Genrobotics, a robotics business backed by Anand Mahindra, receives a Rs 20 crore investment from Zoho

On May 25, Zoho Corporation announced that it had invested Rs 20 crore in Genrobotics, a robotics firm backed by Anand Mahindra. Zoho is one of the first software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies in the country. It will use its reserves to fund the investment.

Genrobotics makes robotic scavengers and has investors such as Unicorn India Venture, SEA Group, and others. Genrobotics will be able to increase its manufacturing capacity as a result of this investment, reducing manual scavenging in India. "In the sanitation and oil and gas industries, robotic scavenging offers personnel with safety and dignity," Zoho stated.

The Bandicoot robot, which Genrobotics claims to be the world's first robotic scavenger, was launched in 2017 by Vimal Govind, Arun George, Rashid K, and Nikhil NP. With refineries, the Bandicoot robot assists in the cleaning of confined places such as sewer manholes, sewer wells, storm water manholes, oily water sewers (OWS), and storm water sewers (SWS).

Bandicoot robots use their legs, numerous sensors, and cameras to enter manholes, move around, and gain stability in varied terrains, and are designed to emulate human actions with the use of artificial intelligence (AI). Its versatile robotic arm can execute tasks including shovelling, grabbing, picking, and water-jet positioning, all of which are required for diverse cleaning tasks.

The robots are equipped with a sensor that detects poisonous gases as well as four specially designed IP68 night vision cameras that provide visuals of the confined space through a user interface that is safely located above the manhole, allowing sanitation workers to do their jobs safely and efficiently.

Bandicoot robots are currently being used in smart cities, Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), refineries, multinational businesses (MNCs), townships, and housing colonies across 14 states, and have eliminated the need for human entrance into manholes.

"More than one lakh robots will be necessary to end manual scavenging in India," said Govind, co-founder and CEO of Genrobotics.

"We believe that around five lakh employment would be created across the country as we scale to cover the need gap." "The Zoho investment will enable us expand our advanced R&D infrastructure, establish large-scale production facilities, hire more talent, increase our exports to ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) markets, and expand our worldwide footprints," Govind added.

Genrobotics has entered the healthcare industry with the debut of G Gaiter, a robot-assisted gait training system that aims to improve rehabilitation experiences for persons with paraplegia. Genrobotics claims that their products are created and manufactured fully in India as part of the Make in India initiative.

"One of Zoho's top priorities is to nurture a strong deep-tech ecosystem in India, and the investment in Genrobotics is a continuation of that commitment," stated Sridhar Vembu, CEO and co-founder of Zoho Corp.

"Building such technological competences and crucial know-how locally can help create sustainable growth across key areas such as industrial manufacturing, healthcare, and energy, making the country economically stronger and self-sufficient," Vembu noted.

To be clear, this isn't Zoho's first foray into the deep-tech world. vTitan, SignalChip, VoxelGrid, and Ultraviolette Automotive were among the deep-tech businesses in which Zoho had previously financed. Last year, Zoho revealed plans to engage in R&D for capital goods manufacturing in Tamil Nadu's Kongu belt.