Lucknow: Selling and purchasing books and other study materials won’t be a difficult job for the students anymore, as a Lucknow University student has built a platform that solves all these problems.Aniket Dubey, a first-year BBA student, has founded Unicycle, a campus-based online marketplace where students can buy and sell pre-owned books, mobile phones, electronic gadgets and even furniture.. The startup focuses on promoting reuse, helping students save money.Aniket conceived this idea in Sept last year, and by Dec, launched the initiative through a social media page. He then roped in a childhood friend from IIIT Bhopal, who created a website for him at a cost of just Rs 7,000. By the end of Jan, the website was functional.Today, the platform has already onboarded around 4,000 users, with transactions ranging between Rs 10,000 and Rs 12,000.“The idea to build such a platform came to me when I saw that students often struggle to find affordable laptops, phones and books. Unicycle is an attempt to create a simple and reliable platform within campuses where students can directly connect and trade,” said Ankit.It has become popular mainly among hostel residents, who, after graduating, want to sell off their books and other material.Ankit said that his team plans to expand the model to 10 to 15 universities across India in the coming months by building student networks in each campus.Unicycle has also partnered with students from IIIT Bhopal, widening its reach beyond Lucknow University.A student user from LU, Rohit Verma, stated that Unicycle has made it much easier for the students to access second-hand study materials and gadgets within the campus, adding that the overall process feels simple, smooth and reliable.Another user, Akshay Mishra, said, “I was able to sell my old laptop quickly without any hassle and at a fair price. It feels like a safe student community marketplace.”Unicycle has also secured first prizes at multiple prestigious university competitions, including Vision X Plan at SMS College, Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti Language University and Zing 3.0 held earlier this year.Unicycle has also secured first prizes at multiple prestigious university competitions, including Vision X Plan at SMS College, Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti Language University and Zing 3.0 held earlier this year.
