Rajeshree Deotalu: Heralding a New Dawn of Innovation in Drone Technology
The emergence of autonomous systems, especially drones, marks a new dawn for efficiency, safety, and sustainability across various sectors. This vision is perfectly encapsulated by VECROS. From its beginnings by an IIT Delhi graduate, VECROS has advanced to become one of India’s leading deep-tech drone startups, revolutionizing aerial robotics.
At the forefront of this innovation is its Head of Autonomy, Rajeshree Deotalu. Rajeshree is in charge of core autonomy developments and leading the group of control, navigation and computer vision and deep learning based path planning algorithms for full-stack systems. Additionally, she helps with the development of simulation tools for sophisticated drone navigation visualization using computer vision techniques.
Making Drones More Accessible
It all started during Rajeshree Deotalu’s college days, where a passion for robotics and unmanned systems was instilled in her. This passion, combined with a desire to solve real-world problems through innovative technology, marked a pivotal moment in her college years. Rajeshree also participated in various robotics competitions and hackathons, which ignited her entrepreneurial spirit.
In due course, she met Besta Prem Sai at IIT Delhi, and they found alignment in their worldview after which she decided to drop her US Masters to continue working on challenging autonomy problems in drones. They envisioned a world where all the dirty, deadly, or dangerous jobs are performed by robots instead of humans. This entrepreneurial spirit of changing the world for the better laid the foundation for VECROS and continues to be its driving force.
In 2024, the mission of VECROS to revolutionize drone applications continues with its world-class autonomous systems, making drones more accessible and efficient for various businesses, and application areas including but not limited to defense, inpsections, infrastructure and situational awareness. VECROS has a vision to become the global leader in providing autonomous drone technology, driving innovation, and creating solutions that leave customers in awe with enhanced safety, productivity, and sustainability.
Since its operations from 2021, VECROS has evolved from a small group of robotics enthusiasts from IITs and NIT to a well-known player in the autonomous drones segment. Its Key milestones include winning the Sterilite Innovation Challenge, being Maruti Suzuki Finilist, AWS for startups and NVIDIA Incpetion in the past, later on, the company raised funds from 100x.VC, Rebalance Angle Community, Suhail Sameer and Dhruv Bahl and most recently got valuable support from Aman Gupta(Founder, Boat) when VECROS got featured in Shark Tank India Season 3, which was a major milestone in its journey.
At the Forefront of Tech Innovation
The company leverages cutting-edge technologies such as AI, deep learning, and advanced sensor integration to enhance the capabilities of its drones. Continuous R&D, staying abreast of global tech trends, and collaborating with tech leaders like Nvidia and Microsoft ensure VECROS remains at the forefront of innovation. The company also uses a lot of technology in managing the customer experience and figuring out consumer behavior with its products and services. This is the key to understanding unserved needs in the market by knowing what the customer wants but doesn’t realize or cannot express in words.
One of the biggest challenges for VECROS was navigating regulatory landscapes and gaining acceptance for drone technology in different industry sectors. The company overcame this through persistent advocacy of drones, demonstrating the safety and utility of products, and closely watching what policies, the regulatory bodies are shaping.
Rajeshree believes that the motivation for VECROS comes from a deep-seated belief in her mission and the impact of company’s work in making drone smarter and safer. During challenging times, she draws inspiration from Besta Prem Sai, Founder of VECROS and her dedicated core team, the success stories of VECROS clients, and the technological advancements that opened up new possibilities for innovation in India.
Revolutionizing Drone Technology
The USPs of VECROS include robust and reliable drone platforms designed for harsh environments, superior endurance and precision, and a strong focus on user experience. Also, its commitment to continuous innovation, improvement, and customer-centric solutions distinguishes VECROS in the market. The company is ISO 9001-certified and it maintains the highest quality standards in manufacturing drones.
VECROS has received several prestigious awards and won multiple competitions. It won the Sterilite Innovation Challenge and recently the iDEX Defence India startup challenge by BRO. These accolades affirm the company’s commitment to excellence and innovation in the drone industry but, the most cherished awards for VECROS is great feedback and the trust of customers.
Rajeshree aims to foster a culture of innovation by encouraging open communication, investing in continuous learning, and providing platforms for her team to experiment and explore new ideas. Collaborative projects and regular team brainstorming keeps the spirit of creativity alive and kicking in the team.
Expanding Horizons and Pioneering Innovation
The Future plan for VECROS include expanding the company’s footprint and serving multiple countries, enhancing its product portfolio with next-gen drones, and exploring new applications in emerging markets around India. Rajeshree is excited about the tailwinds in the drone industry generated due to the indigenization plans of the government of India and supporting startups.
Rajeshree hopes to create a legacy of using cutting-edge aerial technologies to revolutionize the way industries function and integrate drones into enterprises and government organizations all around the world. Given that the future is autonomous and electric, she believes this would be a prime example of how innovation can promote efficiency, safety, and sustainability.
She counsels others to maintain their zeal and perseverance. She advocates utilizing technology, being flexible, and constantly putting the needs of the consumer at the center of innovation. No matter how difficult the business environment, Rajeshree stresses the value of creating a strong team and encouraging a culture of continual development to pave the road for success.
She also notes that business leaders need to be adept not just in hard tech but also in soft skills and non-verbal communication. According to Rajeshree, a company’s progress relies on the people it has on its side, and if they receive support in upskilling and are given proportional responsibilities with clear career paths, they can do wonders for the organization.
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