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Swostik Sourav Dash | How NeoMotion's CEO is Building "Freedom" for Everyone | Ep. 2 | IIT Madras

A shoe that doesn't fit can ruin your day. Now imagine sitting in a wheelchair that doesn't fit - for 10 hours every day, year after year. That's the reality for millions in India. One size fits none, yet that's all we have. Meet the IIT Madras engineer who's changing this. From building a swimming pool lift that brought tears of joy to users, to revolutionizing wheelchair design. But that’s not where it started. It started back in Kharagpur, when a young Swostik was fascinated with science and social-science exhibitions. While other kids didn’t really like project assignments, his eyes would light up at the chance to build something new. The science dream came true when he joined IIT Madras. On just his third day on campus, during a routine call, a senior asked, "Who knows coding?" Swostik raised his hand, but what he said next just can’t be guessed: "I don't want to code. I want to build." And the social science dream did not take long to merge when as a graduate student at IIT Madras, Swostik built his first life-changing device: a swimming pool lift for people with disabilities. "I was amazed by how powerful an impact simple mechanical device actually makes in their life," Swostik recalls. "Everybody came and said 'Thank you, you built this, it has changed so much.” That moment planted a seed that would grow into something much bigger. After a stint at ITC, he made a decision that baffled many: he returned to IIT Madras as a research scholar to work on a standing wheelchair. Travelling across 40 locations in India, he met nearly 200 wheelchair users. Most were trapped inside their homes, some even had job offers but couldn't accept them because they had no way to commute. The problem wasn't just about mobility – it was about independence, dignity, and identity. This realization led to the birth of @neomotionlife, a company dedicated to building customized wheelchairs that could transform lives. Watch as we explore: 00:00:00 Intro 00:04:14 Coming to IIT Madras a dream come true for Swostik the builder 00:08:36 Pitching on Shark Tank 00:09:40 Why custom wheelchairs are needed 00:14:13 Running a for-profit business 00:19:38 How he got to start up in the assistive devices business 00:27:46 Centre for Innovation at IIT Madras 00:31:46 Being Student Head at the Centre of Innovation 00:34:08 Prof Sujatha and R2D2 lab at IIT Madras 00:36:45 Research work leading to successful startups at IIT Madras 00:39:54 Co-founders at NeoMotion 00:41:31 Pressure of getting a high-paying job vs building a startup 00:44:35 Hardware manufacturing in India and what lies ahead for NeoMotion 00:49:32 Journey from engineer to entrepreneur 00:51:11 Entrpreneurship ecosystem and funding support at IIT Madras 00:54:28 Building NeoMotion bootstrapped 00:58:03 Wrap References: NeoMotion- neomotion.in R2D2 Lab, IIT Madras- r2d2.iitm.ac.in NeoMotion pitch at Shark Tank India- https://youtu.be/Kj8rEolug-Q?si=Zcwe2zd8JHTi1Nj9 Centre for Innovation at IIT Madras- cfi.iitm.ac.in To know more about what makes IIT Madras- the Best Place to Build- hit https://www.bestplacetobuild.com/

Swostik Sourav Dashguest
Nov 14, 20241h 5mWatch on YouTube ↗

At a glance

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

NeoMotion’s CEO on building personalized mobility and lasting impact systems

  1. NeoMotion reframes wheelchairs as personal mobility vehicles that restore independence by simplifying everyday travel for wheelchair users and the elderly.
  2. A core problem in India is the one-size-fits-all wheelchair market, which creates discomfort, secondary health complications, and poor self-propulsion ergonomics.
  3. Shark Tank served primarily as category awareness and credibility-building, helping NeoMotion educate the market on what “good” mobility devices should be.
  4. Dash argues that being for-profit is essential for long-term impact because it keeps incentives aligned with end users rather than sponsors and forces operational efficiency.
  5. NeoMotion’s origin story runs through IIT Madras’s CFI and R2D2 (Rehabilitation Research and Device Development) lab pipeline, with the company choosing a lean, grant-and-debt-funded path over VC to prioritize longevity and sustainable market creation.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

Customization isn’t a premium feature in wheelchairs—it’s a health requirement.

Dash compares one-size wheelchairs to forcing everyone to wear size-14 shoes, arguing poor fit causes discomfort, harms posture, and creates secondary complications over long daily usage.

The hardest part is not building the device; it’s teaching the market how to buy it.

Consumers often choose wheelchairs by looks, fabric feel, and price rather than measurable fit and performance, so NeoMotion must educate users on the right evaluation criteria.

Shark Tank’s biggest value is category awareness and trust, not instant mass sales.

NeoMotion doesn’t sell a fast-moving consumer product; the show helped people discover the category, validate credibility, and trigger serious inquiries and sponsorship conversations.

For-profit structures can make impact solutions more durable than philanthropy-led models.

Dash argues that sponsor-driven buying can ignore user preferences and vanish when donor priorities shift, while a for-profit model keeps the user-market feedback loop central.

Assistive tech opportunity will grow as India ages and caregiving becomes scarcer.

He frames the problem as a looming national need: longer life expectancy and weaker support systems will require robust indigenous mobility and daily-living solutions to avoid import dependence.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

Imagine slapping a shoe of size 14 to everybody, like all of you wear a shoe of size 14 and start walking.

— Swostik Sourav Dash

If NeoMotion has to bring a change, unless NeoMotion is there for next 100 years, it will not happen.

— Swostik Sourav Dash

It’s not that if there is more money, we founders take more money home… it’s more money in the company to do investment in R&D, create market creation.

— Swostik Sourav Dash

India is a fantastic test market. We want the best or pay the least.

— Swostik Sourav Dash

Just maybe six or seven months before we accepted that we don’t know sales. We don’t know marketing.

— Swostik Sourav Dash

Personal mobility devices vs wheelchairsCustomization and ergonomics in assistive techCategory creation and customer educationShark Tank as awareness and validationFor-profit vs nonprofit incentives in social impactIIT Madras CFI maker culture and leadershipLab-to-startup transition, patents, and funding choices

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