How this IIT Bombay alumni’s bootstrapped startup achieved profitability within a month

“Good code not just improves the software impacting billions of users but also tremendously increases the work satisfaction levels of coders,” believes 38-year old Mitul Bid, Founder, CEO, and Chief Coder of Pune startup Coditas Technologies. 

Cadets are a product development startup that designs and develops software applications. The SaaS startup offers services pertaining to the entire software development life cycle. Coditas engages with clients at any stage, from conceptualisation, to deployment and support.

Founded in November 2014, Coditas has served over 132 clients across the globe. While most of its clients are based out of Silicon Valley, Coditas’ Indian clients include HDFC Life, Symantec, Coverfox, and ZestMoney. 

Changing perceptions

“Before starting Coditas, I travelled to different geographies, met coders, and discussed the quality of code in India. It wasn’t that individual coders were not good, but the organisational drive for quality code was not adequate,” Mitul says. 

This planted the seed for Coditas. Mitul wanted to build an organisation that promotes quality coding and changes the perception of Indian coders globally. 

With an initial investment of Rs 1 lakh, Mitul co-founded Coditas with college friend Janak Porwal. “In the initial few months, Janak and I realised that we have different visions and so we parted ways amicably,” says Mitul. 

Then, Mitul’s wife Priti stepped in as the Co-founder and Head of HR and Operations.

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No sales team and zero liability

Mitul has studied BTech in Computer Science and Engineering from IIT Bombay. Born and raised in Kenya, Mitul headed the software services division at Omniscent before starting up. He has also worked as a Senior Solution Architect at Gemstone. 

Of Coditas’ hiring process, Mitul says, “We typically do more than 100 interviews to find one team member that matches our standards.” Today, the team strength at Coditas is more than 250.

He further explains, “It is thus much easier for us to get business than to get the right candidates to deliver the work. That explains why we do not have a single person in the sales team but have five dedicated in-house recruiters.” 

The startup has been bootstrapped since day one and has raised zero external funding. “We have bought our office premises and enjoy a balance sheet of zero liability,” the Co-founder adds. 

Revenue model 

Coditas’ target audience is anyone who wants to build software or derive any intelligence out of Coditas’ data.

“We, as coders, are not concerned about the domain or the technology. Our prime focus is to convert a real-world problem into data, and use a computer in solving it more efficiently,” says Mitul. 

Coditas offers services including design, architecture consulting, software development, cloud services, and anything that revolves around architecture consulting and software development. 

The rates vary from project to project, depending on the skills and experience levels. Coditas works on a time-and-material revenue model, charging clients based on the time involved in a particular project. It shares a part of the client fees with the team. 

According to Mitul, the startup has been doubling its team size, revenues and profits year-on-year. “This year we will be doing more than Rs 50 crore in revenue and we are targeting Rs 200 crore within the next three years,” says Mitul, adding that the startup has been profitable since the first month of operations.

Market overview and future plans 

The software development sector is one of the fastest growing in the world. Interestingly, owing to globalisation and technology explosion, the market is not restricted by geography. Coditas competes with the likes of Multidots Solutions, Provab, Tasaa, and QuadLabs. 

While there are thousands of companies building software, Coditas’ primary focus continues to be “quality code,” says Mitul. “One company that we do not consider our competitor but an inspiration is ThoughtWorks,” he adds. 

Going ahead, Coditas wants to stick to its current plan and continue building quality software. “We do not intend to raise any money since we are self-sufficient,” says Mitul.  

(Edited by Evelyn Ratnakumar) 

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