Agnikul is an Indian aerospace start-up that aims to deliver small satellites to space - like a taxi for satellites. Their goal is to design a product that makes getting to space easier, so we can focus on living in and working from there.
Srinath founded Agnikul after cold-calling IIT professors while he was in LA, hoping to find someone who believes in his idea and shares his passion. After reaching out to 150 people, he finally got a reply from one of them, and the rest is history.
In today's episode you will learn:
- What does Srinath do for Agnikul? What was it like moving from LA to Madras to pursue his dreams? How did Srinath change career paths from managing portfolios to Aerospace Engineering? What were some of the challenges he faced and how did he overcome it?
- How did Srinath meet his co-founder, Moin? What are the key qualities founders should look for in their cofounders?
- How did he convince a professor from IIT Madras to incubate Agnikul with no background in aerospace or IITs? How did Srinath's convince his first set of investors to invest in his start-up?
- What was it like to raise funds from Artha Venture Fund among others? What was the importance of investors' contacts for Agnikul, and how did it propel them forward? What is the role that his investors have played in his journey?
- How did PM Modi's sweeping changes at ISRO open more doors for homegrown start-ups like Agnikul? What is his plan for launching Agniban? What does a mobile launch platform mean? Does Srinath have any reusability plans in the pipeline?
Srinath's Topic Recommendations:
- Dark matter, and why it occupies most of the universe?
