‘Local capital is extremely risk-averse’: Satya Chakravarthy
The ePlane Company cofounder Satya Chakravarthy says Tamil Nadu must transition from traditional manufacturing to supporting high-value deep-tech and aerospace innovations
The ePlane Company, co-founded by Satya Chakravarthy, is tackling the challenges of launching deep-tech startups in Tamil Nadu, particularly concerning funding for 'moonshot' ideas. The company is developing an electric air taxi specifically for the Indian market to address severe road congestion, recognizing India's significant share in the global market for this technology. Tamil Nadu is highlighted as having strong industrial foundations in automotive, healthcare, and electronics, along with geographical advantages making it suitable for aerospace and satellite launch industries, but a lack of risk-averse local capital hinders its potential for high-value manufacturing.
The ePlane Company, co-founded by Satya Chakravarthy, is tackling the challenges of launching deep-tech startups in Tamil Nadu, particularly concerning funding for 'moonshot' ideas. The company is developing an electric air taxi specifically for the Indian market to address severe road congestion, recognizing India's significant share in the global market for this technology. Tamil Nadu is highlighted as having strong industrial foundations in automotive, healthcare, and electronics, along with geographical advantages making it suitable for aerospace and satellite launch industries, but a lack of risk-averse local capital hinders its potential for high-value manufacturing.
The ePlane Company, co-founded by Satya Chakravarthy, is tackling the challenges of launching deep-tech startups in Tamil Nadu, particularly concerning funding for 'moonshot' ideas. The company is developing an electric air taxi specifically for the Indian market to address severe road congestion, recognizing India's significant share in the global market for this technology. Tamil Nadu is highlighted as having strong industrial foundations in automotive, healthcare, and electronics, along with geographical advantages making it suitable for aerospace and satellite launch industries, but a lack of risk-averse local capital hinders its potential for high-value manufacturing.
Interview/ Satya Chakravarthy, cofounder, The ePlane Company
Q/ What are the challenges of launching a tech startup in Tamil Nadu?
When we started, IIT Madras was already established as a deep-tech hub with companies like Ather and Uniphore. Chennai was lagging Bengaluru in startups generally, but for deep-tech, IIT Madras was the anchor leading the country. The biggest challenge was attracting funding in 2019-20. Startups like ePlane or Agnikul were classified as moonshot ideas. In India, this was new, and few people would take the risk. The truth is, we don’t get into the technology until there is a firm business case and profit potential.
Q/ Why build an electric air taxi specifically for the Indian market first?
Our roads are congested. With 4,000 to 5,000 sq ft of take-off space on rooftops, we can transport patients or passengers across a city in five to 10 minutes instead of 90. Our market survey showed India represents 10 per cent of the global market for this.
Q/ What is the missing ingredient for the state?
Tamil Nadu is already an industrialised state—it has the largest number of factories in India by a large margin. It has robust automobile, health care and electronics industries. We have a large coastline and proximity to the equator, which is ideal for satellite launches. We have the ingredients for solid rockets—ammonium perchlorate and aluminium powder—already made here. We should simply climb the food chain. Instead of just making cars, we make planes and rockets. We are already like Germany; now we must put France (high-value aerospace) on top. This is how Tamil Nadu can reach its $1.5 trillion economy goal.
Q/ Is the startup ecosystem getting enough venture capital for deep tech?
External funding has come from VCs and family offices, but it is shorter than required. There is a “Tamil problem” in fundraising. The Central government has done significant work with the RDIF (Research Development and Innovation Fund), but local capital is extremely risk-averse. Richer people in Tamil Nadu send their children for engineering degrees but won’t bet on their own people’s local innovation. They want short-term returns, whereas deep tech requires a five-to-10-year horizon.