At just 20 years old, Sanjay Kumar Modi from Sanchor, Rajasthan, built NearBook with one clear belief: education should never be limited by affordability.
Founded in 2020, NearBook began as a solution to a deeply personal problem. Sanjay couldn’t afford expensive college textbooks and saw how inaccessible physical books were for students like him. What started as frustration soon turned into purpose.
Coming from a middle-class family, entrepreneurship wasn’t an obvious path. His father had navigated multiple careers, making risk a constant concern at home. Sanjay was given six months to prove NearBook could work. Instead of retreating, he committed fully.
NearBook evolved into one of India’s fastest-growing marketplaces for second-hand books, enabling users to buy, sell, rent, or donate books locally, while promoting sustainability and community-driven reading.
The turning point came on Shark Tank India Season 4, where Sanjay secured ₹40 lakh for 20% equity from Anupam Mittal. Beyond capital, the platform gained national visibility and credibility.
Since then:
📲 20,00,000+ downloads
📈 Rapid growth in used-book transactions
🌱 Expansion of sustainability-focused features
Despite the momentum, Sanjay speaks openly about real challenges: scaling logistics, building trust in peer-to-peer transactions, and competing with digital content. His leadership stands out for its resilience, humility, and long-term vision, deeply shaped by his roots.
Today, NearBook isn’t just a startup. It’s a reminder that small-town problems, when pursued with clarity and persistence, can create large-scale impact.
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Starting small. Growing honestly.
