December 2023 –Uber and Nasscom are hosting a Startup Challenge, ‘Uber Sustainovate’, centered around ‘sustainable mobility’, with an aim to find the most innovative solutions by Indian startups. I received an email from them today wherein the first line read as ” On behalf of the Uber Sustainovate, I wish to congratulate your startup for making it to the top-16 applicants from ca. 145 applications.”
The winner of the startup challenge will be awarded $120,000 (1 crore rupees). There is no room for second place. Thats interesting, as usually contests have 2nd and 3rd places. This reminds me the boat race between Oxford and Cambridge universities.
There has been traditional annual contest between two rowing crews from Oxford and Cambridge universities for the past 160 years. For such a long time, this has always been a contest between these 2 universities and no other teams are allowed to participate in this. This is not just because of rivalries between these two universities, but both of them don’t believe in 2nd place. They consider coming 2nd place to be last. History never remembers the 2nd, only the winners prevail.
November 2023 – Our FIRST “Patent of invention” was awarded by USPTO (USA) today. This demands a celebration, but let’s hold off on the celebration for now.
September 2023 – I believe that with Innovation, I meant Productive Innovation with creativity will be valuable in the future. This is what we planted in the soil of contemplation, and we are now reaping the harvest of action.
- Hubless Motor – We have no spokes , and the motor is sandwiched between the rim and tire.
- Battery Cell Chemistry – Developed an Inhouse battery chemistry that can charge from 0% to 90% under 10 minutes.
- Heads Up display – Hardware Integration of this solution in our product to keep eyes always on the road
- Vehicle Chassis and Body Panel – Custom building of our own chassis from scratch to suit our modular requirements
- Module to Module integration with our latching and locking mechanism with no tools.
- Testing integrity of our latching and locking mechanism
June 2023 – There was a startup challenge organized by COMEDK (Government of Karnataka) designated as “Re-imagine Waste Innovation Challenge”, wherein the themes
- Energy Saved
- E-Waste Management
The event saw that only one winner in each theme promulgated within the organization. It was an event from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm, on Sunday. The Judge panel (8 members) incorporated some subject Matter expertise, like Group Manager(Sustainability at Wipro), Head of the Pollution Board, CEO of a couple of companies, ex-VC.
It was pretty evident Aryabhatta Motors is not pertinent to any of the above themes and henceforth, when the winner was announced at dusk in each of the above themes, Aryabhatta Motors was never to be broadcasted in either of the themes
After divulging the winners, they made a special announcement that judges casted away the directives of the challenge as Aryabhatta Motors created an impact on the Judge panel, which stipulated them to create an award for our work. When I strolled to the grandstand to collect the award, the judge panel showered praises for the idea and the work that Aryabhatta Motors has accomplished and received commendations for the product and design of the scooter.
I was to be conferred a medal and certificate today from the Chief Minister of Karnataka… but I couldn’t make it as they forgot to tell me about it yesterday.
March, 2023 – Identities like B2B and B2C kill innovation because they extinguish inspiration. Classifying customers only as “businesses” or “consumers” dumbs down how products and services are conceptualized and how purpose is imagined.
New technology initially has high unit cost before it can be optimized. Aryabhatta Motors will enter at the high end of the market, where customers are prepared to pay a premium.
We want to master B2C, and then help B2B. B2B is different. We get it. But, trust us. We are experts in developing technology. We will help B2B businesses survive in the digital age.”
Our Scooter design will allow us to strip the high end market technology and with the technology getting matured in the market, we shall replace with more juice in the battery and drive down the market as fast as possible to higher unit volume and lower prices with the next successive models.
We have also considered licensing the modular platform to other OEMS and manufacturers, which will allow them to build vehicles to cater to their requirements.
January, 2023 – Our generic competitive strategy is differentiation. This generic strategy builds competitive advantage based on the development of products that differentiate the company from other automakers and energy firms.
Target Market for Aryabhatta Motors is between 18 years to 30 years. The factors driving loyalty differ from age group to age group. Consumers aged 13 to 35 are more likely to list Unique Product Selection, Fair Treatment, Trust, Caring Staff, Status, Product Experience as loyalty driver.
This changes for older respondents for consumers aged 35 to 54 where they are very slow to adapt to new technologies wherein Good Value v/s Lower price is the major driving factor.
December, 2022 – We marked a prodigious improvement and a sign that we are heading in the right direction. In the month of October, we ventured into an initiative by Hero Motocorp, and DIICE. After our submission got tabbed, we were conscripted into Midway Review. The structure of the path to innovation was adduced in the Midway Review and nurtured these seeds of innovation to ventilate for the final show in December.
