Prathamesh Choudhary
Founder & CEO
In a short span, Prathamesh's extraordinary innovation in the EV industry has brought him multiple awards & recognitions; he has been the Platinum Award winner of KPIT Sparkle - 2022 and the winner of VOIS Tech Innovation Marathon- 2022, Smart India Hackathon, and many state, regional and college level competitions. He is also a well-deserved Brand Ambassador of KPIT Sparkle. The influential leader has also given many guest lectures in the EV and HEV domains and has delivered many motivational speeches to young students and budding entrepreneurs.
Prathamesh is known to live in the future and cannot help making the changes he thinks need to be changed. This futuristic mindset has led him to establish not only Elespa but other three ingenious startups namely Hingeme, AASAP, and Biottery. Hingeme and AASAP focus on guiding young generations and leading them to successful careers whereas, Biottery is an initiative toward building a sustainable future by introducing recyclable biomolecule batteries used in EVs. He wants his innovative ideas to solve real problems and add real value to those who use them. His every venture is directed toward improving people's lives. Prathamesh is a young & dynamic innovator, entrepreneur, and team leader who believes knowledge to be his power and thrives to know a great deal across fields. Let's hear it from him as he talks about his professional journey and his innovative startups.
What has been the inspiration behind Elespa and how did you take the idea forward?
While pursuing Mechanical Engineering from Jayawantrao Sawant College of Engineering Pune, the thought that Electric Vehicles are the need of the day and are trending in the market came to my mind. I decided to bring a change to the EV market. After carefully analyzing the drawbacks and the gaps in Electrical Vehicles, I thought of an innovative idea for Hybrid Electric Vehicles. I realized there were Hybrid Electric Cars in the market but no Hybrid Electric Bikes. This realization led me to conduct intensive research on the subject and file two patents under my name. Soon, I developed the prototype of a Hybrid Electric two-wheeler. We took our idea to the KPIT Sparkle Event which is a
worldwide event with a panel of judges who scrutinized our idea and we were finally able to position ourselves among the top 24 ideas. Though it was a tough competition, we were able to secure the first position because of our unrivalled idea of launching not only the Hybrid Electric Vehicle but also because of the idea to launch the world's first Hybrid Electric Vehicle running on an Android App without a key. My brand is a combination of Electric Vehicles and Spark of IC Engine. Taking the first three letters of both the term gave me the name Elespa. And with this name, I began my entrepreneurial journey. My startup J267 was incubated at the BHAU Institute.
Elaborate on the unique features of Elespa.
Elespa enables people to control the two-wheeler on a mobile application with features such as key less entry, an antitheft system, locating vehicles, and a petrol & electric auto boost system on inclinations. It is easy to install, and the cost of converting a vehicle into an HEV is 50 percent more affordable than buying a new EV. Moreover, Elespa is set forth to make life better for existing IC Engine Vehicle owners, farmers carrying heavy loads, food delivery agents, logistic delivery chain networks, daily commute workers, and bike rental service providers.
What are the benefits of the conversion to the environment and how is it contributing towards carbon neutrality?
Elespa is an innovative idea of converting existing scooters/mopeds and bikes into Hybrid Electric Vehicles. This conversion enables vehicles to run in electric mode as well as in petrol mode. As petrol prices and air & sound pollution are rising, we believe 90 percent of vehicles should be made to run on electric mode and 10 percent on petrol mode that too only as an emergency backup. Elespa also enables people to swap discharged batteries with charged batteries. Moreover, we are focusing to eliminate and reduce several other problems faced by society such as unsafe and non-portable batteries, battery theft, no standby unit, high electric vehicle prices, traffic problem, reducing pollution, sustainable use of resources, and reducing Carbon footprint.
What is your leadership approach?
I am a very passionate professional who enjoys being engrossed in developing innovative ideas that benefit not only my company but society as a whole. I believe in tenacity and being focused on one thing at a time. I prefer breaking my work into pieces and completing tasks one by one. This kind of approach is very essential for building a startup. I am extremely consistent toward my goal; nothing can stop me from achieving my target once I start working for it.
What is the future destination you are heading towards?
One percent of two wheelers in India get a revenue of $1.4 billion by doing B2B and B2C business. In this case, the 100 percent market is $140 billion.With such a scalable approach, we are expanding to other potential countries as well. Starting with its manufacturing plant in Pune, Elespa will position its major products/vehicles offering to metropolitan cities like Pune,
We are taking forward the concept of Sustainable Development Growth focusing on Reduce, Recycle and Reuse approach by converting all the scrapped vehicles to HEV
Elaborate on the unique features of Elespa.
Elespa enables people to control the two-wheeler on a mobile application with features such as key less entry, an antitheft system, locating vehicles, and a petrol & electric auto boost system on inclinations. It is easy to install, and the cost of converting a vehicle into an HEV is 50 percent more affordable than buying a new EV. Moreover, Elespa is set forth to make life better for existing IC Engine Vehicle owners, farmers carrying heavy loads, food delivery agents, logistic delivery chain networks, daily commute workers, and bike rental service providers.
What are the benefits of the conversion to the environment and how is it contributing towards carbon neutrality?
Elespa is an innovative idea of converting existing scooters/mopeds and bikes into Hybrid Electric Vehicles. This conversion enables vehicles to run in electric mode as well as in petrol mode. As petrol prices and air & sound pollution are rising, we believe 90 percent of vehicles should be made to run on electric mode and 10 percent on petrol mode that too only as an emergency backup. Elespa also enables people to swap discharged batteries with charged batteries. Moreover, we are focusing to eliminate and reduce several other problems faced by society such as unsafe and non-portable batteries, battery theft, no standby unit, high electric vehicle prices, traffic problem, reducing pollution, sustainable use of resources, and reducing Carbon footprint.
