Swappr, built by MNIT Jaipur students Garvit Dudeja and Priyansh Joshi along with Lakshay Mangla of VIT, has already reached 1,700 users across 10 colleges and is preparing for a wider launch
The issue faced is something that anyone who has lived in a college hostel can attest to. A person buys headphones or an earphone or a keyboard at a moment of excitement, uses them for a little while and then stops using them altogether. Selling via WhatsApp groups means that an advertisement gets pushed down and prices decline. Second-year engineering student Garvit Dudeja from MNIT Jaipur saw this problem repeat itself many times and decided to arrive at a solution.
The result was Swappr, a swipe-based marketplace on different campuses where students post the items they no longer use, find someone who will want them and contact each other to finalize the deal. The mechanics of the application are extremely simple and intuitive: swipe through advertisements, make a match, and start chatting. AI allows the app to create product descriptions and determine prices and find matches based on a user’s history and preferences.
How It Got Built and Funded
In June 2025 Garvit and co-founder Priyansh Joshi started their project Swappr after a failed attempt at establishing a merchandise startup. Garvit’s school friend Lakshay Mangla attended VIT and came in charge of marketing and partnerships. The initial months involved working with little funding, sending hundreds of cold DMs to prospective partners, and having up to 4 meetings a day.
The breakthrough happened in December 2025 when the app received 21 lakhs from Google’s Fund My Crazy challenge, out of more than 29000 applicants across India. The money made it possible to speed up the further development of the software before its official launch.
What Students Are Actually Doing With It
One of the initial users shared how he exchanged earbuds for shoes when he discovered from the AI pricing feature that the price for shoes he thought would cost Rs. 1200 was actually between Rs. 1500 and Rs. 1600. Another user stated that swapping books led him to meet a person who has similar tastes in reading choices. The founders have plans for Swap Zones that will provide a physical location for users to meet and swap items in cafes.
The case for sustainable business is combined with convenience factor: swapping a smartphone saves around 60 kgs of CO2 emissions through a reduction in manufacturing.
