IIT Kanpur-Incubated Noccarc Gets ₹3.94 Cr in TDB-DST Funding for Commercialization of Digitally-enabled Advanced Universal ICU Ventilator

Technology Development Board (TDB), a statutory body established by Government of India, has entered into an agreement with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) , Kanpur incubated startup — Noccarc — which is dedicated to the commercialization of Digitally Enabled Advanced Universal ICU Ventilators.

TBD has pledged support of ₹3.94 Crores out of the total project cost of ₹7.89 Crores to Pune-based Noccarc for its indigenously developed technology innovation.

Incubated at the Startup Incubation and Innovation Centre (SIIC) of the IIT-Kanpur, Noccarc has indigenously developed the entire technology, with several patents filed for each component, of the ventilator. The company's entry-level ventilator, V310, played a critical role during the COVID-19 pandemic, being deployed in diverse hospitals across India, where it became instrumental in saving lives.

Noccarc V730i

Building on this success, Noccarc is now launching the Noccarc V730i, which is a smart ventilator. V730i allows seamless connectivity to the cloud via GSM, Wi-Fi, and LAN, allowing doctors and intensive care specialists to remotely monitor the patient data on Noccarc’s digital platform, and will also enable hospitals to digitize their ICU data and workflows.

This initiative is aligned with the Government's push towards creating a self-reliant India in the medical devices sector.

Founded in 2017, by IIT Kanpur graduates – Harshit Rathore and Nikhil Kurele, Noccarc (Formerly Nocca Robotics) is a medical device start-up company at the forefront of healthcare innovation. Its smart medical devices are just the beginning of our mission to transform the healthcare industry through technology.

In September 2019, Noccarc had raised INR 12.4 crore from IAN Fund and Indian Angel Network.

Speaking on this occasion, the Founders of Noccarc, Nikhil Kurele, and Harshit Rathore, expressed that the support and assistance from TDB would propel the company in its quest for technological indigenization across India's healthcare sector. They emphasized that Noccarc's endeavours would contribute significantly to the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives of the Government, setting a precedent for innovation and self-reliance in the field of medical technology.

Rajesh Kumar Pathak, Secretary, TDB said that, “Noccarc's innovations in advanced medical technology are a testament to India's capabilities in developing advanced solutions that cater to the needs of domestic healthcare facilities. M/s Noccarc focuses on commercializing Digitally Enabled Advanced Universal ICU Ventilators, which are expected to revolutionize the critical care industry. The company's manufacturing site in Pune is a symbol of the realization of digitally-enabled healthcare devices made in India, which have immense potential in export markets too.”

Notably, more than 85% of medical devices in India are imported, the push towards indigenously developed products is thus become more critical. The Government of India, under its "Make in India" initiative and a renewed focus on digitization across all sectors, including healthcare, is driving a robust ecosystem for homegrown Innovations like that of Noccarc. 

Indian Startup Plans to Ship COVID-19 Ventilator from May-end

IIT Kanpur-incubated start-up Nocca Robotics has developed an ICU-grade ventilator customised for handling coronavirus patients which will cost less than one-tenth of a high-end imported ventilator, the company's co-founder claimed on Friday.

The company plans to start shipment of the indigenously-developed ventilator from May-end or by the first week of June, IIT Kanpur incubation centre in-charge Amitabha Bandyopadhyaya, who is also co-founder of Nocca Robotics, told PTI.

"IIT Kanpur and Nocca Robotics have signed an agreement with defence public sector company Bharat Dynamics for manufacturing the ventilators on a not-for-profit basis for India initially which is expected to be available for about Rs 1.5 lakh per unit,” Bandyopadhyaya said.

The price of imported ventilators starts from Rs 8 lakh and goes up to as high as Rs 25 lakh a unit, he said.

Earlier in last month, Mahindra & Mahindra claimed to developed a sophisticated ventilator at just Rs 7,500.

Nocca Robotics co-founder Nikhil Kurele said the company has kept safety and security of health workers as a top-most priority while developing a ventilator specially to treat coronavirus patients.

"We found that when a virus-infected patient on a ventilator breathes out, he exhales air filled with virus loads. This exhaled air fills the ICU with coronavirus which is hazardous for health workers. In our ventilator we have made ultraviolet filter chambers, which kill viruses, and placed filters thereafter to free the exhaled air from viruses," Kurele said.

He said that doctors and medical professionals were taken on board to design the ventilator as per Indian requirements and to understand the challenges around coronavirus.

