the venture.

Sharda is a management graduate from IIM Calcutta and an Electrical Engineering graduate from IIT Bombay. He has been a star in academics since his early school years, achieving state ranks in class 10th and 12th and securing place on Institute’s Honor Roll of IIM Calcutta. He has also worked as strategy consultant with Bain & Co. and Tata Strategy Management Group.

The venture has many awards and recognitions in its name including Hot Pitch Kolkata award from the prestigious startup network TiECON, among top 40 globally in Rice University b-plan competition, among top teams in Tata Social Enterprise Challenge and multiple international competitions conducted by IIM Calcutta.