Sri Sri Ravi Shankar - Meet the Drapers Season 6 Episode 9: Sri Sri University

Welcome to Meet the Drapers, the world's largest global pitch competition. This season, Silicon Valley venture capitalist Tim Draper travels to six continents and ten countries to find the next game-changing company.

We are officially in the game now.

The future of investing in Africa. It's go time.

Introducing Bonvi, the business.

This is huge.

It blew up.

Carefully selected entrepreneurs from each region pitch Tim Draper and his VIP guest judges.

It's 5 cents.

It's 5 cents.

Did you feel an energy there?

I feel energy all the time.

Mystery luck. They all have a mission.

They're gonna have a lot of leverage.

Tell me why you're different.

Oh.

The winners from each region travel to Silicon Valley for a chance to win $1 million.

They are ruthless.

I don't even try.

This is very depressing.

Let's see what we got here.

Which region has the best entrepreneur?

We've built Denmark's first flying car. The blockchain is built for trust. Meet the Drapers!

Find out on season 6 of Meet the Drapers.

Welcome everybody to Meet the Drapers. We are so excited to be here. We're in India. This is amazing. I don't think I've ever been this close to an elephant. I know I— oh yes, I've ridden them. This is such a great honor. Thank you, Gaurav, Deb, for inviting me to come to this extraordinary place.

Strength with no compassion leads to conflict. From conflict, we need to go to cooperation. From cruelty to compassion. Ready to love and share.

I am Harish Nevatia. We are providing automatic dispensing machine for an Indian dish called as pani puri.

I am Gaurav.

I am Satya.

We are the co-founders of Bonvi, and at Bonvi, we are making flying cars a reality.

I am Ajay, the director for Wow Mom Food.

We have fast food but in a healthy way.

My name is Deepankar. I am the co-founder of Stellar Grid. This in the hands of any installer can get them straight to the process of installation.

I am Vishal Vivek, and I am the CEO and founder at Okhee, which produces biomaterials out of hemp.

Well, what would it mean to you if Tim Draper chooses you to invest a million dollars?

It will be a wonderful acknowledgement. For us to go to a global and make an impact.

That would mean the world to us, and not only to us, to all the people back home who we are supporting, all the 3,000-odd people.

It will open the floor of global expansion.

For a chance to actually win that sort of an investment is something I couldn't even believe could happen.

If we are getting selected, it's a kind of confirmation that we are on to something very big.

Best wishes to all of you. Thank you.

Welcome everybody to Meet the Drapers. We are so excited to be here. We're in India where Sri Sri University is starting to take hold and become one of the great universities of the world because of this man, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Is the biggest guru in the world. He has 500 million followers. He moves people, and I've learned more from him in 3 days than I've learned from all my education at Stanford and Harvard and wherever else I went. Philosophy that drives people, excites people, energizes people, frees people, and he is going to be our sole guest judge today.

By the way, you know, I have— I don't make any followers. Because everybody is in front of me all the time.

Now we're going to see some entrepreneurs. What characteristics are you going to be looking for in deciding which of these entrepreneurs will move on to the semifinals?

I think in this I'll follow you.

No!

Because you have great experience in this. Choosing the entrepreneurs and, you know, making them successful in the world.

Let's see what they got.

Let's see what they come up with.

Okay, bring on the entrepreneurs. Before we do, go to meetthedrapers.com, vote, play the game. It's really fun. Let's see what's going on behind the scenes.

Am I doing it correct? I love you.

We grew up there, and unfortunately my dad died when I was very young. I became the guardian of the family of 7 sisters and no brother and my mom. I was taking care of the family and it was extremely difficult. I know the pain of poverty. I have seen it firsthand. I have experienced firsthand. I always used to think that when I grow up, I will do something so that I can eradicate poverty, which is a big thing, but still I wanted to do. I realized that I need to do something for the society also. I was looking for something to do meaningful, and while traveling in the mountains, I saw a lot of poverty in Uttarakhand. There are a lot of hemp grows everywhere, so I thought if this can be utilized for something better, it can be a big thing.

I live in a very small village in Uttarakhand, so I have seen village and very slow life. Even when I graduated, I had to move to city away from my parents. because there are no employment opportunities. I'm a nature lover and I wanted to help people in the society.

