This company in Telangana is example of IT Rural hub

Looking ahead, Digiyoda plans to establish additional offices in Bhupalpally, Khammam, and Sircilla

Hyderabad: Previously, Information Technology (IT) was primarily associated with Hyderabad, but its influence has now expanded to Tier-II and Tier-III cities. Rakesh Kokkirala, a native of Parkal in the Hanamkonda district, took the initiative to establish Digiyoda, a company centered around the concept of an IT Rural Hub and set it up in Parkal. Currently, the company has approximately 270 employees.

Rakesh’s journey into the world of digital marketing began in 2014 when he encountered a startup founder from Cambodia who was traveling in India at the time. Rakesh was working as an assistant manager at a hotel on a part-time basis while studying at LPU University in Jalandhar, Punjab. The startup founder introduced him to digital marketing, and Rakesh was given his first project by the startup founder. This marked the beginning of Digiyoda.

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Over time, Rakesh’s friends, who owned startups, approached him for digital marketing services. He then hired BBA graduates from LPU, and with a team of four to five members, Digiyoda was established under the caption ‘Dependable Digital Warrior’.

In 2018, Rakesh was introduced to data annotation, an emerging technology related to Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. Due to the overcrowded digital marketing market, Rakesh decided to transform Digiyoda into a Data Annotation startup. Before COVID-19, the company shifted its base to Hyderabad and set up an office in Madhapur with approximately 60 employees. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the company temporarily relocated to Parkal.

During the pandemic, Rakesh encountered many of his academically talented friends who were unable to secure jobs due to their lack of communication skills. This led him to provide job opportunities in Parkal by imparting training, as data annotation jobs can be performed by any graduate. They began offering training programs and received a significant boost from numerous clients due to their impact-sourcing approach, which involves bringing jobs from cities to towns and attracting more clients.

Looking ahead, Digiyoda plans to establish additional offices in Bhupalpally, Khammam, and Sircilla. Rakesh met with Telangana IT Secretary Jayesh Ranjan six months ago, who assured him of help in terms of human resource training. The government recognized Digiyoda as a Telangana startup. Rakesh’s ultimate goal is to create 1 lakh jobs across small towns in the state. In addition to their full-time workforce, they have already started building a virtual workforce, with approximately 12,000 people enrolled and virtually trained. In November, they successfully executed a project with a workforce of 6,000 people across the country.