From Office Boy to “Desi Canva” CEO

New Delhi, February 20, 2026: In an era of high-speed internet and Ivy League startups, the story of Dadasaheb Bhagat stands as a powerful testament to the fact that innovation doesn’t always require a fancy degree or venture capital. It requires observation, grit, and a “cowshed” spirit.

From earning ₹9,000 as an office boy at Infosys to becoming the CEO of DooGraphics (and Design Template), Bhagat has built what many now call “India’s own Canva.”

The Turning Point: Watching the “Mind-Workers”

Bhagat’s journey began in the drought-hit Beed district of Maharashtra. Coming from a family of sugarcane laborers, education was a luxury he couldn’t easily afford. After completing his 10th grade and a basic ITI course, he moved to Pune, eventually landing a job as an office boy at Infosys for a salary of ₹9,000.

While his days were spent cleaning desks and fetching tea, his eyes were on the computer screens. He noticed a stark contrast: while he performed back-breaking physical labor, the engineers were “using their minds” to build things. When he asked how he could get there, employees told him that while he lacked a degree, fields like graphic design and animation valued talent over certificates.

The Secret Shift: From Office Boy to Designer

Bhagat didn’t quit his job. Instead, he lived a double life. He worked the night shift at Infosys and spent his days at a local animation academy. This grueling schedule paid off when he landed his first role as a Roto Artist in Mumbai, eventually working on high-profile projects for major media houses.

However, a serious bike accident in 2015 changed his trajectory. While confined to bed rest, he began creating “reusable design assets”—smoke and fire animation templates—and sold them online. To his surprise, these templates earned him more than his monthly salary. This was the spark for his first venture, Ninth Motion.

Building “Desi Canva” in a Cowshed

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Bhagat’s Pune office was forced to shut down. He returned to his village in Beed, but he didn’t return to the fields. He saw an opportunity to create a platform that would allow anyone—even those without design skills—to create professional graphics.

The challenges were immense:

• Infrastructure: The village had frequent power cuts and almost no internet.
• The Solution: Bhagat and a small team of local youths set up a makeshift office in a cowshed on a hillock, where the mobile signal was strongest.

Under these modest conditions, DooGraphics was born. It offered a drag-and-drop interface with templates specifically curated for the Indian market—festivals, local businesses, and regional aesthetics.

Recognition and the Shark Tank Success

His “Make in India” spirit did not go unnoticed. In 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised Bhagat’s efforts in his Mann Ki Baat address, highlighting him as an icon of Aatmanirbhar Bharat (Self-Reliant India).

The momentum reached its peak when Bhagat appeared on Shark Tank India Season 3. His authentic story and robust product (now rebranded or operating under DesignTemplate.io) impressed the “Sharks.” He secured a deal of ₹1 Crore for 10% equity from Aman Gupta (co-founder of boAt), catapulting the company’s valuation into the multi-crore range.

The Legacy

Today, Dadasaheb Bhagat is not just a CEO; he is a teacher. He continues to train rural youth in Maharashtra, proving that the next tech revolution in India might not come from a glass tower in Bengaluru, but from a determined mind in a remote village.