‘NeoMotion’, a Chennai-based startup, enables people with disabilities to live independently. The ultimate aim is to make the disabled move without anybody’s help. Swostik Dash, an IIT alumnus, and Dr. Sujatha Srinivasan, a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at IIT Madras, founded it in 2016.

The foundation for NeoMotion was due to Swostik’s passion for product design and the commitment to use it to the community. That was joined with Sujatha’s 25 year experience in the assertive devices space. They both clubbed at the TTK Centre for Rehabilitation Research and Device Development Lab (R2D2) of IIT Madras. There they developed their well-designed Swimming Pool Lift for the physically challenged.

This idea popped in 2015 when Swostik’s friend, Vivek Sarda designed the standing Wheelchair and travelled across several places in India, interacting with about 200 and more wheelchair bound people to test this invention. A two-month-long event called the Enable Makeathon was conducted by International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in December 2015, where NeoMotion’s products were one of the prototyped ideas, was a runner-up at this event.

Thus NeoMotion was founded with the mission to enable every wheelchair user to live independently, in May 2016. Multiple organizations fund the initiative. They even received Imprint India Grant from IIT Madras, and an award for ‘Design: Impact Awards for Social Change’, which was an initiative of Titan and Tata Trusts. They even received seed grants from IIT Madras Incubation Cell and Villgro.

NeoMotion has more products in its list like the NeoFly, which is a personalised wheelchair designed to enhance health and lifestyle. Then they have this NeoBolt, a motor-powered clip-on which converts NeoFly into a safe, roadworthy vehicle. It eliminates the need to transfer to other vehicles and can be independently attached by the user within seconds.

NeoFly is a personalized wheelchair designed to enhance health and lifestyle. Its 18-point customizations ensure a perfect fit to the user’s need. NeoFly covers three-to-five times more distance for every push owing to the right posture, rigid frame, and ergonomic push rim.

Additionally, they introduce NeoFit – a platform to remotely assess wheelchair users and identify the appropriate customizations, NeoCare – for after-sales services and spares, and NeoLife – which provides health guidance to users. These products have impacted many lives in terms of convenience , time and building a virtue of independence.

They are expanding their product portfolio with accessories and new products. To make NeoFly and NeoBolt available to users across India is the immediate focus of the startup.