Kranti Gada, founder of neOwn, set out to make reading both accessible and enjoyable for children. Drawing from her experience as a mother, she created India’s first app-based book rental service for children, neOwn, that tackles common challenges parents face—cluttered shelves, high costs, and building consistent reading habits. Today, neOwn goes beyond a book rental service, offering tools and guidance that help parents nurture confident, curious, and well-rounded kids.

Q: What inspired you to start neOwn and the subscription model?
The inspiration came from observing the digital era and noticing two types of digital transformation: one where technology is an enabler, and one where technology is the final consumption. Tech as an enabler has scaled tremendously. For example, Amazon enables shopping—items come to your home. Zepto, Zomato, and other quick commerce platforms enable existing behaviours. The culture of reading and borrowing books has always been there in the library system, but it needed the support of technology to turn it into a convenient process in far-flung areas as well, as libraries are not everywhere. Children are more inclined to reading and have longer times for the activity than adults, but the high price of books and limited access are the main barriers. Convenience and easy selection are also among the main concerns for parents. neOwn wants to make books available as simply as ordering food from an app, and thus, help parents instill a reading habit in children. A child is then ready to get into a long-term reading habit, which thus opens up the door to providing other resources for their growth, mental development, and physical development.

Q: How do you define innovation in education in India?
Innovation in education is about making resources accessible, convenient, and appropriate for each child. It is not only affordability but also helping match the right book to the child’s reading level and interest. Technology allows the creation of a digital shopfront that reaches every corner, providing the same books, cost, and convenience to a child in a small village or a city. It is not only about technology and new ways of achieving success through it. It also involves the support of both parents and children in choosing the right way of learning and selecting the best method, and it doesn’t matter if parents are not highly educated. It is a matter of choice.

Q: How does neOwn cater to children from non-English backgrounds or first-generation learners?
On our app books are available in multiple languages, and cataloguing is age-wise. Even if a child is older but reading material at a lower level, the learning-to-read catalogue helps start with basic words, regardless of age. Guidance from our book curator ensures children can progress at their own pace, making reading inclusive for all backgrounds.

Q: What is your perspective on audiobooks versus reading physical books?
Knowledge in any form is useful, but reading strengthens comprehension and the ‘reading muscle’ of the brain.

While audio gives instant sensory experience, reading to an engrossing extent and in a different way stimulates creativity, fantasy and comprehension. The whole cognitive process of reading is not at all equivalent to listening to a text, thus reading offers benefits for memory, understanding and application that cannot be completely replicated through audio alone.

Q: What is your procedure for selecting books for different age groups and interests?
Each book undergoes a thorough evaluation based on the quality of its language, grammar, pictures, suitability for the age group, and novelty. Every book is allocated a main age group along with other age groups, so more advanced or slower readers can reap the benefits. The aim is to keep a minimum of 2,000 books per age group, often more, thus giving a wide and attractive collection to every child.

Q: What are the methods used for personalising each child’s experience?
Each child chooses five books per month from age-appropriate catalogs. Guidance is provided for selecting books, including consultations with a book curator via WhatsApp or Zoom. The curator helps children explore new genres or reading levels, ensuring that choices match their interests and abilities.

Q: How is impact measured at neOwn?
Impact is measured by the number of children reading with neOwn, currently over 10,000. Environmental impact is also tracked: every 2 kg of rented books saves roughly 2 kg of carbon emissions, making renting books a sustainable alternative to purchasing.

Q: How is neOwn funded?
Currently bootstrapped, funded by the founder and family, with plans to raise external funding in the near future.

Q: Are there any special initiatives or events?
neOwn runs a free reading challenge where children commit to 20 minutes of reading per day for 20 days. Participants vote on the app, receive reminders, and celebrate milestones. This encourages children to stay consistent and helps parents track progress.

Q: Are there collaborations with schools, and are there expansion plans?
Exhibitions have been held in over 50 schools in Mumbai. The reading challenge is also implemented in collaboration with schools, which encourage participation to improve students’ reading levels. Our expansion plans include Bangalore and NCR within the next 3–4 months.

Q: Any final thoughts?
Community-level initiatives, like society reading programs and school efforts, help build a strong reading culture. A better reading culture encourages more children to read and aligns with neOwn’s mission to make reading accessible, engaging, and enjoyable.