So keeping the same vision in mind, then the dots connected and we founded Oki. This thing means a lot to me in terms of emotionally because we face this problem every day. Delhi is one of the most polluted cities in the world. We don't even get clean drinking water. There's a problem for water every day. Every day we face this single problem. We believe that if We are getting selected. It's a kind of confirmation that we are onto something very big. I feel just like Elon Musk.

Let's now hear from Vishal and Priyanka from Uchi.

Felt intimidating to be standing before such big personalities and talking, but when we walked in.

To the stage, they smiled. It was like like we were normal. We were not nervous.

We are a sustainable material science company which manufactures compostable plastic granules and sustainable textile from hemp. In India, we know hemp has a bhang and it offered to God, and it grows almost everywhere in India. And it was made legal in Uttarakhand in 2017, and later on it was made legal in Uttar Pradesh and MP as well. Hemp is a carbon negative plant. It sequesters around 10 tons of CO2 per hectare of land.

So you're using marijuana plants to clothe people now? I think that's the best use of marijuana I've ever heard.

They were saying that is the best use of a marijuana plant. He was very excited about that.

Tell me how it feels. Are either of you wearing marijuana?

Yeah, I'm wearing something 25% almost, and I can show you the fabrics and things.

Yeah, that would be great. This feels like plastic.

This is plastic, and this is biodegradable.

Oh, okay.

Yeah, this is plastic.

Okay, so this this shirt.

Yeah, it's made out of 100% hemp.

It's 100% hemp.

Yeah, yeah.

This is beautiful. This shirt is fantastic.

These plastics are also made out of hemp.

Really?

Yeah. Wow!

That how long will it last before it comes?

It just like acts like a normal plastic. But the thing is that when you throw it away, like Depending on the micron, it will decompose in a year or one and a half years according to the micron.

How much more expensive is this plastic bag than another plastic bag?

Almost twice.

So this plastic bag, you have not made this. You have given it to some other company who makes the plastic bag.

We only make the granules.

Granules. Does the granule have some amount of plastic, some amount of petrochemical in it?

No, it depends on the application. some companies need that plastic also. So say you want just compostable, natural, plant-based material, I will make that for you.

So does this have some amount of petrochemical in this?

No, this has no— it has starch, it has hemp, and it has PBAT, which is plant-based as well.

And how about you? What do you do for the business?

I have stage phobia actually, so I was quite nervous. I told you I'm a co-founder and I take care of all the export-related activities, like all the export operations and day-to-day operations, maintaining relationship with all the service providers.

What problems have the customers found with your pellets?

Usually what happens is that they have to adjust their machines a bit, like not too much, like around 5-10% of the adjusting goes on. But after that, like, they're very happy and we get repeat orders. And we have an LOI, letter of intent, for $10 million already from our existing clients.

How much have you sold so far?

Last year we did around $324,000 of business.

Are there other people that make these pellets?

No, in India no one makes that, but in other countries, like in the US, a guy is raising funds for it. Like his valuation is around $34 million, but in India no one is making the hemp plastics. And also we are the only one who has been able to cottonize Indian hemp as well as Jeddah hemp to run on the cotton systems.

Terrific. Well, thank you so much for being on Meet the Drapers.

Thank you.

For us, sustainability means everything. Sustainability should take care of the people, planet, and the profit. Everything should be sustainable. It should not be a marketing gimmick. That sustainability means to us.

I think he has added everything.

So, Gurudev, tell me, what did you think of Yuki?

I think that's a good thing they have started, and they experimented with so many products, and they come narrowed down to one thing. But the question is. How much of these hemp sticks will be able to— the raw material we can get it around the world, that, or in this country, is something that you have to think about.

I didn't think about regulations. I know that it's only become legal in certain places, but it's grown naturally in many areas in India, so I don't think that will be an issue. Main is to see whether this I always wonder if they're doing it for the money or for the good of the environment. What do you think their motivations were?

I think a bit of all of that. I think they have everything all together.

Now let's move on and see our next entrepreneur. But before we do, let's see what's going on behind the scenes.

