Ankur Kankonkar is living his dream – and says, eyes are not needed if one wants to dream. Dreams can be seen without eyes and Ankur is a living example of that. “I may have lost my eyesight in my teens but I cherished a powerful dream and wanting to gift mankind with something extraordinary in the artificial intelligence field, I am working on it,” claims Ankur who topped the entire BSc stream in Goa and was honoured for it in the 2017 convocation ceremony. He scored 94.5 % in Computer Science which was highest in all nine streams in BSc that Goa University offers and this, when he is visually impaired.
Two years later this youth with gifted intelligence completed his MSc in Information Technology from Chowgule College in Margao in 2019. Nothing can deter him from following his goal, not even his physical disability. Ankur’s vision was totally lost due to a rare, incurable disease (Retinitis Pigmentisa) while he was in his second year B Pharm. He had to give up his Pharmacy course halfway, and opt for BSc for which he had to answer his XII for the second time. Ankur’s combination for XII was Physics, Chemistry and Biology. He answered XII exam for the second time with Maths, Physics and Computer Science and scored 83 % in Computers.
The same year, in 2019 Ankur started his company Kapslock with two co-founders, who are now not a part of his company. Suffering a setback during the covid pandemic, Ankur faced a difficult phase and survival was a challenge. “However, we could manage somehow and come out of that phase,” says Ankur whose software development start-up was converted into a private limited company named ‘Kankonkar Technologies Pvt Ltd’ in 2021. “Ours is a full-fledged company now. My dream is to make this company a public one, sooner or later,” expresses an ambitious Ankur, brain behind ‘AnklyticX’ the brand name of all his software products.
Shifting his focus towards AI analytics and core software development, Ankur got a major breakthrough in 2022, when he bagged a project from the UN. He recalls, “We did leverage for this biggest client that is associated with a group of global network of young persons with disabilities (GNYPwDs). These PwDs were the young ambassadors working on different sectors like education, sexual health, social issues etc. We built a platform for collaborative purposes and offered social media for them. We continue to maintain our services, add new features. It is a continuous process and our association with the UN opened up new avenues for us. We got clients in the US in tech field.”
Ankur bagged a project from ‘Our Ability’ company that does recruitment for persons with disabilities. He also got connected with Food and Beverage sector companies (known as HoReCa industries – hotel, restaurants, catering). He created customer software for companies under HoReCa to handle their market requirements for clients in India and the US.
Ankur has expanded his product base to providing digital marketing solutions, creating posts, running ads, promotional emails and performance marketing for different clients. “We basically specialise in these sectors – government, tech industries, financial service providers and HoReCa. Our clients are from the US, Middle East (UAE), UK and New Zealand apart from India. Approaching these clients or companies was possible due to our wide network and friends. the UN project came through a friend Kartik Sahani in the US who connected us to the UN ambassador. Similarly, Middle East clients became approachable through BNI referrals. I am a BNI member and it helped me to spread my wings across UK and New Zealand too. ‘Network’ determines your ‘net worth’,” shares a thankful Ankur whose company has grown six times from the time it started.
“There is not lot of investment, as ours is a remote first company. We don’t have to spend on office premises or high tech equipment. Our team is of a dozen persons, including three marketing persons, five engineers and some freelancers who are hired on project basis. I always dreamt to be an entrepreneur, and today, at 33, I am living my dream. I feel blessed,” says Ankur who has been awarded ‘Best Disabled Employer’ and honoured at the hands of the Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant on December 19, 2022. He also bagged the ‘Young Achiever’s Award’ by Rotary Club.
Agreeing that sometimes life seems to be a difficult journey, and one does not know what would be the next to happen. “People go in survival mode; I too went through this phase. But living a day at a time and not worrying what’s going to happen, look at yourself first. Take care of your own needs for survival and then ask yourself, what I really want. What should I do of my life, am I comfortable at home, doing nothing or do I have skills that could be put to use to earn a living. Wants and needs differ from person to person. One should zero on what he or she is best at. Once that is found, walk in that direction, and do what gives you joy. Things that you enjoy, will not burn you out. Surround yourself with positive minded people. Right mentors will show you path. I am ready to be someone’s mentor, to guide him/her to start their own business,” says Ankur who has mentored several students to choose their career and business in his gesture of giving back to society. He may have lost sight, but could gain vision, and that’s what makes him different. Today Ankur is eager to show path to those who fumble...
