Ather Journey and its beginnings at IIT Madras

I think one of our biggest understandings is that before you create a product company, you first have to create an engineering organization, so that's where we are, why we even asked why you create a company that builds the scooter, but the idea We didn't really want to have a company, we wanted to build a product, we wanted to do something that solved a greater purpose than just solving a problem and the feeling of accomplishment is not there for either of us and there is a huge task or mission technically started in October 2013 and at that time the support that Otto Krishna offered was extremely valuable.

He basically he said this is you know, don't worry Leslie, the jobs come back, I'll take care of everything and he offered me some. a kind of research project dr. Saliba from one department offered something else, another research project and these research projects basically offered us a way to come back to campus for the next six seven eight months for an incredible phase and you know, students don't have homework. You have classes but you're still in your apartment You still have your labs You used to have access to all that stuff Threads are a company Aren't these things fun?

You don't have those pressures it gives you time to think and reflect there is the complexity no communication was required because everyone knew everything because it was the trager for the people to begin with the idea of ​​this ether began not after they left Poland they designed this in paper even when they were in Polish, what they were missing is a kind of atmosphere to incorporate these two things into a product and I am very proud to say that this department is able to provide that kind of atmosphere for it to be realized as a project.

The unique features of the department is that each course is linked to elaborate processes. many of them are unstructured, meaning you do a project in the lab. We thought we should bring this joy of engineering to the students so that they would ultimately feel like they were doing engineering. It all started in a very humble way inside a laboratory. a rug on the floor and where they had all the tools spread out and they were used to walking day and night, that place was almost like their home in the apartment and that's where we arrived when we returned, let's check in the first battery conservation bags. of those things there, so after a few months, when we started hiring people, that's when I realized that we could no longer camp in these areas like this once our ideas reached a certain level of maturity, that's when We rented the Institute and took a formal incubation. and they talked about the first legitimate office space in the research park, they were very focused on creating products, these guys had four prototypes in a period of 12 months from the time they got 5 lakhs in funding through their professor, the smart startup is one that recognizes that By definition, a startup is a dispersed constraint, so if there are resources available, UTA, it's almost up to you to use them wisely.

What aether has done is do a great job of doing that and now we're trying to use that model to say how. Can we increase support for other young people who wanted to change things? You know, they said that whatever is currently available on the market is not good enough. We want to transform everything. On January 1st we had four people in the office. We began to design the first vehicle as a company. We begin to become aware of a certain engineering concept. We delve into the practical aspects of the vehicle. What can go wrong. What can go well.

Connecting the first battery management system. It took us about two weeks just to connect one piece of the circuit under the battery. pack up but the minute is dead plug in and you know the readings were right boy it was such a beautiful moment. I still remember the early days when they were here and it was just the bare vehicle and people used to take a walk around P Research. Park campus and even those days were wonderful comments. I think the vehicle has come a long way. Theater was probably one of the first startups to get direct investment from an early-stage alumnus.

This was one of the first companies we assigned. a mentor to grow the mind, they started a vehicle and then they started working on batteries, but I think much more than that, they recognized that if they can get 20, 30, 40 young people to learn, the therapists will provide them that that will be enough, even for many. 5060 hundred reserved memati remain with those hidden structures that give you this very pleasant cocoon. You can do what as a broad based engineer you're trying to do, which is actually build a garage and it's very comforting here for the first group of people who never showed one.

Confidence in a wild lady of two college kids trying to build a place that still has a long

journey

to go, but it's very important that we go back and show them for their demonstration and what it's becoming, how much you know it's a honor. to be able to come back and celebrate the

journey

that we started and celebrate the role that continued as an id continues to play in the development of a company like ups now we're happy to be here, you know, it's just a matter of a few. years, it's gotten to the way that they come here showing us their product as a homecoming for them, it's nice of them to come back here and reach out and connect again with their initial user base and then come back and show us what they've done how far my things have come they have done a good job they have done a wonderful job it is a very natural process of a child leaving home our incubation part the task is already done now they have actually raised A head, they have given me more than Right, they have really made an effort and not only have they built a vehicle, but what they have built is a capsule.

Excellent team. It's very evident that these guys are serious and have a lot of fun and a product that comes out of that kind of synergy and that kind of enthusiasm. I'm looking forward to getting to a stage where they are now at 150 running strong with a test drive prototype that they just saw and that right now makes us all very proud in a big part of the company's growth is the will of the company to constantly be introspecting, looking at where they are losing sleep and then g

ather

ing information from everyone who could possibly have a perspective and learn from it.

That gives me confidence that I think this company will continue to reinvent itself as it moves forward and find a way to succeed regardless of what the challenges are, whether it's because a company has learned that the leap if you have to turn a working prototype into a product . that has to be consumed by the muscles they need to close that gap, they learned it very quickly. I am very proud and happy that these guys are doing it as teachers. I don't think anything pleases you more than when you see your own student. successful and as I talk about it, tears come to my eyes.

I really find this to be a very good example of what initiative and perseverance can make, you know, office of any impatient creature, we don't think, especially in the first phase, people are buying these. the vehicles are your customers I think they are part of this whole story they are your audience while we perform if the audience is not even interested in the play and all that show me the ending, show me the ending, then if it is At the moment they are preparing for the day, they are very excited about how it is turning out and where Aether is going.

All this has been good. Ultimately they have to be commercially successful and this is the next challenge. Obviously, a company with 100 people needs a lot. of coordination, especially when the average age of those companies is around 20 years, then a lot more coordination is needed, the challenge now is how are they going to use these hundred people once the product is available, once it has been made The first design, in fact, if there is, has many more responsibilities today. I think it's very early. I think no one really knows how this is going to evolve. The success of a startup is, apart from perseverance, also being there at the right time, the market will tell.

Tell us if enough people are open to the idea of ​​buying a bike that is clean, that just works and doesn't have all the other problems, so all you can do is prepare. You can prepare your best new terrain. You don't have IIT experience. Madras is a very critical part of this ecosystem, but first, that has just been the beginning, we have a solid year of testing, validation and integration ahead, it is a very exciting journey, it is an unknown stage ahead, which keeps Sin However, what you're running into is this vision of when the final product actually reaches the end customer, that's when the story becomes very real, that's when the invoice finally hits the floor, very exciting times ahead.