All the contenders had the fire, but we ignited the spark with a desire of innovating which propelled us to be the champions. Only time will tell, if Hero Motorcorp will show any interest in talking to us.
October, 2022 – The prototype is bound to be tested only in the lab space, and we don’t have the capacity to expose them outside of the lab environment because of the laws preventing it until certification. The labor laws advocate that any engineers shall not be used to test them outside the lab environment. We have already been a victim of one such incident, wherein one of our engineer’s finger was damaged.
We have pursued an experimental setup that gathers various in-vehicle parameters of the subsystems that are critical for us to develop a production ready vehicle. We have dissected all the subsystems describing how they interact with each other and what they are. These subsystems reflect the different components that make up an entire vehicle when built together and the combination of these different subsystems and components is what essentially makes up our scooter, and how those subsystems interact with each other determines the vehicle’s operability. Some of these parts and their employed technologies interact more closely with each other, while others interact much less.
Nonetheless, this cooperation between the functioning subsystems allows us to define requirements and test functionality for our production ready vehicle.
September, 2022 – I am always asked by senior citizens whether Indians truly embrace Do-It-Yourself (DIY) culture, but this question is never posed by GenZ or Millennials. We, Indians, especially the older one’s have gone through the times wherein we have shown our contempt in getting our hands dirty by convincing our mindset we can pay our way out of doing physical work.
If Aryabhatta Motors wants to be triumphant in India, ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach is not applicable. We need to learn, adapt and evolve business models as to how to reach consumers at every age group to customize product or service offerings.
Aryabhatta Motors employs a direct sales model to the customer wherein we would deliver the modules directly to the customer’s doorstep, assemble and customers can enjoy the true ride of joy. We would commit to a just-in-time delivery system, but we need to hold the modules in on-site warehouses which is a temporary setup until we have enough momentum in the market.
In the case, wherein the customers need abetted by skillful accompanists, we engage our network which is a network of mechanics or cab drivers to provide assistance at a nominal fee. These are certified professionals by Aryabhatta Motors in which they have been trained to provide these services legally. The nominal fee charged is based on a revenue-sharing business model, wherein there is an agreement between the business(Aryabhatta Motors) and the stakeholder(technician) to share revenue at a set percentage.
New technology initially has high unit cost before it can be optimized. Aryabhatta Motors will enter at the high end of the market, where customers are prepared to pay a premium. Our Scooter design will allow us to strip the high end market technology and with the technology getting matured in the market, we shall replace with more juice in the battery and drive down the market as fast as possible to higher unit volume and lower prices with the next successive model.
The idea of customers assembling the scooter is a long term plan. So in short, the secret plan is
- NO DIY – The initial product of Aryabhatta Motors is a high performance electric scooter called the Aryabhatta Motors CLEAR. We provide the service for the assembly at their home at no cost. The idea is that if we build It, customers will buy it.
- Semi DIY – This is identified as the most practicable solution in the Indian context wherein cost of making a wrong choice is low and availability of labour is high, wherein the choice is DIY while the actual physical labour is contracted. We shall offer skilled and experienced professionals to Aryabhatta Motors customers for unpacking and assembling the scooter in 5 minutes wherein a nominal fee shall be charged to the customer for this service.
- Pure DIY – When Aryabhatta Motors has a scooter that is ready for economies of scale, nobody will be ready to buy an expensive economic scooter when it is priced 20% lower than the most average scooters in the market. While there might be some customers who shall be prepared to pay a high price for our premium scooter, the mass market in India is not going to pay Rs.20k more for an electric Honda Activa, no matter how cool it looks. The savings of 20% lower price can only be reached by Aryabhatta Motors with Pure DIY, and “Paisa Vasool” is a mindset that connects the mass market in India, where locals find value in everything and make the most of every interaction.
Semi DIY will still be available along with the Pure DIY model to customers who have physical constraints and incapable of assembling the scooter by themselves, wherein they could use our skilled and experienced professionals to do the service for them.
July, 2022 – Investors inquire me always with a pointed question of not having any cofounder. They frame the question to make me comfortable so that the accountability is sliced up. In actual, I believe, they want to know what lies ahead for Aryabhatta Motors, if anything were to happen to me.
