AI meets laptop refurbishment in this startup’s facility

This article is a part of Startup Spotlight, a series that features young, up-and-coming startups.

Ashwini Purohit (left), Hemant Luthra (middle), and Saurabh Vyas (right)/ Photo credit: Edify Club

India generates a massive amount of electronic waste every year. Edify Club aims to reduce this environmental burden by promoting reuse over replacement. The company intercepts corporate IT assets before they become scrap.

😟 Problem

A good new laptop in India costs 50,000 rupees (US$530) to 1 lakh rupees (US$1,060) or more. This prices out young professionals in tier-two and tier-three cities. Buyers are forced into the unorganized secondary market, risking fraud and receiving devices without warranties.

Indian corporations cycle out their business-grade laptops every three to four years. Most of these functional devices end up in the grey market or as e-waste. India’s strict e-waste rules now mandate compliant disposal of these assets.

💡 Solution

The company acquires retired business laptops and processes them at its Bengaluru facility. The following product features outline how the company restores and sells these devices: 

• Refurbishment: Complete restoration includes chip-level motherboard repair and body repainting.
• AI grading: Computer-vision technology evaluates cosmetics and standardizes pricing at scale.
• Warranty: Every device includes a 12-month guarantee, extendable to three years.
• Accessibility: Laptops are sold online with EMI and cash-on-delivery options.

Image credit: Edify Club

📊 Market size

An estimated 20 million computing devices are destined for e-waste in India. The startup calculates this represents a US$5 billion market opportunity. The upcoming end of Windows 10 support accelerates this incoming supply of used machines.

🤝 Team

• Ashwini Purohit. Co-Founder and CEO. He has experience building and scaling startups, having co-founded Winuall, an edtech platform that helped over 50,000 coaching institutes go digital. 
• Saurabh Vyas. Co-Founder. He has experience in management consulting, analytics, and building and scaling edtech ventures.
• Hemant Luthra. Co-Founder. He has experience in sales, business development, and P&L management, having led teams and scaled businesses across ecommerce, hospitality, and healthtech.

🚀 Traction

• The company reports about 50 crore rupees (US$5.3 million) in annual recurring revenue.
• Diverted more than 50,000 devices from becoming e-waste.
• Secured Indian cricketer Ravi Bishnoi as a brand ambassador and investor.

🏆 Competition

Local alternatives include Cashify, GNG Electronics, and unorganized dealers. The startup operates differently by rejecting the marketplace model. Instead, it owns the entire refurbishment process in-house.

Direct control over quality allows the brand to offer longer warranties than some original manufacturers. Its direct-to-consumer approach mirrors global players like Back Market.

💰 Financials

🚩Risks