Campus on cloud

For every problem known to humankind, there’s a startup working to solve it. Being herald as the state of Andhrapreneurs, this time we bring you a team of two, who have made it to the Forbes list of “Forbes 30 under 30”. Stumagz, a venture by Frederick Devarampati & Sri Charan Lakkaraju, offers colleges and students to create a digital campus that’s smart, safe and multi-faceted.

How it started

Frederick Devarampati marks the starting point of his journey in 2010 when as a student he was running the college magazine. He recollects the enthusiasm of his student years in Pydah college, Vizag and how students would contribute to the magazine. His penchant for design, however, took him to Hyderabad where he built a digital design agency and learned the process of digitalising a product. Meanwhile, Sri Charan Lakkaraju was working at Infosys, where CSR initiatives took him to campuses in tier 1 and tier 2 cities as a skill development trainer. Here he saw the gap between talent and opportunities, and his first venture went on to be a finishing school for colleges.

Venture wise

A chance discussion between the two on better ways to connect colleges digitally, finally gave the duo the big moment. After all, the smartphone era had started, and most students were a part of it. Also, colleges could emerge from static websites with dynamic content and facilities. Stumagz, came to being in November 2015, in Hyderabad. Taking its first steps as a portal for college students to participate and showcase their talents, 303 colleges soon became a part of this digital campus initiative.

Journey this far

Having been a free offering thus far, today Stumagz has grown. It offers a premium suite with multiple services that allows colleges to build their own digital campus through a page on the site. Offering a win-all equation, students create their own profile and showcase their skill-sets or innovations. They get to express themselves, connect socially, and in the larger picture get noticed by corporates as well. Colleges administer the page, ensuring that only curated information goes online. Also going beyond the static websites that most colleges have, Stumagz enables for more dynamic content.

Success Parameters

Having made it to the Forbes list of “Forbes 30 under 30”, they have signed a MoU with Andhra Pradesh Information Technology Academy as well. With a million visitors, they have spotted talents, and also enabled companies to make informed campus selections. “In fact, Uber picked up interns for Vizag and Hyderabad through a contest run on Stumagz across colleges and 2600 students participated”, shares Charan. Such recruitment drives are being done for other companies as well. “My moment of pride was when Richard Branson tweeted about us after I had written to him sharing how our venture was inspired by his books”, shares Frederick.

The future

The options a digital campus opens up are limitless. Student assignments, two-way discussions, management and even fee payments can become seamless and safe through Stumagz. Also, students are better connected to the world of opportunities. A digital platform connects everyone to the cloud, and opportunities become accessible wherever one may be. With Vizag being the next preferred destination to expand operations, Stumagz is all set to ride the digital campus wave by reaching out to the many colleges here.

Quick facts

Inception: 2015

Founders: Frederick Devarampati & Sri Charan Lakkaraju

Employee count: 26

Awards/Recognition: Forbes list of “Forbes 30 under 30”, Best Creative Design Startup-Design Summit, Hyderabad HY10 Startup by HYSEA, Best EdTech Solution for HigherEd Institutions by EdTechReview, HOT100 Startups India by HOT100.