Getting right skills, customers hard for robotics startups: Experts

Panel debate at Robotics Round Table by KSIDC and Industries & Commerce Dept.

Kochi / August 23, 2024

Kochi, Aug 23: Startups in the robotics sector are facing major challenges in identifying the right talents and educating customers during their initial stages, according to experts at the Robotics Round Table held here.

The event was organised by the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) in association with the Department of Industry and Commerce as part of the efforts to make Kerala a global destination for innovative technology.

Participating in a panel session on ‘Innovating Future- Kerala’s Robotics Pioneers and Their Cutting Edge Solutions,’ they said acquiring customers as part of selling the product is one of the major hurdles. Mr Anoop Ambika, CEO of Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) was the moderator of the session.  

Stressing the need to educate customers about the product, Mr Jayakrishnan T, CEO, Asimov Robotics, said understanding the technology and its nature is vital for newcomers in the field. He also highlighted the importance of observation while building the prototype. 

Mr Jayakrishnan said we have to identify passionate youngsters with the right talents in the state to script more success. 

Sharing his experience, Mr Akhil Asokan, Co-Founder, Sastra Robotics, said he had faced many hurdles in the beginning, from building the prototype and then taking it to customers.    

Mr Pulkit Gaur, CTO, Gridbot Technologies, and Mr Johns T Mathai, CEO & Founder, EyeRov, also spoke. 

In his keynote address at the event, Mr Prag Mishra, Vice President, Armada AI, said embodied robots will revolutionise daily life and extend beyond industrial automation. According to him, major opportunities exist in making real-world service robots and their autonomy is essential for reliability and effectiveness.  

In his presentation, Mr Derick Jose, MD, Industrial AI, Accenture, said the five business models of robots are Raas (Robot as a Service), RiaaS (Robotic Insights as a Service), RTaaS (Robotic Task Training as a Service), MaaS (Robotic Condition Monitoring as a Service) and HraaS (Human Reskilling as a Service). 

Mr Jose said autonomous vehicle companies are using RiaaS to analyse vehicle sensor data, optimize routes and improve safety. RiaaS is also used in warehouse, healthcare and agriculture sectors. 

A total of 195 startups attended the event, which had more than 400 delegates. The startups and IEDCs pitched their ideas and prototypes before a high-level panel to attract investments and opportunities.    

The event is the third in the government’s series of missions, which seek to bolster the links between the state and the innovative technology sector so as to facilitate a suitable ecosystem.

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