Right from the beginning, I've been really interested in science and technology. I studied mechanical engineering in the UK at Manchester University. Shortly after doing a few years of work, I came to Sheshi University. And here is where me and my partner met, and somewhere we connected on the same lines of, you know, what we think about technology and, you know, where it could really impact us as not just as individuals but as a society. All of the students actually went for internships with corporates, but we said, you know, hey, let's go somewhere where maybe we could use our brains for some real good impact. That's when they sent us all over to some village. It's so We worked so hard. It was like such a difficult time of our lives, but we were given the job of installing a solar power plant. Took a really long time. The people had already started accepting us as people who had done something heroic for them. We realized that, hey, this is really, really powerful. Small team of 6 people could change the way a whole group of people function. If we just learn to harness the energy that we just have available to us, the way we've been using resources as human beings is leaving some impact. It's always us against the Earth in negative. If there's any way we could bridge that gap, you know, why not? And I think right from that point when you say it's possible, doors open up for you. When this call came and when we knew we were going to be on the program, we were so clear that we have to make it because this is our chance. Shri Shri University, where this is being shot right now, is home ground because we started our business from this point. This is where I wrote the first plan of action. For me to present that plan of action right here, 6 years later, is actually really something I couldn't even believe could happen. Everything that we wrote, everything that we're saying is actually gonna be put to use because we have what is required to get it done.

Coming up on Meet the Drapers. Wait, it says one user.

Right, yeah, it's one user. So I'm just giving you unit economics.

Welcome back to Meet the Drapers. Tell us a little bit about the Art of Living.

41 years back, that's when I started this Art of Living, and it grew into a big organization. Make life a celebration is our motive in Art of Living, and it's a volunteer-based Nonprofit educational organization. There is an intuitive aspect in all of us, and every business needs that intuition. There is so much diversity in the world, it can be a point of contention. So here we say, learn to celebrate the diversity. Understanding this takes you to a different level altogether.

Okay, so Stellar Grid. Tell us about this.

It was a little intimidating at first, and I sort of in my head I was like, you know, can we just delay it? Can we just do it later? But then I was like, it's got to go. They called my name out, and I just had to walk in. You've heard about solar power, right?

You know, actually, that's funny because the two of us talked about it, and we've both installed solar. And been a little disappointed.

You all have gone ahead to install it, but at the level of installation, a lot of times we hear about— in fact, how many of our conversations I had, he's like, yeah, solar is good, it's great, but how much is it going to earn you? How much is it going to cost you? We've noticed it takes 2 to 3 meetings, time, effort, energy to actually get that information done. We've spent the last 6 years being solar installers ourselves, and we realized that after every pitch that we made to every customer, we asked and we listened It might look complicated in the background, but when you go to speak to a customer, it has to be simple maths. What we did was we went after this market. If you look at it from the global point of view, it's a $400 billion market in the next 5 years. In India alone, that's $24 billion. So we realized that if we can make our process scalable and in the hands of every installer in the country, they can make this process faster. And because they're sitting at the forefront of solar adoption across the country, they will be the reason that we will be What you do is you just make it easier for them to buy solar, but then do you maintain it afterwards? Tim's already invested in solar companies before, so he kind of knew where we were coming from and what we were saying. So what we've done, we built the design, installation, the costing, the financing, and the maintenance. And we realized it's not one entity that can do it. There are a lot of large companies here in India today, but It's not just the large companies that can get across. It's the small local companies that actually approach customers, and that is when adoption happens. We realized if we equip the smaller installers with the right tools, with the right software, with the right techniques and the right know-how, they will be the last ones on the leg actually getting it installed.

Do you have any network effects in this business when you go out and you install?

That is possible. A lot of that, although, depends on government policies. Tim asks super straightforward questions. He just kind of rattled me into coming to the point right away. We've been able to work as much as possible in the government policies today. Government actually allows you to exchange energy with the grid. It doesn't allow you to make your own grid yet.

What's your margin? How do you charge for this?

We said that if you're building the tools, the software tools are just plainly to bring installers on board. Once we have installers on board, we understand the demand forecast. And the more we understand the data about the market, we will be able to approach OEMs for an aggregated purchase. Our revenue actually comes from a 1% commission. So if I was to give you unit economics, for every one user who does about $500,000 of sales annually, we take a 1% commission.

Who is that one customer and why are they using your service?

It's basically for every one user, Right, it says one user. Right, yeah, it's one user. So I'm just giving you unit economics. We are so lost in our product, we're so lost in our work, we're so lost in our ways of doing things. We need to see from the investor's point of view what exactly is it that they're expecting, how exactly is it that they recognize, how well can you convey your point. So right now we are testing the product out with several users at the moment of time.

For every one user— Has anybody paid you yet?

They're going to pay. They're not paying us yet right now. It's still in the testing phase.

