{Startup watch: Autobot India} Creating an industry ready workforce for the Electric Vehicle sector

This Electric Vehicle startup, founded by two brothers, aspires to create an industry ready workforce for the EV sector.

The Government of India has set ambitious goals of ensuring that 10% of all new vehicles registered should be Electric Vehicles by 2025. Further, in alignment with the country’s commitment to United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals 2030, India aims to turn 30% of its on-road vehicles electric.

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These numbers imply crores of Electric Vehicles, which requires a rapid and massive build-up of EV experts and well-trained professionals who can work in the EV sector. It is this need for knowledge and skill development related to EVs that Autobot India aims to address through its 360-degree platform.

Autobot India is a growing startup in the EV domain that provides specialised solutions to the automotive and education sector. The startup is developing a unique ecosystem platform called Atutobot Academy that will support the EV aspirations of the country with the necessary structured thought process, awareness about EV technologies and expertise about innovation. It aims to be a holistic platform for the Indian EV market stakeholders, including OEMs, startups, and individual aspirants.

The Tech Panda spoke to Ashwini Tiwary, Co-founder of Autobot India about their vision.

Autobot Academy aims to solve the very important issue in higher education which is employability and skills quality of engineers with the help of emerging EV technology

“We have built a blended platform offering services and innovative solutions with the aim to integrate technology experience in training and development,” he says.

“Autobot Academy aims to solve the very important issue in higher education which is employability and skills quality of engineers with the help of emerging EV technology. Autobot Academy took the first mover initiative to create a 360-degree eco-system for skilling, upskilling and reskilling with mentorship, projects based on hands-on learning and career finding opportunities integrated within the Autobot Academy platform itself which makes it a one-stop-learning and solution platform for learners and job seekers in EV and future technologies,” he adds.

“Anyone and everyone who is interested in joining the EV industry is a part of our target audience,” he says.

Origin & Inspiration

Tiwary recalls that he had always wanted to contribute to society through usage of innovative technology. He was quick to spot that EVs were set to be the next big thing in the world of global mobility and environmental sustainability.

However, he noticed that there was little awareness about EVs in India. While companies like Tesla were building a global ecosystem for electric vehicles, the Indian audience was unaware of the latest developments.

After in-depth research, planning, and validation of the concept through testing and discussion with various stakeholders, Tiwary pursued his vision of building an innovative technology-driven and sustainable global organisation that will act as a one-stop solutions platform for E-mobility and EV education worldwide.

The Autobot Academy aims to become a gateway for people entering the EV industry and offer them the right thought structure and technology competence to manage the challenges

“Autobot Academy is the culmination of a long-drawn process. We had first started connecting the dots in the year 2015 and charted the course for building a value-driven model,” he recalls.

The next three-four years were spent on unravelling the complexities of the challenge and how to solve various challenges through technology.

“We also had to deal with demonetisation and the pandemic outbreak during this period. However, we had maintained complete clarity that we would use innovation and technology to overcome the challenges. During the lockdown, we experienced steady growth and focused on fine-tuning our learning and development solutions even in that period,” he reminisces.

The extensive experience of working in the conventional automobile sector helped the founders identify the knowledge and awareness gap related to EVs. Ultimately, they decided on a tech-based experiential platform to spread awareness and provide the automobile sector with the necessary information.

“The Autobot Academy aims to become a gateway for people entering the EV industry and offer them the right thought structure and technology competence to manage the challenges,” he says.

Finally, the company was founded in June 2017 and development, research and enhancement processes were initiated.

What They Do

Autobot India aims to be the biggest point of convergence for the entire EV sector to come together. On one hand, the startup aims to empower manufacturers with knowledge and support to expand EV capabilities, and on the other, it seeks to empower job seekers with the right training to enhance their employability.

Our learning products are equally beneficial for a fresher and someone with decades of industry experience

Presently, it offers Service as a Solution, but the company plans to introduce advanced technology-based products in the years to come and expand its footprint into global markets. As of now, there are four key learning methodologies available for engineers focusing on joining the EV sector. These are as follows:

Autobot Academy (AA): An end-to-end online learning platform offering courses and career opportunities using an integrated technology learning experience

Autobot Learning Studio (ALS): A customised learning studio for engineering learning and development, adhering to global best practices that ensure an engaging, effective, and collaborative online learning experience

Autobot Talent Pool (ATP): A humongous virtual EV talent pool for the industry players to collaborate for their holistic talent search, placement, and networking needs.

Autobot Hands-on Hubs (AHoH):  This is a network of physical hubs integrated with their virtual platform Autobot Academy for hands-on learning. Three such hubs are already operational in Pune, Bangalore, and Delhi/NCR and deliver offline hands-on learning and collaboration that provides real-time exposure to the users. By 2024, the number of such hubs is expected to be 10+, covering all major EV cluster cities across India.

“Our learning products are equally beneficial for a fresher and someone with decades of industry experience. The entire program has been developed as per the company’s unique methodology known as PLA (Practical Learning Approach). Autobot Academy offers industry-centric exposure, and we also do validation from the government and the industry experts,” explains Tiwary.

The Autobot USP

The approach adopted by Autobot Academy is set to revolutionize all aspects of the automobile training and higher education ecosystem in India. Further, it aims at mass benefit.

“Right from the outset, we have focused on being different from the conventional tech-based learning platforms. Our biggest advantage is the unique, innovation-based learning model that we have built,” says Tiwary.

Right from the outset, we have focused on being different from the conventional tech-based learning platforms. Our biggest advantage is the unique, innovation-based learning model that we have built

“The learners on the platform get technology specialised premium learning experience at affordable costs, and it will be a major USP for us. We also have the first-mover advantage in the Indian market. We are the first in the country to introduce specialized certifications in EV technology learning,” he adds.

“We had been providing offline learning options since the initial days, but it was only in 2020 that we launched our virtual learning platform. This has now completed the whole ecosystem, and now we have a blended (online and offline) model which is scalable and sustainable,” he says.

Growth Story

Autobot Academy had earlier kept the numbers low since the platform had been in the testing phase. But things have started mobilising now.

“We only needed the right number of clients to test and validate our technologies. Further, we also have a referral system with over 3000 network members who helped us receive ample incoming queries,” says Tiwary.

Today, the platform is generating 15%-20% of their registrations through referrals and up to 30% of all the traffic they receive on their website. The remaining come through digital marketing campaigns and word-of-mouth publicity.

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“Autobot Academy has already helped more than 500 people advance their careers, and we have over 2500 active learners enrolled in our programs. Today, we have over 50 industry partners including 30+ trusted OEMs, PSUs and startups and have imparted over 6000 hours of Green Learning,” he says proudly.

The platform has been given a 4.6-star rating by learners. One of their major recent successes include a tie up with MG Motors to deliver a specialised training programme in AI and EV with an aim to provide skilled manpower for the automobile industry.

Future Plans

Although a PaaS operating in Indian markets the startup’s future plans include introduction of physical products.

“In two years from now, the plan is to enter the international markets,” he says. “We also aim to expand our network of Autobot Hands-on Hubs. At present, we have three hubs operating in Delhi/NCR, Pune and Bangalore, and our aim is to expand the network to 10+ major EV cluster cities across India by 2024.”