BRI Innovations : Bridging The Innovators To Their Industry

How many of us have used Korean products and wondered, “Goodness, how are they making it?” Are we not among those people who have gaped how countries like Korea, the US, Germany are even able to produce new products after products and are never out of trend? And why do we love using their products in the first place?

Are we, Indians not capable of producing such goods? India has the highest youth population in the world, then where are young minds wandering? The answer lies in a simple answer, these countries have already achieved something that India has been lacking- The connection. India is indeed a country of young minds and hard words; many industries try to innovate new products and diversify from their routine of goods.

Unfortunately – only a handful with the marketing muscle succeeded, most others ended up copying each other and is very limited to their city. What we are missing is the connecting piece that guides these wandering minds into predicting the reliability and innovation of their products. But needn’t worry, we have here just the right candidate choice to help your innovations innovate- BRI Innovations.

BRI understands this scenario and offers these companies the power to innovate, to capture a problem, and predict what products could be manufactured in the near or distant future. BRI Innovations main focus is to enable anyone, be it manufacturers, distributors or individual businessmen to be able to independently innovate and create a new line of products with different features and variants. Now, with the ban on Chinese products, the Indian market is waiting eagerly to push forth the designs of India. But people perceive the fancy, one-time-use products to be their choice and think Indian products are not reliable. This mentality has to be changed and so does the change in product making. BRI has a firm belief that India has great potential, the people are creative and the companies have the ability.

What’s missing is the connection. What’s missing is trust among our own. The idea originator doesn’t trust the manufacturer and the manufacturer doesn’t trust that the idea is original and would work. BRI has pledged to bridge that. BRI is focused on building a great marketplace for SMBs, businessmen, SME, and Large MSME. BRI wants to empower people in developing new ideas in simple consumer domains.
Let’s see the heart-warming interview and enrich ourselves:

Inventiva: What is the Name of Your Venture? Any specific reason for this name?
BRI Innovations: BRI Innovations is the name we have kept for everyone to relate to.
BRI stands for Brilliant in Design, Relevant for people, and Inventive by nature. Any product, Innovation that we think and make has to have all the three elements. Else we don’t take it up.

Inventiva: Who is your target Audience/clients?
BRI Innovations: We are B2B and B2C Company
In one vertical we wish to cater to individual businessmen, SME & SMBs, anyone who wants to invest and bring in innovation in the market of their brand. It could be simple products to complex mechatronic products.
In B2C, we are also launching new products that we own the patents and marketing. We are working on new inventions that are needed and appeal to the Indian consumers
Also, we are developing a very large network for urban mobility that we want to partner with government and large institutions. It is going to be the PPP model and will eventually pave the way for new generations of EV.

Inventiva: Where is your venture based (city, state, country) & What are your geographical target areas?
BRI Innovations: BRI is based in Pune and extended office in Bangalore. Our scope is All of India, we could also be catering to companies from Europe, the US, and Australia in the near future.
Companies or manufacturers those interested in seeking innovation, who are open for the new & innovative product, and those who want to be the first mover are our potential customers.

Inventiva: What problems does your venture resolve? What are your products or services?
BRI Innovations: Our idea is to bridge the gap between the innovators and the companies.
We are targeting the lack of Innovative thinking among the manufacturers and small businesses.
India ranks 55th in the world in terms of innovation, from our survey we understand few reasons for this could be any of it such as risk-taking ability, the lack of funds for new projects, the lack of marketing and the slow statistical banking systems make it hard for any innovation to come to life.

On the other hand, there are many good inventors and creative people who can identify a problem and design a solution.
Unfortunately, a lot is lost, they either don’t know how to get it to mainstream production or they don’t trust others with their ideas.
Most of them just don’t pursue it and if they do they end up making a small jugaad or small low cost poorly made arrangements.
This is what we want to avoid and tap into. We welcome people to confidently come up with good solutions that they think has a market.
Manufacturing establishments who already have a setup to produce can make good benefits from this service. They get a new product which is validated and ready for development and production.
How this works is, BRI will source the idea from innovators and validate it thoroughly in terms of manufacturing feasibility and commercial aspects of the product. Companies are approached with the idea, interested can develop it further and mass produces to make huge profits.

Inventiva: Share the idea or story behind the venture. How did it come to existence? What motivated you to start your own venture?
BRI Innovations: We always wanted to have “Our ” products on the shelf.
People should use it, find it relevant.
Although we are from Automotive background, the Innovations done there are seldom known.
Often the innovations are just shown as a marketing gimmick to entice the customers.
The inventors are never mentioned and almost all the time the talk is about the hi-tech and not about the small mechanisms or inventions that constantly add value.

In consumer space, the talk is more about the person and the inventors.
People either love the product or hate it, refer it or reject it.
Now, this is a good challenge to have. To always strive to make and propose Brilliant, Relevant Inventive Ideas, that’s what makes BRI.

The second motivation is to create an enterprise. To create jobs, to engage a lot of suppliers and services. That is what our government is targeting too.
We also learned accountancy, HR, marketing, distributorship, customer retention, business strategy, intellectual asset management, etc
All this can be achieved only when we come out of a silo and explore what we are capable of.

