Indian Startup Made World’s first DRONE Chai Delivery possible Even before Amazon

TechEagle is a tech start-up founded by Vikram Singh, which currently deals in Drones/UAVs solutions. TechEagle is developing customised DRONEs of every size and type for other business in the industry.
TechEagle is recognised by the department of industrial policy & promotions (DIPP). TechEagle is working on solutions which can change the lives of many and the way we live.
How did you come up with such a unique idea and what lead you to build the company?
I studied chemical engineering at IIT Kanpur but from the very first semester, I was interested in aviation(DRONEs, UAVs, & RC Aircrafts etc). I developed various UAVs and won several National and international competitions during IITK tenure.
When I was in the final year after studying the market growth and needs, I found major gaps in two major areas. a.) All Indian research institutes and companies are importing DRONEs from outside India and using for their products and services. So I started working on composites(Carbon Fiber, glass fibre based UAV manufacturing and design) to provide customised DRONE manufacturing solution in India.
b.) As Drone industry is growing rapidly and GOI will roll out DRONE rules and regulations in a couple of months. DRONE industry in India will be growing exponentially but to grow at this rate, Industry needs a solid ecosystem (Homegrown Startups, Funding, Skilled Manpower).
As this industry is very new so skilled manpower is the biggest challenge in front of us. So TechEagle had started giving introductory workshops on DRONEs and UAVs in 2016.
Later in 2017, we introduced week-long programs and Now we have launched full-fledged Month long DRONE industrial Training to make engineers ready to join the industry as entrepreneurs, job seekers and researchers.
What challenges do you face within the market and the Company?
We are facing funding challenges to set up the manufacturing facility. Skilled Manpower in every field is a big issue to handle.
Lots of companies are there in the market who are earning good business but not providing the skills. So Market has been spoiled and whenever we go to universities and individuals they say that “we get so many proposals for this programs and won’t do this time as we got cheated earlier.”
Within the Company, challenges are to cope up with timelines set by ourselves.
Who are your ideal customers and what difference are you creating for them?
Our ideal customers for customised DRONE manufacturing are DRONE product & Services companies, research institutes, defence, Govt. Departments, and Individuals with the similar need.
Currently, our customers are importing UAVs airframes from outside India or making inefficient ones.
So We provide need-based design consultancy and then manufacturing facility with advanced materials and process (composite additive manufacturing).
Following are the benefits of our solution:
• Larger Payload capacity
• Longer flight time
• Strong and Durable airframes
• Modular structure(Easy to transport and can be used for multi-applications)
How do you see drone industry evolving over time?
We have seen the industry evolving in past few years gradually and now it is about to take its pace to exponential soon after rolling out the Rules and regulations in India. According to Goldman Sachs, Drone industry is worth $125 billion till 2020.
In few years every industry will see the significant use of DRONEs. We are about to see the big changes in the technological world because of DRONEs, IOT and AI.
Tell us about your Drone Chai experiment and its result.
Ans. After seeing the big success in e-commerce and home delivery area. Now the thing which is needed most is the fast delivery of items. Currently, in India Chai is the new fashion or craze. There are plenty of startups making fortune in CHAI selling startups which define the need of consumers.
We were discussing the future of food delivery with Online Kaka(food delivery startup) in the city like Lucknow, where traffic jams are the big hurdle in delivering food to clients on time.
So We planned to start with CHAI delivery. We decided the date for the World’s first DRONE CHAI delivery as 1st April 2018. We planned for 1 week and tested all sort of tech. We did this delivery in the morning as most of the Indians take Tea or coffee in the morning.
We were about to start the launch wind was blowing at very high speed so our team thought of delaying it by few hours or a Day. But then we decided to go with it as planned. And Delivered the tea in windy condition as planned. So First official delivery was a success and here is the video for same.
How has the company grown over the years?
We started with a hostel room in IIT Kanpur and now we are having a team of 10 members and an office in Lucknow. From where we deliver our DRONE workshop services to prominent institutes(IITs, NITs and other institutes). We do R&D and manufacturing in Lucknow.
We got recognised by DIPP. Won Startup India Yatra-UP edition and got the grants from UP govt. Now we got selected in Grand Agriculture challenge by Invest India to provide solutions for precision agriculture in India.
We are working with Uttrakhand govt for finding the solutions for forest fire and medical support in remote areas.
We have delivered workshops to 15000+ students via 100+ workshops and Training.
We are delivering services PAN India and now came up with one national DRONE/UAV Industrial Training and Internship to backup the ecosystem. What are youth is learning today will decide the growth of the economy in next five years.
We are planning to expand in other cities of India as the permanent office.
What is your ultimate vision?
Our ultimate vision is to make India front face of technology by indigenously developed tech solutions.
What advice would you like to give the entrepreneurs who are planning to launch their own venture?
Your team is everything. A startup is all about the people in it. Hiring a right team is very crucial in order to plan & execute the co-founder’s vision. Also, it is said that VCs fund a startup not only on the basis of the business plan, but they also check the potential of the core team, because they know that business strategies changes day by day as per the market condition. So your team must have potential to adjust those changes & give their best out of it.
“If you are diving into the sky of startup world never jump with a parachute”-Vikram Singh. Otherwise, you will not get the best solution to survive. So if you are starting your own venture never keep the second option.