R. Chandra: Good morning, Rahul. Let’s go ahead with the interview with your background. Can you tell us a bit about your journey?
Rahul Nambiar: Sure, Raamesh. I’m Rahul, CEO and co-founder at BotSync. I hail from Kerala, but my family moved to the Middle East when I was quite young. I completed my early education in Abu Dhabi, focusing heavily on math and science. My passion for physics started early, and it guided much of my academic journey.
When I was in grade 10, my family moved to Australia due to my father’s job. This shift exposed me to a different education system. In Melbourne, I pursued a variety of courses and got particularly interested in systems engineering and visual communications. This combination of physics, arts, and engineering fascinated me and led me toward robotics.
R. Chandra: How did this blend of interests lead you to BotSync?
Rahul Nambiar: After high school, I initially enrolled at the University of Melbourne, but my family decided to move back to Abu Dhabi. I ended up at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore because of their robotics program. It was there, in 2014, that I met my co-founders. Over the next four years, our love for robotics grew, and instead of taking the traditional corporate route, we decided to start our own company. We founded BotSync in December 2017, but it wasn’t until late 2019 that we could fully commit to it due to various challenges, including visa issues and funding.
R. Chandra: That’s quite a journey. Can you tell us about the initial challenges BotSync faced?
Rahul Nambiar: Absolutely. One of our biggest challenges was raising funds as a hardware robotics company. Hardware startups are seen as risky, and we had no prior experience or connections in the venture capital world. This meant we had to prioritize revenue from day one, which isn’t typical for startups. We had to deliver products quickly and ensure they generated revenue, even if they weren’t perfect. This was stressful because we had to meet high customer expectations without the luxury of extensive resources or time.
R. Chandra: How did you manage cash flow in those early days?
Rahul Nambiar: Managing cash flow was another significant challenge. We often had to pay our vendors before receiving payments from our customers, which put a strain on our finances. As we took on more projects, this became increasingly difficult. We had to be very strategic in managing our payments to ensure we didn’t run into cash deficits. This required a lot of juggling and careful planning.
R. Chandra: You mentioned earlier that you faced visa issues. How did you overcome them?
Rahul Nambiar: Yes, the visa issues were a big hurdle. Initially, I couldn’t get an entrepreneurship visa, so I had to work as a researcher for a year and a half to stay in Singapore. It was only after that period that we had enough funds to sponsor our visas under the company. This allowed all the co-founders to finally work full-time on BotSync from late 2019.
R. Chandra: Let’s talk about the market. How big is the automation industry, and where does BotSync fit in?
Rahul Nambiar: The automation industry is massive, valued at around $200 billion globally. However, we focus on a niche within this market, specifically warehouse and factory automation, which is about a $20 billion market globally. For the regions we target, it’s around $2.4 billion. We’re taking a step-by-step approach, focusing on specific use cases and geographies to establish ourselves before expanding further.
R. Chandra: What are some key challenges you face now as you aim to scale?
Rahul Nambiar: Scaling quickly and profitably is a significant challenge. We’ve always focused on generating revenue, but now we also need to ensure our growth is sustainable. This means prioritizing projects and operations that will help us become profitable soon. It’s a delicate balance between scaling and maintaining quality, and it requires us to be very strategic in our decisions.
R. Chandra: What’s the core mission and vision for BotSync in the coming years?
Rahul Nambiar: Our core mission is to increase automation density in Southeast Asia. The potential for growth in this region is immense, as the current automation density is much lower compared to developed countries. We aim to create a common language for machines, enabling seamless communication and integration of different automated systems. This will make automation more accessible and efficient for businesses, helping to drive the adoption of automation technologies.
R. Chandra: That sounds like an exciting vision. Thank you for sharing your journey and insights with us, Rahul. Best of luck with BotSync’s future endeavours.
Rahul Nambiar: Thank you, Raamesh. It was a pleasure talking to you.
