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2018, New Delhi. There was an insane amount of money on the table. And for Rakesh Verma, there was every reason to yield to the temptation this time. CE Info Systems—the parent company of MapmyIndia—was co-founded by Verma and wife Rashmi from a three-bedroom apartment in New Delhi in 1995. Over the next two decades, the duo painstakingly built and profitably scaled their digital maps and location tech venture against all odds.
The biggest obstacle, in fact, was the beginning. The techies spent over a decade in the US, worked with companies such as General Motors and IBM, and came back to India in 1990. “Are you crazy to start your own venture?” was the reaction of friends, family and well-wishers. “You guys must be nuts to even think of digital maps,” was the common disbelief when the venture morphed into digital maps and location tech service and products in the late 90s. “We must have heard both the words—crazy and nuts—hundreds of time,” recalls Varma.
Back in 2018, both words came back to haunt them. There was an acquisition offer from PhonePe. Though this was not the first time Verma was entering into a sell-out discussion—Yahoo tried its luck in 2006, Japanese map publisher Zenrin expressed its intent in 2012, ecommerce major Flipkart had a strong chance in 2015—PhonePe’s bid boldly stood out. “Are you crazy?” remarked one of Verma’s close friends who got to know about the amount on offer. “Just go ahead and accept it,” was the advice. “You guys would be nuts if you refuse,” quipped one more confidant. “Who says no to so much of money?”
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