How many tests you have done? How many customers?

So right now, the way we are working is through channel partners. Every channel partner I meet, I am using this reporting services. There are approximately 10 right now. So every time they give a report, they have a very standard report. It goes— in fact, I'll tell you, I wanted to give you an example of what our software can do. This whole report was made for Srishti University in under 1 minute. If you were to just read the first page, you would understand how solar is beneficial for you. In fact, one of our customers gave this report straight to the bank and he's got financing for almost $200,000. So our reports, just out of the box, are complete. This in the hands of any installer can get them straight to the process of installation.

Terrific. Well, thank you so much for being on Meet the Drapers. We appreciate it and good job.

This is actually the first time that we've come out in search of funds, in search of expansion, taking that next step ahead. I know you have to knock on 100 doors and you know one day one of them will open. But hopefully, I mean, if I'm knocking on the first door and if it's opening, nothing better than that.

Tell me, what did you think of Stellar Grid?

They're enthusiastic. They want to do something in that direction. I think that's good because we need the solar panels to become more efficient, as we all I've experienced. I think it's there is a lot of scope for it.

He was an excellent salesman, and they tend to be a little dangerous for an investor. Let's bring in the next entrepreneur. But before we do, you know what we do? We see what's going on behind the scenes.

I belong to Patna, Bihar, and I was born and brought in middle class family. Unfortunately, due to some family problem, I have to. Drop out from the first year of my bachelor's degree, and then in 2012 I started my own venture. But due to some financial crisis in 2018, I have to shut down my business, and then I was left over with no money in my bank account. I was helpless, and there was no any way how to come out of it. Then my wife suggested to do a simple food cart business. पानीपुरी भेलपुड़ी दिस आर द प्रोडक्ट सो देन आई स्टार्टेड रिसर्चिंग ऑन दिस प्रोडक्ट एंड आई फाउंड दैट देवाज़ नो एनी स्टैंडर्ड बिजनेस मॉडल माय कॉमन फ्रेंड ही फेल्ड सिक आफ्टर हैविंग कंज्यूमिंग दिस पानीपुड़ी ऑन द स्ट्रीट साइड एंड दैट मोटिवेटेड मी टू स्टार्ट दिस वेंचर आई एम बिल्ड around 1 million of street vendors. We are feeling very happy and excited to meet the Draper family and hope so getting funded too.

Go ahead, Harish and Jyoti, give us your pitch.

It was a little bit nervous, but also very much excited to present before great Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Team Draper.

The atmosphere was outstanding.

India is a place of savory snacks items. There are hundreds of items in street food sector. Pani puri is the most popular one and it contributes 20% in street food sector. You don't know which type of ingredients is used to prepare this. We are providing automatic dispensing machine operated by mobile app for touchless operating, prepared with lab-tested quality ingredients with all food safety compliances.

So our machine comes with entirely sensor-based operation, auto-cooling cycle, e-nose application. One can control our machine via our mobile app remotely. He can generate live statistics and also do customer billing.

We are also ensuring food safety as we are smelling the odor of spoiled food ingredients as well as we are measuring pH acidity. We are also checking TDS of water being used. For preparing as well as we are controlling the temperature. So in this manner, we are ensuring that what ingredients you are having is full of food safety and prepared by lab-tested quality ingredients. As well as we are providing our app service that is for machine operating as well as customer billing, ordering, and digital payment solution. In this way, we are providing enterprise solution for pani puri business as well as street food sector.

So if I get this right, The machine is actually smelling the food as it goes down, and then it is mixing it in a certain way so you can robotically cook?

Yes, absolutely.

This is for commercial use, right? Not for the home?

Yeah, it is commercial B2B sector. So till date, we have installed 120 units last December, and we have generated around the revenue of $80K in US dollars.

Over what period of time?

Midway through the pitch, we were invited with questions, which is kind of good. So it felt really, really amazing to interact.

Your machine detects if any of the ingredients have gone bad or stale.

So we are using different types of sensors for smelling the odor, as well as pH and acidity, and temperature, as well as TDS. So we are using altogether 5 types of sensors for that.

Which areas is it good for and which is it not so good for?

It is specifically for serving of pani puri, which has 2 ingredients. One is the water and one is the mashed potato.

Oh, does this only work for water and mashed potatoes?

Yeah, because pani puri has those 2 ingredients only. Since we are into some Indian food brand, explaining what that is to team, that was a catchy line.