Inventiva: Who are your biggest competitors and how do you differentiate yourself from them?
BRI Innovations: Our biggest competitor exists in the USA. Not in India.
In the western world, Innovation is not just a gimmicky word, it’s a serious vertical and the expectation is to earn or license millions from the outcomes of these innovations big or small. People are also generally aware of the patent and the infringement punishments etc.

Inventiva: How did you identify your co-founder? Tell us something about your co-founder/s.
BRI Innovations: We are from the same company, working together in different verticals.
We always knew each other to be very keen problem solvers and solution finders. We find the Indian population to be very interesting people and can come up with many solutions to a problem. We find joy in finding solutions created by intelligent people. We share the same passion for tech and are process-oriented.
And finally, we both believe that we should be able to generate a lot of jobs and engage a lot of smaller businesses.

Inventiva: How did you hire your first team members? What skills do you want in your employees/team?
BRI Innovations: We only have 2 more people, for sales and marketing.
In the near future, we would be recruiting designers – engineers and supply chain managers.
We are a 4-day working company and the fifth, sixth, and seventh day is for planning.

Inventiva: What expansion plans are you looking for in the next 2 years, next 5 years?
BRI Innovations: In the next 2 years
We would be launching 10 products in total.
We would be exploring to launch the Urban mobility model
And we would be increasing our team size from 4 to 20 or more.

In the next 5 years, we would acquire a design company and have our distribution network.
We expect our revenue to be 10-fold.
We will have launched urban mobility and working with the government.

Inventiva: Where do you want to see yourself in the next 10 years?
BRI Innovations: We would be globally known as an innovative company.
We would have given a lot of people richer by valuing their idea potential
We would have helped at least 1000 companies create new products.
We would have urban mobility in 3 different cities.
We would have created the best Innovation park.

Inventiva: What are your immediate goals over the next 1, 3, 6, and 12 months?
BRI Innovations: We have an urgent need to market the concept and process of our company.
I and my co-founder would be meeting companies to come on board and meet people to motivate them
Our immediate goal is to launch new products and games, something in the home consumer durable space, etc

Inventiva: Have you raised any funding? Or have any plans for the funding?
BRI Innovations: Yes, we have raised a small amount.
We are looking at a good investor partner, who understands what it takes to launch new products.
We would like the investor to be focussed on Innovation, support us by connecting to industrialists, rather than quick exit with high returns.
We are looking to raise funds from people who want to improve the innovative index of India.

Inventiva: What were the problems you faced during the starting days and how did you resolve them?
BRI Innovations: Nothing major. We have a good partnership and mentors for every aspect of our company. Our biggest challenge is to find distributors for our products since they are new and quite different from one another. There is no single distributor that takes up the Distribution of Innovative products.
In Germany, I walked into a shop that had only new products and he claimed that you won’t find these products easily in the market. People were flocking to it and checking out almost every product. That is their culture. The whole population appreciates innovation.
In India, More or less it is the cheapest that is being appreciated; hence the manufacturers [Indian or Imported] find it hard to sell a lot of good products in India.

Inventiva: What was the most challenging part of your journey till now? How did you overcome those challenges?
BRI Innovations: Two most challenging part of our startup is firstly, to explain to people that they need to be innovative and to think of their ideas as “Real-world worthy.”
And secondly to explain to manufacturers /smbs/ that they need innovations else they will fade out and beaten by competition in a matter of days. They need to support the people and buy ideas, promote Inventions by Indians or innovations.
To make them understand that a product with good intellectual property and protection will give them an upper edge in the long run.

Unfortunately, due to riots, COVID scenario, monsoon, and migration of labor, most of the manufacturers have lost a lot. They have either slowed their investments and trying to maintain what they have or they are not getting loans from their banks or the govt for launching new products. Most of them are being conservative. We are talking of small businesses – not large corporates.

Yet another challenge is the traditional and statistics-based banking system here.
If anyone wants to make a new kind of home office desk with some innovative features – and he doesn’t know how much he will be able to sell and if he is a new entrepreneur – with no history of 3 years balance sheet – plus has to do a lot of promotion & advertisement to do – that is costly – needs funding for that.
I can’t imagine how one will get a loan from any bank, nbfc, angel, or VC. It’s next to impossible. And finally, the person drops the idea.

In the USA, UK, and China, there is a separate group and banking system for this kind of handholding. They don’t ask for history as they ask for a strategy and plan for the future. If a person is capable of generating cash, jobs, and create a brand – he is supported whole-heartedly by the entire community.
Finally, we have met some brilliant individuals who have lost their entrepreneurial mindset and they have submitted to the system of jobs. One is laughed about in his family and society and he is forced to go back to join a job or end up selling the regular vegetables, clothes, spices, cosmetics, shampoos, and biscuits. The biggest challenge would be to give him a new innovative product – connect him to industries and he starts to sell and stand proudly in front of his community.

Inventiva: What are your hobbies? What do you do in your non-work time?
BRI Innovations: Design and sketch.
Watch movies and series.
Read about new tech and products.
Society works as a secretary.