I am always open to the idea of having a co-founder for Aryabhatta Motors and always kept myself reaching out to individuals. The apparent question is why don’t I have a co-founder yet? I have fixed my gaze high and low for a cofounder while I was residing in the USA, but they had unswerving loyalty to stay back in America. The idea of making a product to be accepted by the Indian market from the USA did not hit the bull’s eye for the road to triumph.
Back in India, I was open and honest about my expectations on the commitment they need to make, the risks and what I expect the payoff to be. In India, finding individuals with that passion in creating revolutionary ideas has posed a challenge. The Indian startup ecosystem is mostly based on information technology, like apps, software or websites and most of the Indian entrepreneurs end up copying U.S. startups. The main takeaway towards entrepreneurship in India is really not about the passion you have towards the field of study because we ourselves have created a system which churns out entrepreneurs not creating creators or innovators. The Indian mindset towards entrepreneurship has been around the idea of romanticizing the American ideas to suit our society, because it is a proven model.
At the Ideation stage I realized that time is a luxury that I don’t have, wherein I keep stumbling upon finding a co-founder or building a leadership team that has a wide range of experiences. At the ideation stage, Aryabhatta Motors shall be realized as a team of engineers rather than a team of managers. I realized there is no fixed time as to when you should head start to find a co-founder. Being a solo founder, it has given flexibility with the decision making, with no risk of conflict with a partner. One of the stumbling blocks that startups often have to pivot around the axis, and quickly, and the challenges that many startups face is that co-founders can disagree about the direction to pivot.
I am currently in the process of raising the seed round, wherein being successful, we shall advocate a different approach by defining roles as Head of Engineering, Head of Marketing, Head of Operations, and shall be promoted to full time CTO, CMO , COO in the Series A round. I have a prospect to nominate one among the following as a Co-founder/CEO when our product is out in the market and I am looking to expand.
If anything were to happen to me at any point that shall make me incapable of administering the company, the Board of Directors and Advisors will be in full capacity to nominate any individual from the leadership team, as a replacement to me which shall be drafted in the shareholders agreement.
May, 2022 – What is the fall back ideas for Aryabhatta Motors? I aspire that Aryabhatta Motors will change the rules, forcing old school players to evolve the way two wheelers are designed, built, sold, serviced, and used. Aryabhatta Motors will not fail. It will not go bankrupt. We have plans A | B | C |D | E | F | before filing chapter 14.5 (the worst kind).
Aryabhatta Motors proposes to create a Business Unit by late 2024 to start selling our solutions to enterprises that would be interested to license your idea to OEMs / Strategic partners who shall accepts all the responsibilities involved with bringing in market. Aryabhatta Motors shall be years ahead of competitors in technology with no signs of stopping. Aryabhatta Motors shall not transfer the technology, but license the technology.
Aryabhatta Motors is making innovations at hardware level, wherein we are building our own Battery Chemistry, Hubless motor, Motor Controller, BMS. We aim to control over every aspect in the Hardware to maximize efficiency. Aryabhatta Motors aims to build the Intellectual property at the core hardware to exclude others from making, using, offering of sale and selling the invention. None of our IPs till date are related to Software. Aryabhatta Motors shall be acquired to level the playing field in patent attacks by any Major OEM for our innovation.
The crux of Aryabhatta Motors is that ready-to-assemble modules that could be assembled by the customer or technician with no tools. If the proposed technology cannot be scaled up, we still fall back to traditional approach to manufacture a luminary, luxury electric scooter can be fun, sexy, fast, and long-range at an economical price.
Aryabhatta Motors strengths lies in its innovations which focusses on transforming the auto industry with our solutions on various fronts. Everything that we do here is different in terms of technology, components, and method of manufacturing. The only thing that is similar to other companies is that our products are called scooters, but everything else is different. Integrating all the solution to form a product is just a cherry on the top, but our solutions in a standalone mode can be integrated in other products.
Aryabhatta Motors shall not cease to exist as Impossible pleases us, always.
March, 2022 – What makes me think that Indian government is going to ban petroleum engines in the next 10 years? 2030 is very optimistic. We can safely assume that 20% – 25% of all new vehicle sales will be electric by 2030. I see policy changes happening in India around 2035 to 2040. Let me take this opportunity to present a few articles.
- United Kingdom – All new conventional petrol and diesel cars and vans are set to be banned from sale in 2030. After 2035, the only new cars and vans that can be sold will be pure electric.
- Rolls-Royce to switch to all electric vehicles by 2030
- Mini will go all-electric by 2030. Mini follows brands including Ford of Europe, Bentley, Jaguar and Volvo in unveiling plans to fully electrify their offerings.
