Sewer-cleaning robots to AI therapy: How 3 Kerala startups are solving problems
A robot that cleans sewage without sending a human underground. Technology designed to help therapists work with children with autism. Semiconductor technology aimed at strengthening India's wireless capabilities.
These may sound like three unrelated startup stories. At India Today Conclave South 2026 in Kochi, they came together as examples of how Kerala's young founders are tackling problems that demand highly specialised technology.
The session, titled 'The Southern Start-up Moment: Opportunities and Challenges', featured Rashid Karimbanakkal of Genrobotic Innovations, Sathyanarayanan AR of Embright Infotech and Rijin John of Silizium Circuits, and was moderated by India Today Managing Editor MK Arun.
For Karimbanakkal, the journey began not with a business plan but with an accident.A SEWER ROBOT BORN FROM A TRAGEDY
Rashid Karimbanakkal recalled how he and his co-founders, engineering students who met through the National Service Scheme, began working on robotics after witnessing the deaths of three people during a manhole-cleaning incident in Kozhikode.
That became the problem they wanted to solve.
The result was Bandicoot, a robot designed to clean sewage manholes without sending people inside. But Karimbanakkal said the goal was bigger than replacing manual work.
“We don't want to lose their job because they are doing this kind of an inhuman job because they want to fill their stomach because they want to feed their family,” he said.
Instead, he said, the technology should bring dignity to sanitation workers. Sathyanarayanan AR, Founder and CEO, Embright Infotech
According to Karimbanakkal, more than 400 Bandicoot robots are now working across India, with deployments also in Malaysia, Singapore and South Africa. Genrobotic has expanded beyond sanitation into healthcare, defence and space.
And the next frontier is strikingly different.
“Very soon we can see our robotic arm also that has been integrated with the spaceship that is going to the Mars,” Karimbanakkal said.FROM AUTISM THERAPY TO AI
Sathyanarayanan AR's starting point was personal. His mother had worked closely with institutions dealing with autism, giving him an opportunity to understand the challenges therapists and children faced.
Embright Infotech developed technology using VR, immersive rooms and gamified activities to support behavioural and cognitive training.
The company identified 11 parameters and developed activities through which therapists can assess children and collect behavioural data. That data is also being used to improve the system's AI capabilities.
But the technology faced a problem familiar to many deep-tech startups: the market was not immediately ready.
“We build a lot of great products and great innovators are there, but market is ready for not ready for that,” Sathyanarayanan said.
He described convincing hospitals and therapists to understand how the technology could fit into existing treatment as one of the early challenges. Embright has since implemented its technology in more than 50 centres, he said. Sathyanarayanan AR, Founder and CEO, Embright Infotech
For Kerala startups, he argued, the answer may lie in looking beyond the home market.
“You cannot get disappointed with the market which is not supporting you,” he said.THE CHIP STARTUP THAT LOOKED AT KARGIL
Rijin John took an entirely different route.
His company, Silizium Circuits, works on semiconductor technology for wireless systems, including 4G, 5G and 6G. Its founders had engineering and industry backgrounds, with one co-founder having worked with ISRO.
John said their research began around 2020-21, before the current semiconductor boom, and was shaped by a problem highlighted by the Kargil War: the vulnerability created when access to GPS is denied.
The company's first product, he said, was an indigenous alternative linked to India's NavIC navigation ecosystem.
But building semiconductor technology brought its own problems: specialised talent, expensive tools and funding.
The company began with Rs 2 lakh from the Kerala government, John said, before pursuing state and central schemes to develop its semiconductor IP. Rijin John, Co-founder and CEO, Silizium Circuits
His advice to entrepreneurs was blunt: do not think small simply because the company is small.
“You have to think one step ahead,” he said, arguing that startups can use their flexibility to pursue highly specialised areas where larger global companies may not move as quickly.WHAT THREE FOUNDERS AGREE ON
Despite their different sectors, the three founders kept returning to the same themes: talent, funding, market readiness and the need to solve a real problem.
Karimbanakkal summed up his approach simply: “Follow your passion.”
But he added another condition: “If the social angle and the passion both merge together, then it's amazing. We can create wonders there.”
Sathyanarayanan pointed to AI, robotics and drones as emerging opportunities, while John stressed the importance of building products capable of competing globally.
For these three Kerala startups, the destination may be different. One is moving from sewers towards space, another is taking technology into behavioural healthcare, and the third is working at the chip level.
Their common starting point is much simpler: find a difficult problem, then build something that can solve it.- EndsRead | Kerala needs 7% growth, more investment to create jobs: KM ChandrasekharRead | Kerala's youngest AI prodigy, 16, employs his father at his AI startup
