From hardship to success: How Shivkumar Borade built a Tech startup which is valuing 500 Crores

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Shivkumar Borade, once a mechanic in a small village garage, stunned everyone when he arrived in grand AUDI SUV. It was hard to fathom that someone who had once lived in a dilapidated house and endured days without food had risen to such heights of success.

Shivkumar’s journey began in small village of Pandharpur, a tehsil of Solapur, Maharashtra. His family lived in a kuccha house that barely provided shelter, with rainwater seeping through the roof during monsoons. His mother was a homemaker, and his father ran a modest garage to support the family. Despite their struggles, Shivkumar was determined to change his circumstances.

“There were times when we couldn’t eat for two days straight. Our house was so run-down that rainwater would leak in through the ceiling,” Shivkumar recalled in an exclusive interview with Empowering Indians.

To support his education, Shivkumar started working at a young age while attending the local government school. He took on various jobs—welding, working in the garage, painting jobs, teaching karate, and even driving a newspaper delivery vehicle from midnight to early morning.

“My family wanted me to find a stable job to escape our struggles. I did find one permanent government job, but I couldn’t continue because deep down, I wanted to run my own business and make a significant impact,” Shivkumar, the co-founder of Mytek shared in the interview with Empowering Indians.

He briefly worked at CSF in Kota before realizing his true calling lay elsewhere.

The Birth of Mytek
Shivkumar ventured into government contracts for construction projects, where he noticed a recurring problem: delays in project completion due to communication gaps between contractors and subcontractors.

“When a government contract is awarded, it typically takes 3-4 months to mobilize resources, involving multiple subcontractors, local resources, manpower, and other factors. This delay often leads to cost overruns, which eat into profits,” Shivkumar explained.

Recognizing the need for a solution, Shivkumar and Ashwajeet Wankhede co-founded Mytek Innovations Pvt. Ltd. in 2020, a tech startup designed to streamline the project management process.
Ashwajeet, coming from a modest upbringing with an MBA in Marketing and HR, brought extensive experience from his work with multinational companies like NIIT, TCS, and UST Global. The two entrepreneurs met through a client and, realizing their complementary skills, decided to collaborate.

Mytek’s Vision and Impact
Mytek Innovations Pvt. Ltd. Is a project management and scheduling platform aimed at bridging the gap between contractors and subcontractors. The platform facilitates seamless collaboration, offering tools for detailed scheduling, resource allocation, and cash flow management.

By creating an ecosystem where clients, subcontractors, suppliers, Mytek management, and business associates are collaborated to achieve the mutual objectives, Mytek is revolutionizing the project execution process.

The startup’s mission is to reduce delays and cost overruns, fostering an environment of innovation, reliability, and excellence in project management.

Today, Mytek manages projects across Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, and Telangana, with a client roster that includes prestigious names like Piramal Pharma, Adani, and various government entities and universities.

“Every week, we receive orders worth ₹250 crore on our platform. We have to be selective about which orders to pursue and which to decline,” Shivkumar revealed in an interview with Empowering Indians.

Financial Growth and Future Aspirations
Mytek’s journey began with its first major order of Bharatnet-Mahanet, which was executed in 2021 in challenging circumstances and a rough terrain. Since then, the company has seen exponential growth.

In 2020-21, Mytek’s revenue was ₹17 lakhs, which surged to ₹1.5 crores in 2021-22, and further skyrocketed to ₹10.48 crores in 2022-23.

“We are targeting a revenue of ₹300 crores this year (2024-25) and ₹700 crores by 2026-27,” Shivkumar confidently stated in the interview with Startup Pedia.

The company is also exploring fundraising options, with a current valuation estimated at ₹500 crores.

Reflecting on his journey, Shivkumar shared a piece of advice: “Everyone aspires to be rich and successful, but few have the patience and dedication to achieve it. Work hard and stay patient; success will follow,” in the end of the Empowering Indians interview.