- Volkswagen will stop selling internal-combustion-engine vehicles in Europe between 2033 and 2035.
- GM aims to have eliminated diesel and gas powertrains from its light-duty lineup.
- Mercedes-Benz prepares to go all-electric 2030.
- Ford says it will go all-electric in Europe by 2030
- The Lexus brand will sell nothing but electric vehicles by 2030 in the United States, Europe and China
- .……..
- ………
- ……… and many more automotive brands have pledged the same…
For centuries, the automotive industry has played a major role in the industrialization process of biggest economies throughout the world. The contribution of the automotive industry to the economies of the United States and major economy drivers in Europe is monumental. Automakers always anticipate scalability rather than confining to US and Europe markets, and this calls for exploring Global markets. The automakers are likely to bring their influence on the respective governments to make the influence on international forums, like Paris Agreement and UNFCCC.
The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change which was adopted by 196 parties at COP21 in Paris. India has joined the Paris climate change agreement, handing over its country’s official ratification documents to the United Nations. India has also updated 2030 climate targets under Paris Agreement.
In one of the articles from pbs.org, they quote India has emerged as a leader in the energy transition in the world. India has been vocal about its position in achieving net zero emissions on various international forums and bought in a lot of international investments in India having pitched the same. It is impenetrable to see with the mind’s eye that India could backtrack on its pledges. In the worst case, if it were to happen, the western governments will use international forums to put India on the right path.
India shall lead electrification first in two-wheelers and three-wheelers. Mass Markets in India shall not be open to automakers until Government of India phases out IC Engines and go all electric. Indian businesses seek government support to meet 2030 EV target, which might drag to 2035 to 2040. I see no failures in electrification in India, but just a delayed success.
January, 2022 – Will Aryabhatta Motors file patents in USPTO (United States Patent & Trademark Office) and then carry them to India or Would it be filed in IPO (Indian Patent Office) and then carried over to USA?
Patents are territorial. An invention patented in US has nothing to do with India, unless one is filed in India within the timelines. Now to answer the above question:
My first patent for Aryabhatta Motors was about
- Latching & Locking Mechanism.
- Data communication between modules.
- Power Transfer between modules.
This was filed on 8th October, 2019. I was a resident of USA till October 2nd, 2020. When you are a resident of USA, you shall file the patent in USPTO. Patent rights are jurisdictional. Therefore, a patent granted in US is only limited to US territory. In order for that to be valid in India, I had to make another application to IPO.
After relocating to India, and Aryabhatta Motors being an Indian Registered Company, I shall not file patents with USPTO directly. It has to first filed in IPO (Indian Patent Office), and the same to be valid in USA, we have to make another application to USPTO. Henceforth, before we get any seed funding Aryabhatta Motors will be filing all its patents in IPO (Indian Patent Office). After receiving the seed funding, we would make applications of all our patents to USA.
During the patent search, we are making sure that the current IP’s’s not only conflict in India territory, but also taking utmost care that it is valid in USA territory.
November, 2021 – Team has moved on to Prototype I. It is now on me, to get Seed Funding. From a couple of talks with some Investors, they seem to think I am already late to the market. The VCs of India want me to say that I am the _________ of India. They don’t seem to realize that Aryabhatta Motors isn’t building a better electric automobile or a renewable energy system— but we are creating an entirely new industry.
Should we always wait for the western markets to come up with an absolutely innovative idea and approach, and the startups in India should be a copy cat of them.
There are 2 ways to be in the market
- Be the First in the market
- Be the Best in the market (Aryabhatta Motors approach) => It will take time and effort since it often requires abandoning old ways of doing things and developing new capabilities.
Indian StartUps have adopted a third way “Be the First in the market in India”, which means it is tried and tested in western markets and then easily adaptable in Indian Markets – a safe bet for Investors and brand them as “Made In India” products. I support the fact that StartUps in India should make use of the benefits that are made viable by the government, but consumers should never be drenched in “Made In India” nationalism tag when buying/spending. The “Made In India” nationalism tag should just be a cherry on the top of the cake, but not the foundation on which the product should be advertised.
I maybe wrong, but from few emails and conversations with Investors is making me believe that time and capital are not both working in my favor…I strongly believe that there is one individual that shall believe in what we are doing, and as quoted by our father of our nation “To lose patience is to lose the battle”
The automotive industry in India has come a long way from its nascent state at the time of India’s independence to its present day dynamic form. This can’t be rattled by just integrating a Motor and Battery in its present form factor. The ability to adapt to new technology needs forces of change, and I believe we have the ammunition for it.
