Redwing Aerospace Lab: India's Very Own Medical Drones Service

Dr. Ruchi Saxena, Director, India Flying Labs

Anshul Sharma, Rishabh Gupta, and Arunabha Bhattacharya, co-founders of Redwing Aerospace Lab, are all set to be the next poster boys for India's drone ecosystem. If all goes well, we will have the first medical delivery by a drone very soon in India. Redwing Aerospace Lab was among the early supporters of India Flying Labs. And within a year, we have seen this company mature to one of the most promising drone start-ups of India. Here is an excerpt from an interview with Co-CEO Rishabh Gupta.

How did you guys get so passionate about drones?

Drones have always had that incredible charm about them. Building something and then making it fly. When that model/prototype you've just built takes flight right in front of your eyes, we feel what the Wright brothers must have felt when they designed their rudimentary flier.

How do you three complement each other's strengths and weaknesses?

We've been through the thick and thin together as a founding team and as a bunch of friends. There were times when we were all on our lows through Arunabha's cancer, and on our high's as a TechStars company. I make sure that we always have money in the bank and give my other two founders some lessons that they might have missed out on. They refer to me as "DADA" a father figure in the team. Arunabha makes sure he's the reasonable voice behind the company, and Anshul is the dreamer; for him, nothing is too small. To maintain balance in a team, you need Talent, the capability to execute, and a touch of reality. That's how we complement each other.

What are the three primary goals of Redwing?

Redwing's three primary goals are:

1. Making sure drone delivery is easy, cheap, and reliable or else it will never scale.
2. You have to be kind to people. In drones, you interact with the most prominent organizations and people who work on the ground. If you treat anyone differently, your core value is lost.
3. If you drop by our office, we will buy you ice cream.

How do you see the healthcare drone industry evolve in India and the region?

This is the first time I've seen India take active steps not to miss an opportunity. We have Digital Sky come in. It's still in its preliminary stages, but it is happening. We have BVLOS EOI's come in. India is working hard not to miss this boat because, as a country, we realized over some time, that we missed the electric mobility boom, the software boom, and many others that led us to be was the backend of everything. Drones and the many organizations in India that use drones are now working to be in the frontier of this billion-dollar boom. However, there is more support required. 

Healthcare drones per se will be the first industry to be standardized. India's move is slow, but we're glad it's happening. We also believe that Cargo drones in healthcare will be the first market to be tested in India, then other healthcare services will follow.

How has been your experience being a part of India Flying Labs?

India Flying Labs has helped us connect to so many people here in India and across the world! These connections help us leverage the Power of Local, a mission aptly named by WeRobotics. When we face some troubles with some Hardware/Software, we can connect to any lab across the world that might have some experience and voila, problem solved. The workshop we organized with the assistance of IIT Delhi in May 2019 was a success, and we feel it's the start of something big.

How do you see yourself playing an essential role in India Flying Labs in the future?

India Flying Labs is inherently a group of individuals/organizations aligned on a similar goal of using robotics and AI for the welfare of humanity. We, as a drone delivery company and with the immense corporate network of TechStars as our investors, can leverage the network provided to assist India Flying Labs in completing its missions by accomplishing projects in sustainability and enabling the power of local.

This is a part of a series of stories India Flying Labs will be sharing about their partners and the excellent work that they have been doing.