HEADSTART NETWORK FOUNDATION’S SEARCH FOR THE TOP PERFORMERS IN THE KERALA STARTUP ECOSYSTEM THREW OUT SOME INTERESTING SURPRISES
Text: Anish Shankar Photos: Various Sources
Twelve speakers, two panel discussions and a workshop with over 250 participants that included startups, students and ecosystem players: It had all the ingredients for what was to become the biggest early-stage startup conference in Kerala.” This was Headstart celebrating their fourth year in Kochi. This anniversary event Headstart had one more ace up their sleeve, starting the HeadstartStartup Awards for the Top Five Promising Startups of Kerala which brought out some interesting results. The FWD team takes a closer look at Headstart and the awards they presented.
Headstart Kochi celebrated their 4th Anniversary in September by organising the Annual Conclave which saw startups like FullContact India (earlier Profundis) and entrepreneurs like VarunChandran (CEO of Corporate 360) and Able Joseph (CEO of aisle.co) speaking at the event. The highlight of the event was the Startup Awards presented to the Top Five Promising Startups from Kerala. The aim was to identify startups based in Kerala, with ideas that impact society in a positive manner and have sound business and financial viability.
An eminent panel of judges from various fields that included Dr K C Chandrasekharan Nair (Managing Director & Co-founder, Dheerkayush Hospitals), Arun Balachandran (Founder, FWD Media ), Amit Singh (Founder, Headstart Network Foundation) and ArpitAgarwal (Principal, Blume Ventures) selected the top 5 startups from a total of 25. Interestingly, four of the five winners were hardware start-ups breaking the stereotype that software rules the startup landscape. From clean tech to industrial automation to entertainment and action sports, these start-ups cover the entire spectrum of industries and sectors. Here’s a look at the winners.
Harnessing the Power of the Sun – NavAlt Solar & Electric Boats
Kerala is renowned for its rivers, lakes, lagoons and backwaters. Yet, the state has not been able to decongest its clogged roads and overcrowded railways by using effective water transportation. The energy required to propel ferries and boats has become the biggest hurdle. While the use of ferries powered by fossil fuels pollute the environment, the solarpowered ferries imported with a 7-crore price tag has proven to be too expensive in our cost-conscious economy.
Enter SandithThandasherry, an IIT Graduate in Naval Architecture with rich experience working in shipyards in Gujarat and later in South Korea. After completing his MBA from INSEAD France, he could have gone on to work for major multinationals with a sixfigure income. But he chose otherwise. He decided to set up a company to manufacture solar-powered ferries and Navgathi Marine Design & Construction was born. At the same time, two French companies – AltEn Systems and EVE Systems –were looking out for a partner in Asia to build to solar-powered ferries and they zeroed in on Navagathi.
Together, they set up a joint venture based out of Kochi – NavAlt Solar & Electric Boats with the vision of creating efficient energy solutions to make water navigation eco-friendlier in a costeffective way.
Navalt has already built India’s first solar ferry – called Aditya for the Kerala State Water Transport Department. Costing just about Rs. 2.5 crores, it can carry up to 70 passengers, achieve a top speed of 7.5 nautical miles (14 km/hr) and run at cruise speed for 6 hours. It does not use any type of fossil fuel, makes no noise and comes with battery backup system. Currently, the vessel has completed the Indian Register of Shipping (IRS) and technical committee tests to verify the operation, speed, and safety of the boat. While inauguration is tentatively slated for December, the commercial use of boats has started.
As the first boats take to the water, Sandith feels this is just the beginning. Many interested parties have reached out to him and tested the solar ferry to their satisfaction. And the economics work out in their favour as the cost of running the ferry is minimal. He feels if the solar ferry is a success, there would be no need to use diesel-run ferries anymore. Quite the visionary, he talks about how even the diesel-powered houseboats of Kerala can be converted into solar-powered ones if the customer is willing to bear a few design changes. Let’s hope that becomes a reality too.
Mimicking the Human Arm – Sastra Robotics
From robotic arms carrying out repetitive tests on touch screen devices to creating a telepresence robot controlled remotely through a laptop or a smart device – If this sounds like science fiction, then welcome to the lab of Sastra Robotics, a Kochi-based startup incubated in Startup Village. The company’s mission, according to CEO Aronin P, has been to build robots to serve as, “a perfect companion for humans.”
Starting their robotics company in 2012, they endeavoured to build a telepresence robot – a robot which had vision sensing capabilities could move about without hitting obstacles and can be controlled remotely. Halfway through the project, they found the market for such robots did not exist in India and pivoted to industrial robotics. A robotic arm mimicking the human hand was their goal. While they were in R&D, Robert Bosch began to show interest in their robotic arm to test its touchscreen infotainment system.
It was a major breakthrough when they helped Bosch shift from the previous method of manual testing to the SCARA robot, which was able to continuously operate at about 900 clicks per minute – a speed unfathomable to human hands. This lead to a 60% reduction in testing time and a 96% reduction in defect rate translating into major productivity gains for Bosch. Since then, many large corporations have reached out to Sastra for their robotic arms including HCL and Honeywell. As the orders go up, Sastra is committed to ‘Make in India’. Currently, their manufacturing is in Kochi, but they might branch out to Pune and Bangalore as well to scale up. To source certain components which are not available in India, they have entered into partnerships with global firms like Switzerlandbased Cyberbotics and Korea-based Dongbu Robot. To reach out to certain overseas markets they have entered into channel partnerships with firms, such as US-based Corobot and a firm in Malaysia.