So at present we have started with pani puri and when we'll be serving like bhel and all other different items, So according to the product, what ingredients is being used, we will configure our sensor according to that.

What about the wheat that you use in pani puri? The wheat, the wheat is stale or it's old?

We are not supplying pani puri. That is freshly made by the vendors. So we are only supplying the ingredients for making the pani puri flavors.

Oh, you are not supplying the wheat and the frying mesh?

Means actually the transportation is not that much easy for transporting that puris. So that's why we are not into that, and we are only supplying the ingredients for making this pani puri.

They put this in the actually fried wheat, wheat balls, but that fried wheat balls, if that is polluted, then this is of no use, right?

Yeah, absolutely. But due to some logistic concern, we are not into that, but we have a tie-up for that. With a Sierra well-known brand, and we are supplying through them.

Why are you two doing this?

That intense comments made us feel unique because if a person is inquisitive about us, that's a good point for on our behalf.

2018 when I have to start a small business, so I didn't find out a standardized business model in street food. So this product have a lots of opportunity for pan global expansion. So I am making this pani puri a global brand.

Terrific. Well, thank you so much for coming and being on Meet the Drapers.

If Mr. Draper is going to invest in us, it will increase inner side our dedication to do such a great and give back to society.

Coming up on Meet the Drapers. You're using the tribes. Give us a feeling for what that's like and why that's in any way better than just using the best employees you can find. Welcome back to Meet the Drapers. Shri Shri teaches me so much about humans and how to— how we're all one world. And he's good, he's good. Tell us a little bit about How you came to peace?

Peace is the basic ingredient, is the raw material for prosperity. In a world ridden with so many conflicts, I thought peace is the basic thing that we have to attend to.

Which do you think is more important, trust or freedom?

They go hand in hand. They go together. You have trust, you enjoy freedom. If there is freedom, that implies there is trust. See, people are stuck with their own mind. when they have no inner freedom from their own mind, from their own emotions. We build bridges. Since you are neutrality, both parties trust you, and then they get freedom from their own emotional turbulence that they have been going through.

Tell me, what did What did you think of the pani puri cart?

You think of pani puri, your mouth waters. And it has water in it too. I think they should do a little more work on it and see how it can also produce the base of the pani puri, that is the wheat balls.

So you end up with both. You end up with safety in both.

Now this is only one Part of pani puri. There is no puri in it, only pani is in it. So, but that's good.

And do you think that the customers are going to want this pani puri coming from a nozzle instead of from the baker?

Absolutely, absolutely. One would feel safer.

So let's bring on the next entrepreneur, shall we? But before we do, let's see what's going on behind the scenes.

What does it mean to be able to have a company together as husband and wife? What does that mean?

It's very complicated.

Both of us are from corporate background, and actually we met in corporate only. So that drives us and that keeps us grounded as partners first in the business field and then life partners. So we start fighting in the morning, and by evening we are settled down with each other, and that keeps us driving.

Between the two of us, we got almost 50 years of experience of carpets. So we are used to boardrooms.

This has brought us more together to each other because right from morning till 24 hours right now, we discuss more of our business than anything else. In fact, even when we go out on date these days, we discuss business only. So that has become our love. Two of us are in love with each other, but the one which is joining us is business right now. We felt the essence to understand millet, and from there the journey started. And especially seeing the fast food market and the way junk food is increasing and the lifestyle diseases were increasing. So from there the thought process started, and here we are with WowMom Foods.

And it is that dream that we are chasing. Every day we wake up to that dream that yes, we will take it to the masses. We have 3,000 people who are dependent on us back where the factory is. We are looking after their livelihood. It is that dream. That keeps us awake. It makes us do much more than what we can even fathom.

And the best thing is that what we are doing, we are changing the livelihood of people where we are established.

Shri Shri, we have never met till date and looking forward to it. We just need to seek his blessings. I think that would be a great thing for us.

Imagine!

We would go places.

We will be taking it to the world.

You can dream, you can achieve it.

Okay, let's hear from Wow Mom Foods.

I was walking down, both of us, and I almost felt I'll freeze because it was such a different environment. Lots of butterflies in the stomach. But as soon as we reached the stage and we saw our product, we felt, no, we can do it.

And the first eye-to-eye contact with Guruji, all calming experience. So the butterflies went away somewhere.

