T-Works to support innovators in launching their products

Hyderabad: T-Works, India’s largest prototyping centre to accelerate journey in product innovation, will be formally inaugurated today by Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn) Chairman Young Liu. The 78,000-sq ft Phase-I facility will act as a platform for the innovators to transform their ideas into working prototypes and then launch the final products in the market.

This facility offers services to hobbyists, artists, professionals, hardware startups, MSMEs, corporations, researchers, and even students in return for a fee that is not yet fixed. The State government will evolve pay-per-hourly-use mechanisms, but the price will be certainly lower than the hardware industry, said Jayesh Ranjan, IT and I&C Principal Secretary, Government of Telangana, told Bizz Buzz.

T-Works CEO Sujai Karampuri said, “T-Works phase-0 was soft-launched three years back and operated out of a small space in Begumpet. It has so far supported more than 100 startups in creating around 1,000 prototypes, besides developing 35 own products and owning 68 patents. Currently, it has equipment worth over Rs 15 crore, which was imported from countries like US, Germany and Finland.”

He further said, “By the end of this year, we are going to enhance the machinery to more than 10 times as many private players are stepping forward to donate money for the equipment. Corporate companies like GE and Qualcomm have already committed and paid Rs 10 crore and their equipment is being purchased abroad. We may reach around Rs 30-40 crore worth of machinery by next year.”

According to the CEO, several private firms have shown interest in providing the funds for the equipment. Over the next 2-3 years, we are going to double the equipment to more than Rs 200 crore. Then Phase 2 will come up and by that time, this building shall have Rs 1,000 crore worth of the most sophisticated products.

T-Works involves knowledge of design, engineering, fabrication, sourcing, materials etc, from various sectors. Sujai said, “Though there are no defined boundaries about the sectors, right now, it is mostly concentrated in areas such as an electric vehicle (EV), healthcare, internet of things, drone technology and others.”

“The country’s largest prototyping centre has no competitor as it is the first of its kind. The country has progressed a lot in terms of software development. The value comes when the software is matched with suitable hardware. That is where T-Works comes in. What would have otherwise taken months and years for an innovator to develop a scalable prototype can now be done in a matter of days,” he added.

Several private firms have shown interest in providing the funds for the equipment. Over the next 2-3 years, we are going to double the machinery to more than Rs 200 crore. Then Phase 2 will come up and by that time, this building shall have Rs 1,000 crore worth of the most sophisticated products

- Sujai Karampuri, CEO, T-Works