IIM, IIT incubatee to explore fresh markets

Currently based in Mumbai, Whirlybird, a pioneer in the development of MEMS based Inertial Navigation System in India, was incubated at Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) Innovation and Incubation Centre at IIT Kanpur and was also co-incubated at Centre for Innovation, Incubation & Entrepreneurship (CIIE) at IIM-A.

Founded in 2004 by IIT Kanpur alumni Bramh Datt Awasthi and Grishma Udani, Whirlybird Electronics specialises in the field of Inertial Navigation Systems and Avionics.

Grishma Udani, co-founder and chief executive officer, Whirlybird Electronics, said: "We have been talking to a few players in automation and automobile markets. Unlike in the defence sector, the MEMS-based navigation system is used for security purposes in cars."

The company's partnership with CIIE was formalised recently, when the latter offered a seed fund.

Rakesh Basant, chairman of CIIE and IIM-A professor, said: "With the co-incubation, we try and help the company reach its markets, develop strategies like pricing and provide IIM networking to reach potential clients. We have also given them a seed funding of Rs 25 lakh used to fulfil orders from Navy."

Whirlybird is applying for a patent for three of its products. Udani said: "We are planning to get our MEMS-based Inertial Navigation System, MEMS-based auto pilot system for unmanned aerial vehicle and fibre optic gyro-based navigation system for ships patented."