WowMom Foods, we are at 23 SKU and 70% tribal woman workforce. WowMom Food is made out of millet-based products, majorly to add up health and taste benefits. So you can have gut-friendly, guilt-free eating. Not only that much. So right now, if you see, 74% of death across the world happen because of lifestyle diseases. And major reason being unhealthy food. Millet being proven to not only reduce lifestyle diseases but also to reverse it. So here we present to you, ladies and gentlemen, WowMom Foods with 23 SKU of millet-based products which will not only look after your health but will definitely take care of your junk food cravings. Here we have noodles, pasta, cookies, we have pancakes, we have energy bars, and we have lot many items. 23 numbers, and we can go up to 50. Millet being hardy crop and soil friendly, it is also helping in climate change also. This complete unit is in the tribal land of Orissa. We are not only helping the farmers to grow millet, we have 17 villages under it, and the families of the farmer are working in our factory unit, which is not only helping them have income, but at the same time that is curbing The migration from rural village to the urban sector because people are enjoying working in our factory unit.

You're using the tribes. Give us a feeling for what that's like and why that's in any way better than just using the best employees you can find.

The amount of tribal people who are getting benefited out of it— get the stories of our tribal world, how they have got benefited and how their livelihood is increasing.

2 things here.

For any production unit, Either you need to be near the source or near the delivery. Since we are pan-India, we want to be pan-India and hopefully pan-world, source or delivery could be anywhere. We are placed in the center of the millet growing heartland. And then it gives a great sense of being to see 3,000-odd people benefiting from what we are doing.

And then because we have curbed migration, they live over there. They don't want to move out, but they want to work in factory kind of setup also. So training is a problem, yes, because we have almost illiterate people also, but that is what we are working on and that we feel proud being with them.

This year has been declared as the Year of Millet by the United Nations. Has it made any impact on your sales or in your—

Right from 1st Jan, our website sales has shown a very tremendous increase. In fact, initially we were just on Amazon and BigBasket. But seeing that, we have immediately mobilized our team to drive the sale to websites, and now we are seeing a very good response in that. We feel we are, as we say, at the right place in the right time.

With 2023 being the International Year of the Millet, India is leading the world and Orissa is leading India, and we happen to be brand ambassadors of millet here. What more do you want?

You have a factory here in which you make all these Yes, we have it in Mayurbhanj area, and there we have a complete unit set up.

It's in one acre area. It has been set up.

What does jaggery to do with millet?

Sir, sweetness. Now what we are doing, sir, we are looking at the junk craving of people. Now sweet craving, how to take care of with millet? So in spite of adding sugar, we are adding jaggery to it. So creating, and at the same time, millet has slightly different taste. So if you have this, you will not feel the taste of millet.

This has millet in it?

Yes, sir. You please try it.

No, that's very sweet.

And you should try the wafer, sir.

Wafer is quite good. Uh, the chips are kind of my favorite. I'll have 2 of those. Thank you. You like this also?

I did, but they love that product, both of them. They enjoy it.

Somebody asking for second helpings.

So basically, we are trying to touch the taste what people are enjoying these days out of the packet. At the same time, adding healthy values to it. We are not frying it. We are baking it. We are puffing it. We are adding jaggery to it.

What's your biggest problem with scaling this?

Now we need to have more fast-moving machines because everything can't be happening by hand when you are looking at a.

And no problem with this.

Not at all.

This year we are having— we are just getting regular calls. And in fact, we are also thinking of putting up a primary processing plant, which we don't have right now. We have a unit from where flour to the production products are made. Now we will start from grain.

Terrific. Well, thank you so much for being on Meet the Drapers.

We are seeing tangible changes happening there, and especially the 70% women empowerment that we are doing. They were not working. And today they are having their own money. They are having their own independence, which is important.

They're in charge of their lives.

Coming up on Meet the Drapers. Welcome back to Meet the Drapers. A lot of our, our audience is entrepreneurial. Do you have any interesting advice for those people who are getting started and trying to go on their missions?

Be prepared to face challenges. Disappointment may come, but rely on your intuitive ability. If you tap into your intuition, things will fall in place for you all the time. Second, you smile more. Lighten up that And create that sense of belongingness. And when you are doing something that is useful for the people, for the planet, for the world, success is for sure.

And they say, well, what, what do you look for in an entrepreneur? I say, well, you know, I'm looking for this passion, this drive, and that vision and that future. That's the thing that drives me to invest.