Though the citizens are cognizant about greener vehicles, there are barriers against EV adoption.
- Price – Todays EV StartUps are offering low prices, at the cost of making huge losses and a voracious need for cash. They are doing this with the hope that someone is going to build the technology for them and they just integrate this technology into their product over a time.
- Charging Infrastructure – Charging at home would never be the ideal solution for the adaptability of EV Scooters. The dynamics of real estate involved in building charging infrastructure never make sense because of the charging time. Hence most OEMs adapt fast charging technology (giving some fancy names) which decreases the age capacity of the battery. Hence there is a need to decrease the charging time, without affecting the age capacity of the battery. This demands state-of-art thermal solutions within the battery pack.
- Mileage – I have observed that every EV scooter that comes from the ashes of phoenix, have a better mileage than the previous one. When such announcements are made, I did research as whether they have incorporated new technology in their battery pack, but to my surprise all they do is increase the Battery Pack capacity. This approach might benefit in short term, but ultimately when the Battery pack needs to be replaced, it will cause immense damages to the pocket of customers.
- Appearance and Technology– Eyes are useless when appearance just makes an impression, without making any impact. Technology should be a subtle approach to bridge the Human – Nature Relationship.
October 2021 – We have a Proof of Concept which was 3D printed. It was very well planned out, as Proof of Concept didn’t cause too much damage to our pocket. Will this be enough to get some funding as we need to have this concept by March, 2024.
May 2021 – We are delighted to have Mr. ArunKumar, a Retired Scientist(Director), Propulsion Systems in National Aeronautics Laboratory(NAL), who has agreed to review our Mechanical designs every 2 weeks and it has instilled confidence in the favourable outcome.
April 2021 – We start the operations of Aryabhatta Motors on Fools day. We now have 10 engineers. Hopefully I can be more of an engineer than a founder.
These guys are smart…. I feel that I am the weakest link if I were to be valued as an engineer.
Need to complete the Proof of Concept by October, 2021. So far we have the designs on paper. The Proof Of Concept should instill confidence in my team (that these designs are not moonshot idea, but are realistic), current investors and future Investors
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Delays… Delays…Most of the offices are shut down and this is delaying the company registration process
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October, 2020 – Landed in Bengaluru Airport on October 2nd. To have the funds from Investors, you need a Bank Account. To have a Bank account, you need a PAN card & CIN of Aryabhatta Motors. To get these documents, I have to Register Aryabhatta Motors as a Private Limited company.
April,2020 – Due to CoronaVirus, many airlines are cancelling their flights. Major airlines have said passengers are at low risk of contracting the novel coronavirus while flying, but some studies suggest that the virus can spread on planes. I cannot take risks with my kids.
March, 2020 – Eureka..! Eureka..! I have 7 engineers onboard. 3 Angel Investors. Time to start the countdown to kickstart Aryabhatta Motors. Going back to India……Thank you USA…It was a successful, and happy life in the United States.
February, 2020 – Things are looking good. Have found all the right candidates. I hope they accept the offer. Things to do after going to India is incorporate Aryabhatta Motors, raise the remaining funds(which I am confident of raising) and rent the office space. I am just debating whether it should be an office space/Incubators/3 BHK apartment.
January, 2020 – Happy New Year. Great way to start the New Year. Another Angel Investor boarded the ship. Thanks to LinkedIn. I am finding great candidates who are passionate about working on Electric Vehicles.
– 2 Angel Investors have boarded the ship. That’s good news. Also found a couple of great engineers who are passionate about the idea and the challenges that they would cherish to work on.
– I have contacted a few VC’s, and they mention that it is too early for them to step in. I think Angel Investors is the way to go and build the prototype. I need to hire engineers that shall differentiate us from the rest of the competitors i.e. Battery Pack (Battery Cell & Thermal), Electric Motor Design Engineer, Electrical & Power Electronics Engineer, Mechanical Engineers, Embedded systems(Hardware & Software).
– Great…! Scooter design completed by Igor Sobolevsky. It’s time to test waters with VC’s/Angel Investors for funding. I also feel it’s time to expand the team. It’s a catch 22 situation wherein the investors look for a good team, and the engineers want to board only if I can ensure that there is sufficient fuel to run the company. Wish me luck.
– Completed Budget Planning, overlayed the scooter architecture, and applied for patents. Not sure how long it will take for patents to get approved.
– Hired Industrial Engineer, Igor Sobolevsky to design the scooter
– Welcome to Aryabhatta Motors.
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