ENTREPRENEUR STARTUP SPECIAL (8) Priming the
Pump
The cofounders of Surya Power are using
technology to transform the lives of farmers
Karthic Ravindranath and Abhilash Thirupathy
have known each other since they were in class VII and threatened to work
together for years, but career compulsions kept getting in the way.
Ravindranath, an aerospace engineer, last worked with Sakthi Aerospace, a
startup in Bengaluru; Thirupathy, an IIM Lucknow graduate, was technology chief
for Rx HealthCare Magic. After existing these startups, both got an opportunity
to finally start up together.
This time around the duo is in the field of
clean energy, specifically solar irrigation solutions to farmers. The first leg
of the business is in and around Coimbatore, their home town, with plans afoot
to sell their solutions nationally. “It was easier for us to be in a familiar,
smaller city and be closer to our core market -farmers -than try to be
distantly located in a large metro,“ says Ravindranath. “Being close to our
core market helped us be in touch with farmers and, especially in the pilot
phase, tweak our technology to suit their requirements.“
Surya Power Magic, their startup, takes aim at a
few frailties in Indian agriculture. First, farmers in Tamil Nadu and beyond
are heavily dependent on the monsoon to water their crops. Faced with the
vagaries of the rains, several farmers have leant heavily on artificial
irrigation. However, they battle with poor electricity supply to their
pumpsets. Even when power is supplied it is of poor quality and erratic, says
Ravindranath. According to World Bank data, only 35% of land is irrigated.
Surya Power thinks its solar-powered irrigation
sets offer a handy alternative. In the first year of operations, it sold barely
18 units, in the second 100 and, in year three, the number jumped to almost 400
pumpsets. As order numbers have racheted up, word has also spread to
neighbouring districts of Coimbatore and to adjoining states. “Orders have been
pouring in...we want to be a national player soon,“ says Ravindranath. “We have
already starting shipping to Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and want to expand
further this year.“
Ravindranath claims that Surya Power is the
largest vendor of solar pumps in Tamil Nadu and possibly nationally. “With the
addition of business from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, our revenues have grown
three-fold,“ he adds. “We are currently reaching out to around 2,000 farmers to
promote our products...this is a small fraction of the number who will benefit
from these pumps.“
With orders showing little signs of abating,
both cofounders are already thinking ahead to the startup's next stage of
growth.
“We are improving our technology and hiring
specialists to upgrade the energy efficiency of our products,“ he adds. Solar
pumps for farmers may only be the beginning of Surya Power's journey. As the
company establishes itself, Ravindranth already envisions the firm morphing
into a technology-led provider of a range of agricultural inputs, and not just
pumps. “This is a grey area, with little transparency for farmers...technology
can transform their lives,“ he says.
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Rahul Sachitanand
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ETM31MAY15
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