Saurabh Chandra

A founder who has spent 32 Years building IP-Owned Tech in India's Defense Sector. Ashok Atluri, Founder of Zen Technologies Limited shares a growth story bootstrapped from Hyderabad: -Revenue: ₹60 Cr (FY21) → ₹930 Cr(FY24) -Market cap: 40 Cr (2012-13) → 13000 Cr today -Growth: 400X in 12 years Takeaways from our conversation: 1. India historically imported 65–70% of its defense equipment. Today, defense exports have grown more than 30× over the past decade, with the private sector contributing around 60% of exports. Domestic defense production has increased to ₹1.27 lakh crore, a 174% rise since FY 2014–15. 2. For over two decades, Zen built advanced simulators but struggled to sell them in India because single-vendor bids weren’t accepted. The IDDM policy in 2015 gave preference to IP-owning Indian companies and allocated 75% of the capital acquisition budget to local sourcing. And decades of R&D became a real market worth ₹200 billion. 3. Defense tech startups in India have raised $184 million in VC funding since 2020. Zen’s journey shows that IP-owned Tech built with self-funded R&D can build the most defensible advantage, similar to how Apple captures value through IP rather than manufacturing. 4. Zen’s anti-drone systems were proven in field operations, leading to export inquiries from over 20 countries. This mirrors the broader trend of India’s defense exports growing from ₹1,940 crore (FY14) to ₹21,083 crore (FY24). Field-tested solutions build trust far faster than lab demos or pilot projects. 5. Government fundings are rewarding innovation over manufacturing. Programs like iDEX provide up to ₹10 crore for proven concepts, while DRDO offers ₹50 crore per system under the Technology Development Fund. This shift allows companies to reinvest profits into next-generation R&D. 6. Ashok believes that not all technologies should be patented. Highly secretive or complex innovations can be reverse-engineered if patented. Instead, patent what is obvious to outsiders to protect your competitive edge. 7. Build with a focused approach on Pareto technologies with maximum impact. Instead of chasing every opportunity, Zen concentrated on the 20% of technologies delivering 80% of results, anti-drone systems and simulators. Prioritizing high-leverage areas compounds impact effectively. 8. Time market entry around overlooked gaps: In 2018, drones were a hot topic, but there was little attention on anti-drone systems. Zen entered this gap and was ready when the need became urgent, from regional conflicts to domestic security. Opportunities often lie where others are silent. 9. Create policies around your innovation: Self-funded R&D firms face unique risks that conventional procurement rules often overlook. Zen advocated for new categories rather than adapting breakthrough technologies to unsuitable frameworks, ensuring their innovations could be evaluated on merit. Full Episode https://lnkd.in/gnAFEj3f

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🔧 Unibose Technology Private Limited raises ₹5.5 Cr to scale robotics for confined space safety We at o2 Angels Network are proud to have led the ₹5.5 crore funding round, co-led with IN44 Capital in Unibose, a cutting-edge industrial #robotics company focused on eliminating human risk in hazardous confined spaces. The round also saw participation from Startup Singam, and a strong network of strategic angel investors who share our conviction in India’s #deeptech manufacturing potential. Unibose’s ATEX Zone-0 certified #No_Man_Entry_Robots (NMER) are designed for use in toxic, flammable, and high-risk environments, replacing dangerous manual work with scalable, #AI-powered robotic systems. ⚙️ Product portfolio includes: ·       Oil & gas storage tank cleaning robots ·       Sewer and drain maintenance bots ·       Rail wagon and process vessel cleaning systems ·       Remote inspection units with intrinsically safe vision technology At the heart of this vision is the passionate founding team - Manikandan Dakshinamoorthy, Sakthivel Panneerselvam, #Samayaraj_D, Venkatesh Sundaramurthy whose clarity of purpose and relentless execution have been instrumental in taking Unibose from lab to large-scale field deployments. They are not just building a product — they are creating a mission-critical platform that saves lives and transforms the way industries operate in hazardous environments. This investment will support in: ✅ Expanding into new geographies including the #Middle_East and #Africa ✅ Scaling up manufacturing and field deployments ✅ Accelerating R&D to serve critical industrial use cases 🛢️ Their solutions are well-positioned for adoption by leading industry players including Indian Oil Corp Limited, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, Reliance Industries Limited (Oil Pumps), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), Oil India Limited / ऑयल इंडिया लिमिटेड, aramco, ADNOC Distribution, ENOC/EPPCO International, Emarat - Emirates Petroleum Company P.J.S.C, and more. 💡 At o2 Angels Network, we back founders solving high-impact, high-risk industrial challenges with technology that protects lives and transforms operations. Our portfolio includes Fabheads Automation, Green Tiger Mobility Pvt. Ltd., Eeki, CultYvate, Skye Air Mobility, NAVARS EDUTECH, Janitri, Velectron Labs Private Limited, Abhiyantrik Solutions, Nexstem, REGRIP "RE-ENGINEERED TYRES", SpaceFields, Unibose Technology Private Limited, BQP, Vgenomics and many others pushing the boundaries of innovation. Lastly, we're excited to support Unibose on its journey to build IP-led, Made-in-India robotics that deliver real-world value at scale. #IndustrialRobotics #Deeptech #MakeInIndia #StartupFunding #AI #ImpactInnovation #CleanTech #HardTech Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, Startup India 🔗 Read more: https://lnkd.in/deD_T8vT

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VC Diaries - 17 : Thanks to our Govt and Jio, we have built the world's best digital highways - the next unicorns will be the companies that teach India how to drive on them. For the last decade, we were rightly obsessed with building the India Stack and scaling it. We created the digital rails for identity, payments, and data. But we are now realising that building the infra was only half the job. The assumption that access automatically leads to confident adoption was flawed. The next frontier is not technological, but behavioural. We need to build a 'behavioural infra stack' on top of the digital one. Think about UPI. It's a technical masterpiece. Yet, millions of small merchants still ask customers to show the 'payment successful' screen. This isn't a sign of failure. It's a new, user-generated ritual created to replace the old sensory confirmation of receiving a physical note. It's a fallback norm that bridges the gap between the coldness of tech and the human need for trust. The startups that win from here will be masters of this behavioural layer. They will understand that their job is not just to provide a service, but to shape habits. This means using intelligent nudges to guide users towards better financial health. It means using vernacular explainers that use local metaphors to demystify complex products like insurance. It means designing new rituals that make digital interactions feel as safe and familiar as offline ones. Stop thinking only about your tech stack. Start thinking about your behavioural stack. Your biggest product challenge is no longer about APIs and uptime. It's about understanding the anxieties, aspirations, and deep-seated cultural norms of your user. The first wave of Digital India was an engineering problem. This next, more valuable wave is a human one. The real whitespace is in building the tools that give hundreds of millions of Indians the confidence to navigate this new digital world. What do you think? Do share below in the comments. I have started to share my learnings as a VC more proactively here, with a note coming out every morning 8.30am. And I would love to get inputs. Thanks, Anuradha | Dexter Ventures

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