Formula for all that. I would say have some M&M.

M&M. Have some M&M's.

It's not the chocolate. It's meditation and meals together. It's a few minutes of everyone sitting together meditation. These things can create an atmosphere which is very congenial for creativity, productivity to come up.

Fantastic. Probably the wisest man I've ever met. Gurudev, what did you think of Wow Mom Foods?

I think it's timely that they are taking this initiative because this is a year of millet, and for a healthy body, millet seems to be a good alternative.

I thought they were delicious. I thought they were quite— each one you could easily see.

There are many health benefits of millet. That's why United Nations have declared this is a year of—

oh, it's the United Nations which has Oh, and what did you think of her?

They're good. They're quite good in their expression.

Did you feel an energy there?

I feel energy all the time, Tim.

So only in India, where there are people everywhere doing amazing things and the traffic is crazy and beautiful, can we have a moment where we get a great surprise and we're going to have 2 more judges For the next 2 entrepreneurs. First, we have the former Chief Justice of India, Justice Bobbidi. Thank you and welcome to Meet the Drapers. So great to have you here. We have Lok Ayukta of Odisha, the Justice Ajit Singh. Ajit, thank you so much for being a part of Meet the Drapers. With that, let's bring on our next entrepreneurs. But let's check out, see what's behind the scenes.

Look at this!

They've got a drone out there. Should we go see the drone? Can this carry me? Hey, well, we're giving you guys too much time.

Yeah, हमारा पेट है। Technology always inspires me. Back in our college days when I was working with Satya, we used to make drones.

And I have end-to-end product experience of building drones from scratch to the entire product lifecycle.

As we go forward, we want our technology to be improved and also be carbon neutral and also faster. Flying cars can be a reality. We would like to make an impact to everyone's lives by traveling faster. Idea is one thing. What we feel also inherently is the execution is the key differentiator. Putting this in front of Tim and also Guruji, it will be really wonderful to get that acknowledgement and also further mentoring how you can take out this business. I want to retake this. We are creating opportunity, then he is also creating an opportunity. So we are basically equal partners. Equal partners. What Tim brings is his vast years of experience in investing in multiple companies across the globe. It will be really great for us to get acknowledgement about our work, what we are doing, and how we can create an impact in India and also globally.

Okay, let's hear from Sacha and Gaurav from BV.

It felt like wow, Draper coming in and you know along with Guruji.

I was really humbled first of all for the opportunity given and also really proud that I have got opportunity to pitch in front of him globally. The problem of logistics in hilly challenging terrains is trying to be solved. Introducing Bonvi, the world's smartest and autonomous electric aerial vehicle for goods and cargo transportation in hilly challenging terrains. We have identified a niche pain point of Indian defense where Indian defense employs close to 15,000 porters and mules to carry cargo logistics across 5,000 miles of eastern Himalayan borders.

This vehicle can carry 50 kilos of cargo up to 40 miles. It's multi-utility, all-weatherproof, unique propositions such as precision landing. We are India's first company which has flight demonstrated 50 kilos of live load at 6,500 feet altitude.

That demo looked a little shaky on the way up.

We were a little nervous, but then it was what work we did over the last 18 to 20 months. We would like to present that. It was a part of product development. And we are trying to test our vehicle. Further, we will be commencing our pilot operations this year with Delivery Logistics, one of India's leading global supply chain logistics companies, for the Mizoram and Meghalaya district.

Coming to the commercials, we have booked an order of 3 units of $600K USD. We have intent to get $30 million USD order by next 12 months.

Who's that from, the $30 million order?

Mix of government and Logistic companies. We'll have to be certified to get to the logistic company, and our certification process— we just began the certification process, which is a 70-day window. We will definitely, you know, get through that.

We will be scaling our platform to make a highly intelligent aerial ambulance. We have 24,000 people in India die each day due to non-availability of medical assistance in time.

So are you flying the person there, or are you flying—

For now, it is supplies. What we have currently is supply. But for the future, how much have you raised so far?

We have raised so far close to 300K of investment to reach our technology readiness level of five of our current platform, which can carry 40 to 50 kg of cargo.

How much do you think you need to raise before you start generating that revenue?

So we are already booked in orders, so we don't say ourselves are pre-revenue.

Oh, can they pay in advance?

Team Draper has clearly got it. Yes, they paid advance.