Inventiva: Whom do you consider your idol or biggest motivator?
BRI Innovations: Many people have played a role in shaping our thoughts.
Starting from Leonardo da vinci to stevejobs to Ratan Tata.

But the most important motivator is my father.
He has always been supportive in giving me space to invent, to experiment.
We even had our garage filled with tools and scraps to make anything.
He is a scientific man – believes that people have to continuously make
new things for self and others, that’s why in evolution mankind is superior.

We think. We make.
When you think well, you make something useful.
When you think together, you make something grand.
How sexy is that sentiment?

Inventiva: What do you feel is the major difference between entrepreneurs and those who work for someone else?
BRI Innovations: It is only a matter of circumstances.
Give any person a year or two’s salary – and assure him of medical insurance
He will become an entrepreneur on any given day.

People who work for someone are also very entrepreneurial.
They succeed in their jobs because they took up challenges and risks.
They own up their mistakes and share their success.
Some of the top corporates earning millions will tell you that they are not working for someone they are working for the company. The Company is an entity with a personality of its own, above any person in the organization. Bosses come and go, they change, people move from one dept to another. It’s never working for someone.

Inventiva: If you had the chance to start your career over again, what would you do differently?
BRI Innovations: I would have learned a lot of New tech in college itself
Apart from that not much to change. I have had a wonderful journey.
Made wonderful friends, created a lot of patents, created a lot of innovations.
And am the go-to person for problem-solving.

Inventiva: How has being an entrepreneur affected your family & Social life?
BRI Innovations: There is not much change, except that there are a lot of products in my house.
A lot of paperwork and more time discussing on the phone.

Social life is slightly shifted from meeting the regular office guys to meeting more business-related people, interactions are not anymore at the coffee breaks but a necessary part of our life.
I got connected to a lot of new people in a year, some I contacted, some came to me.

Inventiva: Anything, you would like to say to our readers or upcoming entrepreneurs?
BRI Innovations: Be original. Don’t copy and paste. It never works.
I would advise any new entrepreneur to surround himself with people who appreciate them.
Staying away from negativity and go ahead with a plan. Always have a plan a and b and plan c
We need to take advice and strong suggestions with a pinch of salt and hence one has to develop a thick skin.

Inventiva: Tell us something about your education & family background.
BRI Innovations: I have a degree in Bachelor in Engineering in Industrial and Production from NIE College. Mysore. Studied in Mysore – DMS school.
We are originally from Varanasi, born and brought up in Mysore and now living in Pune.
I have an elder brother working in Mysore in a premium IT Company who is a far more intelligent and more analytical thinker than I am. We have a large family of cousins spread all across India and abroad.
Love them all.

Inventiva: What is your USP which makes it unique & different from other start-ups in similar domains?
BRI Innovations: Brilliant question.
Our start-up is focussed on improving the innovation Index of India.
It will not happen overnight and it will not happen with only our company.
We cater to both – the people to come up with good ideas and businesses to consider them.

Our USP is that we know what products would sell well, how it should be made, how it should be patented.
And what would be the best way and target market to sell. We are excellent in problem-solving and especially when it comes to engineering and design.
We don’t necessarily cater to only one kind of product line. Thousands of different companies and ideas that are needed today to make India” AatmNirbhar ”
For how many years will we be importing – when we have the whole ecosystem available and a very supportive and stable govt at the top.

Inventiva: What do you think is the biggest threat to the success of small businesses & Start-ups today?
BRI Innovations: Lack of partnerships
The people who are still starting and at the beginning of entrepreneurship curve – they are scared to partner or talk to others and the people who are large organizations don’t bother to look at smaller start-ups unless they have proved themselves.
Most of the start-ups don’t partner well with different kinds of people. they only talk to fields they are comfortable with I have seen a tech guy not interacting or partnering with a CA – CS or a finance guy not talking or joining hands with tech guys or HR. It’s only at a very later stage that they think of partnering when most of the things are messy.
Most of the start-ups are waiting for funding to come in and to start making their first move.
And finally, Most of the start-ups don’t advertise. A lesson should be learned from the western world when they make even the silliest of products they make a hell of a noise on Instagram, FB, Linkedin, offline and on TV and digital magazines, etc.
A Lot of news, a lot of coverage is given to their products. The people who make it are proud of their creation. They are happy to create it and market it.
Here, we often don’t know that the next-door neighbor is making, he could be developing the next generation autonomous drones and car software.

Inventiva: Do you consider yourself successful and by what means do you measure success?
BRI Innovations: Not yet.
We will be successful when we have sold 200 ideas to companies.
We will be successful when we have motivated 500 people to come up with ideas and post on our portal.
We will be successful when our Urban mobility model is launched and people start using it.

Inventiva: Please share complete name, address, phone number, email id & website of Your Business & Contact Person.
BRI Innovations: BRI Innovations pvt ltd
20 Tulips A1 – part 2 Sukhwani campus
vallabhnagar
Pune 411018
E-Mail: [email protected]
Phone : Firoz: 9960669708
Girish : 7975059499