If wearing a helmet on a sweltering summer day is equivalent to a bane for you, imagine all those construction workers, labourers and others who have no choice but to wear it.
Thankfully, Jarsh Safety thought about this back in 2017 when they started working on this problem extensively and last year, started manufacturing AC helmets which were launched by none other than Minister of MA&UD, Industries and IT&C of Telangana KT Rama Rao. So why are we talking about them now? To report that they have a new plan and a novel product on the cards.
"Our challenge has always been that as our product is unique, there is no competition, but at the same time, nobody knows how game-changing the helmet can really be," says Kausthub Kaundinya, CEO and Founder of the Hyderabad-based start-up. Picture this: The sun burning bright in the sky and bearing down heavily on us mortals, especially heavily on those toiling away in mines or on construction sites while wearing helmets. But if they have helmets made by Jarsh Safety, their heads are much cooler, literally. Thanks to the AC helmets, they will work more efficiently while complaining much less. This July, JCB India, manufacturer of heavy construction machines, realised the merits of these helmets hence, have brought Jarsh onboard to design helmets, especially for their operators. "They will sell the products designed and manufactured by us across all of their showrooms," says the excited 25-year-old.
What else? Realising that most companies might not want to purchase helmets for all their workers upfront, they launched their lease model. Under this, companies can lease Jarsh helmets for as low as Rs 15 per day or 450 per month. "This scheme was launched so that it also serves as a trial for those companies who are not ready to buy the helmets yet,” says the alumni of VNR Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering and Technology who pursued his Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering from there.
Since the lockdown, Kausthub and Co have been working on something else entirely — a cash counting machine that also sanitises currency notes. "Come to think of it, one of the most contaminated objects that is unavoidable, used every day and changes several hands is cash. So this machine is indeed the need of the hour. We have used proven UV-C Germicidal Technology," says the youngster. They have been working on this device for the past six months and are ramping up to launch the product after successful market trials in October 2020.
Started as students and now they are here, Kausthub expresses delight at how far they have come. "When we started out, we did not even have a direction. But we picked the right problem to solve and now we are just getting started," says the entrepreneur.
What it takes to develop hardware, as per Kausthub
- People don't understand hardware as easily as software
- The vendors have a lackadaisical attitude sometimes. We had to import parts from China, Coimbatore and Ahmedabad
- Also, all parts are extremely costly here. There is just no ecosystem for hardware
- It takes years to develop hardware products because of the very many iterations
For more on them, check out jarshsafety.com