Not like any other eVTOL company in the world, we are commercializing our development journey. We are sustainable in and creating a profitable tech business. It's carbon-free, and also we are improving the economy in hilly areas where the logistic is a very strong pain point.

Who will own these drones?

In case of Indian defense, they are procuring these vehicles, and we will be training the vehicles because our vehicles are autonomous. So it is very custom. designed as a part of customer-centric thinking, and it can be operated in the future with a handheld device also. Once you enter the navigation and all that, and it doesn't require so much maintenance.

So the one who flies it and the owner will be the same, and it will be registered as an aircraft under the DGCA?

There are 2 licenses under DGCA which has to be obtained. One is the manufacturer, a type certificate, and then the operator will have an operator, you know, certification license.

Where does the responsibility lie in case of abuse?

We felt that it was quite intellectual question. So there is a part of a responsibility where people can't interfere with that. One is a software text check, all encrypted, and people can't interfere with the hardware text check and the software text check. And part of the liability lies with us, and we can also determine the interface between the manufacturer with our manufacturer.

How much of this machine product has other components that you have to import or you have to license from other companies?

60% of our cost is completely indigenized. It's completely handmade from the design to fabrication to molding. The parts of the component like motors and motor propeller currently are imported, and the battery cells.

Are you importing that from China?

No.

Those motors?

From Europe.

From Europe?

Yeah.

And do you have smaller ones for fun?

Oh yeah, we— our team, if you meet our team, you will see there is a Bunch of drones from nano to micro drones, and we fly it regularly.

Where is the team?

The team is here, right?

Also here, and we're getting a lot of support from the university as well.

So thanks.

The incubation. Thank you, Rigori.

Terrific. Well, thanks so much for being on Meet the Drapers.

Thank you.

Thank you so much. That boosts our confidence, right?

We have our lows, we have our highs, and we want to remain humble. We really want to create an impact.

What did you each think of this BV?

Yeah, I thought it is wonderful potential. It can be used for many purposes, including commercial purposes within a city. The problem they say is logistics. Logistics. And the other thing is you can have flying corridors from which these can fly so that they don't interfere with anybody else.

Especially when they have already orders from day one, they have Making money from that.

You can order food, and they're getting paid in advance. That doesn't happen very often.

I fully endorse what my senior has said.

Okay, let's bring on the entrepreneurs. Let's start with the pani puri cart. This is a really interesting business. And I am afraid I am at a big disadvantage having had epony curry very rarely. And never have I gotten sick from it, so I don't really know what the problem is. But I think you are solving an important problem here in India. Thank you. Stellar Grid, you are a tremendous salesman. In venture capital, that's someone who's very dangerous. I think what you're going into is very interesting, particularly if you can You could start creating a grid, and so you'd have an alternative to the government grid. Ooki, I think you're onto something. This could be quite interesting and could be good for the environment. The costs are clearly a little higher, so you'll probably have to kind of go after the high fashion industry and the environmentalists. And I don't know if the environmentalists will pay 2x for the bags, but they might. And Wow Mom Foods, that was really interesting. Really exciting, and you've taken advantage of a movement, this millet movement, that can save people from diabetes, can do extraordinary things for the world. The food was delicious, and you also have real revenues, and they're growing very fast. And BV, this is really quite interesting. You do have competition out there. I have seen quite a few of them, but here in India, I haven't seen one. And having no driver, I think, also adds to the safety of this. Our viewers can vote you into the finals. You can jump over the semifinals, go straight to the finals. But with that, we have to refer to the crystal ball. And Gurudev, if you would send a little power vibe here, just a little. So, Vivi, you will be going on to the semifinal.

It's a thrilling experience. It's a journey, and it is just a baby step that we're taking right now.

And we inherently believe that if we do good work, good people will automatically associate with you.

Anything else you'd like to add today?

Thanks, all the crew.

We are working on a mission to make street food more hygienic, so I would like to invite each and everyone to join us in a modern era of fish trade.

If the audience can bring us back, we are this confident that, you know, we know this is the tool, we know this is going to help, and we need this funding to make it move to the next level.

We want to make our world a better place, and we also take care of our people, and that is the reason they should vote for us. Thank you.

The kind of impact and the value chain and the thing we are doing, it's not only one aspect we are touching.

3,000 smiles is what you're looking at right now. So a million for 3,000 smiles? You do the calculations.

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