"We analysed 5-6 high-end ventilators that are mostly preferred by big hospitals but did not find filters in them to clear virus load. We found ventilators in use have not been designed to handle virus infection of this scale," Kurele said.

He said that the ventilator can be used both in ICU as well as ported out to handle patients in other locations like trains etc.

"It is portable. The ventilator can work for 4 hours on battery as well," Kurele said.

IIT Kanpur and Nocca Robotics have started testing the ventilators.

"From May 12, the testing will start in two Pune hospitals. These ventilators will also go through UL and TUV testings. This is critical medical equipment. Therefore testing and strong standards are of paramount importance. We expect it to be available either by end of May or first week of June. We expect to reach 10,000 units production by the end of July," Bandyopadhyaya said.

He said that if more demand comes then the production will be raised up to 30,000 units by August.

Nocca Robotics has also onboard Indian medical device makers Avi Healthcare and Polybond for the manufacturing of ventilators.

Besides, IIT Kanpur, an another IIT of Roorkee has also developed a low-cost portable ventilator called 'Prana-Vayu'. The ventilator developed in collaboration with AIIMS, Rishikeshcan be useful to ensure the survival of COVID-19 patients. Named as the closed-loop ventilator is developed, and is equipped with state-of-the-art features.

~ with major inputs from PTI

US Tech Firm to Assist IIT Kanpur incubated NOCCA Robotics for Making Low-Cost Ventilators

Ansys, a global engineering simulation company, entered into an agreement with an IIT-Kanpur led consortium to assist in the development of low-cost ventilators to fight the COVID-19 outbreak in India.

Under the supervision of the consortium, NOCCA Robotics Private Limited, an IIT-K incubated startup, is developing indigenized and low-cost invasive ventilators called Nocca V110, said an IIT-K communique.

When someone has severe difficulty in breathing, they may need assistance from a ventilator which is able to move air in and out of the lungs. Invasive and non-invasive ventilators differ in how the air is delivered to the person.

An invasive ventilator is the most recommended type of ventilator for patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) making it more suitable for COVID-19 affected patients for respiratory support. It is suitable for India as it ensures the safety of frontline doctors dealing with the patients.

The machines that can be tested on patients will be out in a few days. Once the prototype is out, the team targets to produce 30,000 units by May 2020, the press release stated.

Engineers at NOCCA Robotics have prototypes of a portable machine ready. They are being tested on artificial lungs, a prosthetic device that provides oxygen and removes carbon dioxide from the blood.

The entire project is being coordinated by Professor Amitabha Bandyopadhyay, professor-in-charge, Startup Innovation & Incubation Center (SIIC), IIT Kanpur.

Ansys, headquartered in the US, is the first company which has joined hands with the consortium and FIRST (Foundation for Innovation and Research in Science Technology), the premier institute's company that oversees incubation activities of IIT Kanpur, to speed up the development of these ventilators.

As part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative, Ansys has come forward by offering a dedicated grant to the project that will be utilised for procuring materials, testing, trials and other expenses.

"We are very happy to have Ansys on board with us for the development of this indigenous, low-cost ventilator. With their significant funding and technical support to NOCCA Robotics, we are one step closer to bringing this critical device to our healthcare providers. Our gratitude to Ansys for their generous gesture.” said Abhay Karandikar, director, IIT Kanpur.

Nocca V110 is a modular, power efficient invasive ventilator that operates in a pressure-controlled mode and the IoT (the Internet of Things) enabled design allows multiple ventilators to be controlled via remote control.

It has been designed in a way that it can be manufactured on a large scale at multiple sites using materials easily available with Indian suppliers and manufacturers.

Speaking about the CSR agreement, Rafiq Somani, Area Vice President - India and South Asia Pacific, Ansys, said, “Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic that we are all facing today, one thing that is constantly worrying the government and the hospitals is ventilator shortage."

Nocca Robotics and IIT-K have created a consortium of biomedical engineers, doctors, R&D leaders, supply chain and medical technology businesses to harness their expertise and take the design from the idea to the actual product.

IAN Fund leads Rs 12.4 Crore Investment in IIT Kanpur-Incubated Nocca Robotics

As India moves towards a sustainable future on the back of recent government initiatives, many innovative start-ups have stepped forth to make this vision of a tangible reality. Underscoring its commitment to help such disruptive ventures realise their unbridled potential, IAN Fund – a uniquely differentiated seed/early-stage fund – has led an investment worth INR 12.4 crore in Pune-based Nocca Robotics. The investment also saw participation from prominent angel investors from Indian Angel Network.