Their stupendous work has not gone unnoticed. Recognised by TiE Bangalore as one of the 10 Promising Startups in 2014, they got the opportunity to be mentored by Mr Amitava Roy, former COO of Tech Mahindra, who serves as their chief advisor. He helped them bring operational discipline and clarity in organisational roles. Aron feels optimistic about the future of robotics and hopes to see the world where robots and humans work together to in perfect understanding and harmony.
Reeling in the Regional Diaspora – Reelmonk.com
For those Malayali movie buffs staying outside India, who turned to piracy, because there were no theatres screening their favourite movies, reelmonk.com comes as a welcome sigh of relief. Launched in July 2015 with four movies and 10,000 pre-signups, it soon made waves for delivering new releases online simultaneously with their theatrical release. Reelmonk.com seeks to tackle piracy by providing users with a convenient way to view high-quality content at affordable prices.
Vivek Paul and Blaise Crowley were school friends who shared a common passion for watching movies. It was when Vivek, who lived in Mumbai, mentioned the difficulty of watching a Malayalam movie, the idea of reelmonk.com took shape. Blaise was an ethical hacker and adept at encryption. Using his expertise, they developed software that allows streaming of movies only on the Reelmonk player in the system it was downloaded. To dissuade people from screengrabbing the movies, discreet trackers are embedded in the player serving as a unique watermark to identify the person instantly. This feature became a talking point when it identified and led to the arrest of a person who pirated Njan Steve Lopez on the internet. Producers became interested in this technology after that and have associated with.
Reelmonk.com to help reduce piracy. Reelmonk.com has also been able to release exclusive content online like The Painted House which did not get a theatrical release in India. Reelmonk’s success arises from being able to establish a healthy rapport with their primary audiences, the Malayali diaspora through their tongue-in-cheek error messages featuring famous movie dialogues and their chat support operators, who carry names of some famous comic characters such as Pattalam Purushu, Mr Ponjikarra, etc. From a revenue perspective, the major cash flows are from movie downloads. It shares revenue with the producers and other rights holder. Reelmonk. com operates a pay-per-download pricing model were movies at standard quality (720p) cost Rs. 180 and movies at HD quality (1080p) cost Rs. 300. It’s affordable pricing and convenience has made it a hit with over 5000 downloads a month.
With a burgeonings base of over 45,000 signups and featuring over 130 movies, they are planning for more in the coming months. Reelmonk is also looking to reach out to other untapped regional diasporas like the Telegu, Kannada, and Punjabi audiences. For those who go on a movie watching spree, Reelmonk is planning to introduce subscription packs allowing unlimited downloads. Regional cinema is going places and for Reelmonk, this is just a start. Picture abhibaakihai.
Creating Connections without Barriers – RondsInnotech
As IoT is fast becoming a buzzword of the future, the biggest stumbling block a country like India faces is a high cost of connectivity. The Internet is still a distant dream in most parts of rural India and costs of getting connected on an enterprise scale can be exceedingly high. To tackle this problem, Ronds Innotech has developed a method for transferring data without using GPRS or the Internet which can be used to aid machine-to-machine communication. Their main product called Remote Connect Plus can be integrated into any device such as meters, lights, inverters and can be used to remotely control them from anywhere. On top of this, Ronds also provides services such as product maintenance, data analytics and back-end support which earn them a steady stream of revenue. The products are being manufactured in Trivandrum and Kochi and as sales grow Ronds is planning to upgrade their facilities to cater to the demand. The application of this technology mainly focusses on the energy, water and gas industry to increase efficiency and reduce wastage.
Ronds has also started exporting their products to the Philippines. Besides the industrial use of their technology, Ronds has a B2C segment where they sell the concept of smart homes, with smart UPS and inverters through their distribution channels in Bangalore and Kerala. Sijo Joseph, the founder and CEO of Ronds Innotech, is passionate about electronics and R&D. He developed the Remote Connect technology as a college project to control a robot, unaware of its industrial uses and market potential. When he later found out there was a good market for remote connectivity, he decided to leave his job at Birla Soft and start his own company at Technopark TBI, Trivandrum. They were able to get seed funding from IIM Ahmedabad and raise two rounds of angel funding. Since then, there has been no looking back.
Mastering the Tricks of the Trade – Flipmotion Inc.
For any skateboarder worth his salt, mastering the ‘tricks’ of the trade is the ultimate goal. Flipmotion’s Rideblock is an IoT device helping you track all the data from mapping your routes to measuring your jumps. When paired with a smartphone, the app provides you with all the information you need to sharpen your skills and enhance your skateboard experience.
Jibin Jose and Abhimanyu Nair were college friends who shared a passion for electronics and skateboarding. One day, when they were debating over who was better at skateboarding, they got the idea to make Rideblock. They developed an algorithm to track ollies (the height of a jump) and other tricks real-time and over a period of six months improved the tracking accuracy to 90%. The device uses motion recognition and algorithms to match patterns to recognise the tricks being performed and the data is seamlessly transmitted to the mobile app for analysis.
Flipmotion has a truly multinational presence with its developer team based in Kochi and an office in Los Angeles and with their manufacturing subcontracted to a firm in China. They have won numerous awards for their product such as Make in LA, a hardware startup accelerator, through which they received funding and mentorship. Jibin and Abhimanyu are now making a transition in their roles, from being techies to actually getting their hands dirty by running a business. Mentally prepared for the shift in gears, they have roped in senior executives with experience in marketing and operations to help them make the transition. The icing on the cake has been their success getting the endorsement of proskaters and bring them as part of the team to get their feedback and knowledge. With all things falling in place, their ride has been set in motion.