Bringing Cutting-Edge Technology To The Prosthetic World – MakersHive, A Hyderabad-based Startup Has Made The First Fully Functional Bionic Hand, KalArm!

Over the years, people with disabilities have been rightfully recognized for their talents and hard work in living a happy and successful life regardless of their disabilities. Assistive Technology plays a pivotal role in building an inclusive environment & helping disabled individuals, older people, and people with mental health conditions & gradual functional decline in performing activities that otherwise would be extremely difficult or impossible for them to achieve. This helps these individuals to gain independence and self-confidence, thereby giving them a purpose to live their lives to the fullest.

With the cutting-edge advances in technology and robotics, the Assistive Technology industry has boomed, expanding its uses across verticals such as mobility, hearing, cognitive aids, as well as computer software & hardware to cater to the various disabilities faced by individuals. A few of the assistive technological innovations include wheelchairs, artificial limbs, hearing aids, voice recognition software, closed captioning, and electrical assistive devices to help people with memory, attention, or other challenges in their thinking skills, among others. The Indian Assistive Technology (AT) market lacks in catering to the

Persons with Disabilities (PwDs), and Makers Hive Innovations, a startup founded by Pranav Vempati, Harsha, and Suren in 2018 capitalized & leveraged this gap in the AT industry, with a keen focus towards the prosthetics vertical.

Driven by an aim to cater to the needs & helping Indian & Global disabled individuals resume their daily lives with no inhibitions, a team of 23 social and tech enthusiasts came together to form Makers Hive. This Hyderabad-based startup is definitely one of a kind. With a fun, inclusive, animal-friendly, and engaging environment at the workplace, Makers Hive has achieved to create India’s First Fully Functional Bionic Hand – KalArm, inspired by Former President of India – Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. KalArm is a fully functional, customizable, affordable, and mobile app-enabled Bionic Hand that empowers PwDs to go from disabled to futuristically abled and become a source of envy in society. Being 3D-printed, lightweight, and embedded with EMG sensors, KalArm has 18 pre-defined grips and is available in 3 palm sizes – Small, Medium & Large with forearm sockets varying from user to user alongside the option to customize colors of outer shells/panels to user’s own liking.

With a mobile application to support & monitor the performance, health, and functioning of the device, KalArm offers multiple modes such as Office Mode, Kitchen Mode, Sports Mode, and Lite Mode which allows the user to attain better agility. Earlier this year (Jan 31, 2021), the Hyderabad-based startup raised $9 Million in growth capital from an idea-stage fund established by Starfish Growth Partners and Investpad. The founders commented that these funds will be utilized towards streamlining research and development, scaling production demands, and optimizing their go-to-market strategy. The team’s undying determination to eliminate this gap shines through with their flagship product, as well as the above-elbow solutions & exoskeletons for use in the medical & defence sectors which is still in the pipeline.

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