Startup Instrive SoftLabs is now moving forward with the goal of becoming a major player in the Indian market in terms of providing video conferencing and webinar solutions.
Creating a zoom option is not an easy task. This popular video conferencing tool became unprecedentedly popular during the Kovid-19 epidemic. From just 10 million in December 2019 to March 2020, the zoom reached 300 million downloads.
It is difficult to make it in 10 weeks, but Chennai-based Instrive Softlabs has done this with its video conferencing solution Hydramit.
Hydramit was launched by a four-member team consisting of engineers, management consultants and digital strategy specialists in True Startup-mode.
Ashok Kannadasan, founder and CEO of Instrument Softlabs, says
“Ours is the only product that has been developed in the last 10 weeks. Most of the other competitors in the challenge have an existing product. As a startup, we have rapidly seized the opportunity by building a team and now we are going into the market. ”
Hydraimet is the fifth product of Instrive SoftLabs, a tech startup founded in 2019 to address the needs of India’s highly secure video conferencing solution.
The startup presented its product Hydramite two months ago by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) for its ‘Innovation Challenge for Development of Video Conferencing Solutions’ and has been chosen the winner. It was selected as one of the 12 companies for the semi-finals which include Peplink, HCL and Joho.
What is different about Hydromet?
The Instrive Softlabs team certainly did not even produce the same product. He further stepped up the innovation needle to differentiate it from all other solutions to create India’s very security-first, video conferencing ecosystem.
Ashok says
“Hydramit is designed to give users complete control of their time, experience, privacy and security.”
He says, “We want 90 percent of India’s population to use our product today, whether it is literate or not, wherever they are from.”
How are they different?
Puneet Gaharana, who is a consulting professional and has helped create Hydramit, says, “Global brands such as Zoom or Google Meat are targeting segments of all users who are already using it. Our focus is on Had to reach people who are not part of the mainstream economy to use such a product. “
He adds, “The goal is to make it useful for people or people who have never used a computer before. How can we enable people, talk to people, clarification Can use the platform to communicate with different people? “
The startup has worked with the aim of making its system realizable in nine different languages.
The team claims that the technology used in Hydramit was built to enable low bandwidth usage. Thus, it is suited to be used anywhere whether it is New York, New Delhi or even rural India.
Another proposal that the team focused on was administrative control of the product.
Puneet says
“We are going to give the highest level of administration control to the users. I don’t think anyone offers the level of granularity at which you can regulate meetings before, during and after. “
According to the team, Hydramit allows users to invite other people, remove them, and even re-join them. A host participant can mute the mic, video, and camera, and even reject document sharing for single or multiple users at once.
Ashok says
“It’s very flexible from a control standpoint and it’s something we’re proud of.”
The team is still in the process of finalizing a price for its product. They are willing to focus on affordability and pay-per-use systems rather than a fixed fee.
The startup further claims that all data on the system is AES 256 encrypted, following the security standard.
The user can enable one or two-factor authentication on the system for access. A participant can obtain a password, as well as an invite link.
Ashok and Puneet’s entrepreneurial journey
Ashok has nearly 10 years of experience in software development. Coming from Trichy, Tamil Nadu, Ashok did his schooling and college there.
A week after graduating from an engineering college, he moved to Chennai and started work at a startup, where he supervised the technical side and helped develop its first product.
After working there for about eight years, he quit his job to set out on his entrepreneurial journey. They developed two products on the live chat application but were unable to launch them in the market.
He then joined another organization but was not satisfied with what he was actually doing. During a conversation with his friend Puneet during this period, he discussed how to deliver products to customers, as well as non-incremental new solutions, where the consumer is heavily influenced.
Puneet has been part of the team to develop Hydramit and has been responsible for conceptualizing solutions and developing strategies.
The formation of Instrive Softlabs was finally discussed in July 2019. The startup started in its first month with only one employee. Within six months of operation Instrive had 11 employees and each was deployed in various projects.
Although the startup initially focused on solutions for digital management tools, live chat and data innovation, the team was eager to do something truly challenging and impactful.
The Innovation Challenge launched at a better time for the team. This inspired him to put his best foot forward and to meet deliveries and expectations, despite regular work. After this, all is history now.
Self-reliant India – an inclusive approach
Both Ashok and Puneet praise the government for the inclusive approach taken by the ministry.
Ashok says
“The whole journey was very encouraging, transparent and professional. We are happy with the opportunity that has been extended to us and other companies. “
Puneet says, “It will be quite easy for the government to do so by involving only large enterprises. Small and medium enterprises across the nation have helped us embody the spirit of a truly self-reliant India. “