For our next episode, we turn the spotlight on to yet another origin story of innovation and inspiration.
Aether Biomedical, known for its prosthetic arm Zeus, traveled on a bumpy road before they reached the successful heights at which they currently stand. In episode 2 of The Newzchain Podcast, we traveled down that road with Dr. Faith Jiwakhan and how he, along with his Co-Founder Dhruv Argawal, brought their passion to life through their hard work and perseverance.
Aether’s founders weren't initially looking to be a part of the bionic arm industry, their initial start-up idea was to make graphic motivational t-shirts for kids in schools. While it would have been a fun and unique concept, Dr. Faith couldn't find the passion to drive forward with it.
Acquiring a 3D printer, however, slowly turned their heads to another direction; once they got making other cool things like the Elder wand, phone cases, and keychains out of their systems; they realized that the “cool factor” wasn't enough, they wanted to create something that would make a change.
That's when they came across the broken rehabilitation system and the gap between amputee rehabilitation and its dropout rates. This stemmed their motivation to bridge this gap, and so Dr. Faith and Dhruv took the opportunity to make a tangible difference in people’s lives.
It wasn't an easy start, Dr Faith admits; reading “The Lean Startup” By Eric Ries made him jump up to the realization that they made all the errors the book said not to make! While that did cause momentary panic, the college friends stood firm.
“Still, the only way is upwards and outwards, right? And yeah, so that was a really striking realization. But because we were so much driven with solving the cause, we kept on it.” Faith tells us.
Their initial funding efforts were backed with a lot of enthusiasm but they lacked a thorough understanding of the market.
“We are so excited. We are smart people. Just give us money.”
It was after talking to the Director from Health Start that changed their trajectory of thinking, it was no longer a game or a random 3 am idea. They then came up with a proper business plan and their first investment was from Health Start themselves.
Once on the right track, Dhruv and Faith marched head-on to creating Zeus, understanding the importance of feedback they collaborated with amputees so they could better work on any shortcomings or deficiencies.
A key takeaway from their experience is how important continuous learning is, in the initial stages when it was just the two of them, they recognized their lack of certain knowledge or skills, not letting that hinder them, the duo took up online courses relevant to their need and industry, empowering themselves and their team to create a superior product.
The story of Aether and Zeus is more than just a creation of a prosthetic arm, it's a testament to the power of passion and perseverance.
The Zeus prosthetic arm stands as a symbol of their unwavering commitment and the transformative potential of human ingenuity.
Watch episode 2 of The Newzchain Podcast for the whole story of their inspirational journey.
Edited by Annette George