Founded in April 2017, Nocca Robotics is the brainchild of IIT Kanpur graduates and robotics experts Harshit Rathore and Nikhil Kurele. Soon Ajeet Chansuriya, Mayur Chate and Samar Ahmed joined the Nocca team, to build the technology and scale the business. The venture leverages leading-edge technologies such as AI, Machine Learning, deep learning and robotics to provide automated, waterless and shareable solar panel cleaning solution for utility-scale solar parks. Through this unique solution, Nocca is aiming to address the less-discussed sustainability challenge of solar energy operations: the high financial and environmental costs of keeping solar panels clean. And brings the added benefit of water conservation.

The current manual cleaning process uses billions of litres of water. This becomes a major challenge for sustainable energy generation, especially with many parts of India fast approaching a day-zero water crisis. Indian solar plants spend close to INR 500 crore annually to clean solar plants multiple times a month, plant owners also reportedly incur production losses due to dust accumulation.

Nocca Robotics addresses these burning issues by providing waterless robotic cleaning solution to utility solar park developers and large rooftop installation companies in India. In addition to offering easy operability, the product’s shareable feature makes it extremely cost-efficient. IAN Fund’s investment into the start-up is aimed at driving growth for the innovative start-up, which is well-poised to transform the Indian as well as global solar energy market.

Harshit Rathore, CTO & Co-founder – Nocca Robotics, said, “Our waterless and shareable robotic solar panel cleaning solution enables plant owners to operate at peak efficiency while generating attractive ROIs by curbing unnecessary spends on manual cleaning and increasing the power generation. Moreover, the impact that the switch to waterless cleaning option can drive on the ecological level is immense. Water is a precious resource without which we cannot survive. Coming up with innovative alternatives to all water-based industrial processes should be the top priority of our age.”

“During our entrepreneurial journey, we have had the privilege of receiving regular mentorship and guidance from Dr Saurabh Srivastava, Mr Neil Bhaskar, SIIC IIT Kanpur, Invent IIT Kanpur and Villgro which led to the development of the product and the business. We are thankful for the support we have received from IAN Fund. The fact that they have shown confidence in our vision further bolsters our resolve to create innovative, eco-friendly industrial solutions,” he added.

Speaking on the investment, Saurabh Srivastava, Controlling & Designated Partner – IAN Fund, said, “Nocca Robotics, born in IIT Kanpur has with its unique IP for waterless robotic cleaning of solar panels and other surfaces, is well poised to leverage the government’s focus on scaling the country’s solar power generation capacity to 100 GW by 2020. Its innovative, tech-based, unique solution will address the auxiliary challenges associated with solar energy operations. IAN Fund is confident of the venture’s potential to achieve exponential growth and scale, and is committed to helping it drive unparalleled disruption in India and abroad in its chosen market segment.”

Nocca Robotics will leverage the capital infusion to set up a robust manufacturing facility to create these robots with improved quality control. This establishment will cater to 1GW of solar power per year. The company will also use the funding to bolster its R&D and strengthen the production team to deliver best-in-class products. Moreover, the team will work towards realizing its concepts and rolling out products for industrial utility in the market with renewed vigour. Moving ahead, the company is geared to launch a robot dedicated to clean rooftop solar panel installations which differ from industry-implants in both size and scale.

About IAN Fund:

The IAN Fund, an INR 375 crores fund, is a uniquely differentiated seed/early stage Fund which aims to transform India’s entrepreneurial landscape. The fund invests in innovative companies in sectors including healthcare and medical devices, agritech, fintech, cybersecurity, edutech, hardware products, consumer focused, leveraging VR, AI, Big Data, and deep tech. The Fund leverages and builds upon the strengths and success of IAN, the world’s largest angel investor group, to breed and grow innovative companies. The Fund brings to play the deep and wide ecosystem of IAN for its portfolio companies.

The fund has Institutional investors like SIDBI’s Fund of Funds for Startups, IIFL, Yes Bank, Max Group, Gray Matters Capital, Hyundai along with marquee individuals like Kris Gopalakrishnan, Sunil Munjal, Rajan Anandan, Kanwal Rekhi, Vikram Gandhi, Jerry Rao amongst many others. This is the first in a series of Funds so that over the next 10 years, the IAN Platform would invest Rs 5000 Cr in ~500 companies, making it the single largest platform for early stage investing, enabling companies to raise from Rs 25 lakhs to Rs. 50 crores from a single platform, along with co investors, providing startups funding through the most challenging stages of its growth. The IAN fund plays a critical role, not just in plugging the gap in funding, but also in providing strategic mentorship to young entrepreneurs.