SEED

May 2007:

Sandeep, cousin of Vaidy (the co-founder) a happy 27 year in Bangalore, when disaster struck - an attack of Transverse Myelitis rendered him completely paralyzed (T12) within minutes and since then he has been wheel-chair bound.

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Feb 2009:

• Getting to know his pitiful condition, Vaidy intervened to get doctors / therapists help.

•  Got him rehabilitated at the Association for People with Disabilities (APD), Bangalore. (www.apd-india.org), one of the oldest NGO in the country, founded in 1959

• Got him a dismantlable and rugged Marathon Wheelchair and a temporary job at a Bank. This made him from a completely dependent individual to an earning member of his family.

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GERMINATION

May 2014:

• Sandeep had another life changing event: Diagnosed with Testicular Cancer; Treated at Shankara Cancer hospital (http://shankaracancerfoundation.org/) run by the godly doctor, Dr Srinath

• Vaidy quite distraught and Googling found Dr. Arun Jayaraman of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (now called Shirley Ryan Ability Lab).

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June 2014:

• FIFA World Cup Inauguration: Vaidy first time saw exoskeletons being demonstrated by a paralyzed skier

• Alas the price at that time was a prohibitive 200,000 US$ and beyond anyone’s reach.

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April 2016

• Vaidy connected with Arun on the Standing Wheelchair prototype being done at IIT Chennai and sent him the video of the trial

• Excited Arun mentioned that he was coming to India on a personal trip. An expert on exoskeletons, a talk was organized on “Robotic rehab” at IIT Chennai on 24th Jun 2016.

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June 2016

• In the intervening 2-month period, my good friend Shiva was invited whom I knew for close to a decade

• I also connected with Amitav via a common Hong Kong friend who mentioned that Amitav was running an engineering design company.

• After the lecture, we were chatting about exoskeleton technology, affordability etc. and suddenly it dawned upon us that the price hurdle for this wonderful product was actually an opportunity.

• While it was challenging, the thought of helping Sandeep and millions more like him to walk and lead a higher quality of life seemed an irresistible proposition. 

 

IDEA AND VALIDATION

June 24 2016: And so the idea of Bionic Yantra was born!

June 2016 till Dec 2016: Validation, convincing ourselves for the need by speaking to medical experts and to let go of our corporate jobs (Vaidy from Xerox India) and Shiva (Capgemini India) and take the plunge into unchartered territory for an immensely satisfying voyage of discovery so far

 

Jan 23 2017 – BIONIC YANTRA COMPANY INCORPORATED