What is your leadership approach?
I am a very passionate professional who enjoys being engrossed in developing innovative ideas that benefit not only my company but society as a whole. I believe in tenacity and being focused on one thing at a time. I prefer breaking my work into pieces and completing tasks one by one. This kind of approach is very essential for building a startup. I am extremely consistent toward my goal; nothing can stop me from achieving my target once I start working for it.
What is the future destination you are heading towards?
One percent of two wheelers in India get a revenue of $1.4 billion by doing B2B and B2C business. In this case, the 100 percent market is $140 billion.With such a scalable approach, we are expanding to other potential countries as well. Starting with its manufacturing plant in Pune, Elespa will position its major products/vehicles offering to metropolitan cities like Pune,
Mumbai, Aurangabad, and Nashik. After achieving its initial targets of a few thousand vehicles in the initial two years, it will expand the operations to include other surrounding states with sizable populations. In the projected time frame of five years, this project will be scaled to produce a million vehicles as well as jobs across India.
Moreover, I am heading toward making Elespa a unicorn startup. My dream is to become the youngest billionaire in the county and I am putting persistent efforts into achieving this goal & vision. I have also launched three more startups along with Elespa which are Hingeme, AASAP, and Biottery.
Hingeme, is an initiative to collaborate with young minds and mentor them to transform their ideas into startups. Most of the time, students have innovative ideas but they do not have the skills to execute them or even a team to take those ideas forward. Here, we help them by providing a platform to showcase their talent, build a team, and patent their ideas or technology. We also make students participate in different competitions held by different organizations, help them to connect with industry leaders, and guide them to pitch their ideas to attract Venture Capitalists. Hingeme is a platform that not only helps students to believe in their ideas but also turns those ideas into reality.
My third startup AASAP (Assignment As Soon As Possible) is an innovative approach to help students with writing their assignments. On this platform, assignments are written and uploaded to the online portal from where students can take help to complete their assignments. This provides them enough time to focus on their other core and communication skills.
My other upcoming startup Biottery is a provider of specially made Biomolecule Batteries used in EVs. This startup is ideated keeping in mind the Sustainable Development Goals. Through its structural, thermal, and electrical properties, we envisage that it has the potential for resolving existing challenges associated with battery systems. The role of this biomolecule that is used in such batteries is to improve electron flow, temperature stability, durability, and recharge ability; these aspects are being studied by us to make a novel biomolecule battery. This will not only upgrade the efficiency of currently used batteries but also help us in battery waste management.
My fourth startup Friends is a platform in which users can connect with like-minded people with similar interests and passions so that they can grow and help each other as a community.
What would be your suggestions for young innovators or entrepreneurs in the industry?
Young leaders must be innovative, relentless, unstoppable, and consistent toward their goals to be successful in their endeavours. It takes a small circle of friends with the same mindset and extraordinary thinking to be able to successfully launch a business idea in this highly competitive industry. I would urge them to dream big and achieve bigger goals.
Prathamesh Choudhary, Founder & CEO, Elespa Hev
Having a Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering, the young innovator is set forth to create a revolution in the EV industry by creating a sustainable ecosystem for existing vehicles by converting them into HEVs.
Moreover, I am heading toward making Elespa a unicorn startup. My dream is to become the youngest billionaire in the county and I am putting persistent efforts into achieving this goal & vision. I have also launched three more startups along with Elespa which are Hingeme, AASAP, and Biottery.
Hingeme, is an initiative to collaborate with young minds and mentor them to transform their ideas into startups. Most of the time, students have innovative ideas but they do not have the skills to execute them or even a team to take those ideas forward. Here, we help them by providing a platform to showcase their talent, build a team, and patent their ideas or technology. We also make students participate in different competitions held by different organizations, help them to connect with industry leaders, and guide them to pitch their ideas to attract Venture Capitalists. Hingeme is a platform that not only helps students to believe in their ideas but also turns those ideas into reality.
My third startup AASAP (Assignment As Soon As Possible) is an innovative approach to help students with writing their assignments. On this platform, assignments are written and uploaded to the online portal from where students can take help to complete their assignments. This provides them enough time to focus on their other core and communication skills.
My other upcoming startup Biottery is a provider of specially made Biomolecule Batteries used in EVs. This startup is ideated keeping in mind the Sustainable Development Goals. Through its structural, thermal, and electrical properties, we envisage that it has the potential for resolving existing challenges associated with battery systems. The role of this biomolecule that is used in such batteries is to improve electron flow, temperature stability, durability, and recharge ability; these aspects are being studied by us to make a novel biomolecule battery. This will not only upgrade the efficiency of currently used batteries but also help us in battery waste management.
My fourth startup Friends is a platform in which users can connect with like-minded people with similar interests and passions so that they can grow and help each other as a community.
What would be your suggestions for young innovators or entrepreneurs in the industry?
Young leaders must be innovative, relentless, unstoppable, and consistent toward their goals to be successful in their endeavours. It takes a small circle of friends with the same mindset and extraordinary thinking to be able to successfully launch a business idea in this highly competitive industry. I would urge them to dream big and achieve bigger goals.
Prathamesh Choudhary, Founder & CEO, Elespa Hev
Having a Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering, the young innovator is set forth to create a revolution in the EV industry by creating a sustainable ecosystem for existing vehicles by converting them into HEVs.