Business
Vinay Vivekanandh first discovered a gap in the prosthetics market when he noticed a person working in his school who was missing an arm. He wasn't wearing a prosthetic, and when they asked him why, he told them that the affordable prosthetics are too heavy and cumbersome, and the good prosthetics are too expensive. After this conversation, Vinay realized that he had discovered a market gap, and so he and his co-founder decided to fill it.India has about half a million amputees, and around 23,500 people become amputees each year. However, only a fraction of these people end up purchasing prosthetics to replace their missing limbs. Why? Because the prosthetics are either too expensive because they are imported, or they are too heavy and uncomfortable to wear. Vinay Vivekanandh, one of the founders of Grasp Bionics, saw this gap in the prosthetics market and decided to fill it with PURAK, the company's affordable prosthetic hand. PURAK has a number of features which make it a unique prosthetic. Firstly, it uses a Myo mechanical control system which can be used even if the wearer is sweating profusely, which is something that happens regularly here in India. Secondly, it is built and priced with Indians in mind. Up until this point, the prosthetics market has been dominated by international products that are priced for people in countries with a much higher GPD per capita than India. According to the World Bank, India's GDP per capita is lower than 66% of the world's countries, and that is why PURAK, the affordable Indian prosthetic arm, is so important.While the opportunity to make money from PURAK and future Grasp Bionics products is huge, Vinay is more concerned with making a positive impact. He says that, even though PURAK has not officially launched yet, the happiness of the product testers has emotionally moved him. This, not money, is the real source of motivation for Vinay to launch PURAK.PURAK is set to launch at the end of 2019. Vinay and his team are aiming to launch the product for Rs. 100,000 or less. If you enjoyed this podcast and want to know more about PURAK, Grasp Bionics, or Vinay Vivekanandh, please make use of the links below:Vinay's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vinay-v-14454132/Grasp Bionics: http://www.graspbionics.com/PURAK: http://www.graspbionics.com/product.html