Episode 2 took us through the journey of a young boy fascinated by building solutions growing up to create near perfect custom mobility aids. Swostik, the CEO and co-founder of Neomotion, is now the pioneer of a sustainable social impact project, NeoMotion, that makes custom wheelchairs available to all. NeoMotion strives to look at a person first, and ensure that they live the best life possible inspite of the disability they might possess. Inspired by his Master’s thesis at IIT Madras and incubating his vision in CFI, NeoMotion aims to reach 100, 000 users in the next 3-4 years. Read on to know what else has been cooking in The Best Place To Build Podcast!
Full episode available on YouTube & Spotify.
The Mission That Started It All
Driven by his desire to create tangible and impactful solutions led Swostik to build a swimming pool life for people with disabilities, as part of his Master’s thesis at IIT Madras. Witnessing the improved quality of life and the gratitude expressed by the users who trialled his lift made him realise the power of assistive technology. This experience sowed the seeds for what would later become NeoMotion. A company dedicated to developing mobility solutions that empower individuals with disabilities and the elderly.
Sustainable Social Impact
Before NeoMotion, the notion of non-profitability accompanied the very concept of social impact. But such initiatives, as run by NGOs are heavily dependent on donations and the whims of the philanthropists. As a result, they often run out of funds even before getting the opportunity to create continued impact. Swostik chose to not go down this path. After all, if we are changing people’s lives for the better, we should be able to tread on that path forever.
Swostik’s solution to that was to create a for profit model for NeoMotion. A key aspect of this model is its dependence on user engagement. By gathering continuous feedback and conducting field trials, they deeply understand the unique needs of individuals with disabilities. In fact, it is this data analysis that highlighted the limitations of the “one-size-fits-all” wheelchair model prevalent in India. And eventually inspiring the development of NeoMotion’s flagship product: a customisable wheelchair with a unique add-on that converts it into a bike.
Another cornerstone of NeoMotion’s impact model is its focus on economic independence. They continuously strive to achieve this by designing mobility solutions that enable users to work, study, and participate fully in society at all times. Finally, a market-driven pricing strategy ensures financial sustainability while striving to maintain affordability, creating a virtuous cycle of impact and growth.
The Growth Story
Guided by Professor Sujatha in her R2D2 (Rehabilitation Research and Device Development) lab, NeoMotion was born from a very simple project indeed. Professor Sujatha, isn’t just a mentor but also a co-founder of NeoMotion. Her unmatched expertise in biomechanics and assistive technology design with her deep understanding of the needs of people with disabilities drives the company’s innovative product development. Further, getting the hands-on experience of engineering at CFI, and spending late nights working on projects alongside like-minded individuals helped Swostik and yet another co-founder, Ashish Mohan Sharma, tap into their potential and bring their vision to life.
Tackling Larger Than Life Challenges
Lastly, if there’s anything you choose to take away from this episode, dear reader, let it be summarised in the following bullet points:
- Embrace hands-on experience whenever possible
- Cultivate a collaborative spirit and partner with expert people and associations
- Focus on long-term Impact and the shorter terms will take care of themselves anyway
- And last, but not the least, believe. Believe in your ability to make a difference and one day you actually will.