Sneaking into electronics shops near his school while in the tenth standard and feeling at home amongst the whirrs of those devices is a fond childhood memory for Bramh Awasthi. In the next two years, he graduated from mere observation to action and undertook apprenticeships at the local electronics repair shops. It was in these messy shops, surrounded by a sea of appliances, electronics, and tools, that Bramh first realised the extent of his passion for machines. The seed for Whirlybird Electronics was sown.
His decision to pursue entrepreneurship was primarily influenced by two critical experiences during his undergrad course at IIT Kanpur. A visit to two of the hallmarks of India’s technology quest i.e. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) revealed to a young Bramh, the hard reality of India’s severe dependence on other nations for almost all its defence equipment. It was incomprehensible to him that his nation should have to import critical defence equipment even after so many decades of independence. And it was during his internship at Bose Corporation that Bramh gained confidence in his ideas and his capabilities. His project at Bose involved automating quality control processes at a factory level. He developed a mechanism which was implemented successfully at all manufacturing plants of Bose Corporation.
“Reserve some time to learn new things everyday.”
The seed eventually sprouted and soon after graduation, Bramh founded Whirlybird Electronics in 2004 aiming to establish India’s presence in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGV) market. For the first six years, Whirlybird focused solely on producing defence equipment. It found considerable success and designed an at-sea-transfer-alignment-system, NELM, for the Indian Navy. However, surviving as a startup in the Indian defence sector is easier said than done.
Several systemic constraints required Bramh to display considerable grit merely to keep Whirlybird afloat in this sector. He displayed these qualities and instead of being bogged down, saw this as an opportunity to test other strategic, non-military and commercial markets.
Pursuing his passion for machines, Bramh now helms three startups i.e. Whirlybird, Sensefix (offering IoT enabled services for repairs and maintenance in smart cities), and Irya Innovations (manufacturing a variety of tools, sensors, and equipment for agriculture, space, and energy sectors).
Bramh maintains that entrepreneurship is not for the faint-hearted or for the ones who give up easily on their vision. He finds himself to be more fearless and patient now and is resolute in his mission to make India self-sufficient as a manufacturer of its own defence equipment. And not much can come in the way of such a resolute man!