In a conversation with EFY’s Nitisha Dubey, Vineet Dravid of Oorja Energy, stressed the importance of well-engineered battery packs for electric vehicles, aiming to help OEMs create safe, durable, and cost-efficient solutions.
Q. How is Oorja Energy simplifying complex engineering design processes?
A. We are a two-year-old deep-tech startup revolutionising engineering design optimisation. Our goal is to simplify and speed up the process, which is currently bogged down by complex physics-based tools that require months. These tools, mainly from Europe or the US, are challenging for Indian engineers to access and use effectively. We are changing that by merging physics and data with machine learning, making design optimisation accessible to all engineers. Oorja’s first suite of products focuses on battery optimisation for various applications.
Q. Who are your primary target industries?
A. Our target audience includes original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the automotive sector, including car and truck manufacturers, and companies in the drone, energy storage, two-wheeler, and three-wheeler industries. Our target market comprises any industry that uses batteries.
Q. What sets Oorja Energy’s technology apart from competitors?
A. At Oorja, we are pioneering new technology that distinguishes us as a deep-tech company. Our suite of tools merges physics and machine learning in a novel way, a field of research that has been ongoing globally for the past decade. This technology is still in its early stages. Unlike traditional software installations, we offer a cloud-based approach, making our tools easily accessible to users. This is crucial for solving computationally heavy problems, such as simulating real-world scenarios for vehicles or stationary batteries, without expensive hardware. Our innovative approach saves time and money, setting us apart in the industry, as no one else is currently using this technology.
Q. How do you shorten the design cycle?
A. Our unique advantage is our ability to merge physics and data, resulting in more accurate and reliable results for our users. We can significantly shorten the design cycle by speeding up computations by up to 10 times. For instance, instead of a 12-month cycle, we can potentially bring it down to just six months, which is a substantial benefit.
Q. How does Oorja ensure client data security?
A. We adhere strictly to GDPR data security standards, ensuring we never access or use our clients’ data. Our approach to machine learning, physics-informed machine learning, further emphasises this point. We provide clients with an interface to use their data for training and predictions without us ever touching it. Our algorithms are designed to work effectively with limited data, leveraging the insights from physics to address challenges in acquiring large datasets, particularly in engineering scenarios.
Q. What infrastructure challenges does Oorja face in India’s software industry?
A. India lacks an ecosystem for software product development, unlike its manufacturing sector. Just as good roads and a smooth supply chain are crucial for manufacturing, creating software products requires skilled individuals, the most critical raw material. India has a large workforce but lacks the necessary skills for world-class software development. Unlike coding, creating software involves designing user interfaces that provide intelligent outputs. This requires understanding how to interpret user inputs logically. Oorja aims to address this challenge by collaborating with institutions like IIT Delhi and IIT Roorkee to build the infrastructure needed for software product development in India, focusing on bringing academia and industry together for long-term success. We have an in-house team of developers whom we are training and grooming.
Q. How does Oorja address safety, durability, performance, and cost concerns?
A. Regarding batteries and battery packs, we focus on four main concerns: safety, durability, performance, and cost. Safety is paramount, followed by ensuring that the battery pack lasts long and performs as expected without compromising cost. In electric vehicles (EVs), the battery pack can account for 25% to 50% of the total price, making it a critical optimisation component. We assist OEMs in designing safe, durable, and cost-effective packs that will not fail prematurely, even in challenging conditions. For example, we help avoid issues like rapid battery degradation due to improper charging practices. This approach is especially important as EV warranties are increasing, with some countries offering warranties of up to 12 years. By focusing on these aspects, we help OEMs deliver on their promises to customers while reducing overall costs.
Q. What are the key considerations when purchasing battery packs?
A. Selecting the correct battery pack components is crucial for EVs. It is essential to dedicate sufficient time and effort to choose the best cells that meet requirements. Factors like spacing between cells, cooling strategies, and safety materials are vital considerations. The battery management system (BMS) ensures safety, durability, and performance. While cost-cutting may seem tempting, investing in a good BMS can maximise battery value and overall EV performance. These practices are essential for optimising battery packs, which are the heart of EVs.
Q. Where does Oorja generate revenue?
A. Our revenue comes from users in India, Europe, East Asia, and the US.
Q. Kindly talk about user distribution.
A. Approximately 50% of our users are from India, with around 30% from Europe and the remainder from other parts of the world.
Q. What types of vendors or partners is the company seeking?
A. We are seeking partners to assist us in reaching users in Southeast Asia, China, and the US.
Q. Do you offer services for both new and used batteries?
A. We are developing tools to estimate the remaining useful life of batteries. Additionally, we are establishing best practices for fast charging to protect the battery from temperature and current sensitivity issues. These practices include recommendations for battery protection and performance monitoring while in use.
Q. What is Oorja’s involvement with ISC’s I-STEM program?
A. We have partnered with ISC for their I-STEM program. We conduct workshops during their events, which are organised in different zones. Our workshops provide insights into battery operations, helping students understand batteries better and discuss best practices for working with EVs. The workshops are attended by MTech and BTech students.
Q. What was recent fiscal growth, and what are the expectations for the next two years?
A. We began developing our software product two years ago, recognising the time it takes to create such a product. We started actively selling the product around six months ago and have since been generating revenue. Our revenue growth has been strong, with a year-on-year increase of about 90% this year. We anticipate exceeding 200% growth next year.
Q. Is there any upcoming announcement this year?
A. We have several exciting announcements, primarily focused on our products. Our product pipeline has some groundbreaking developments that set us apart from others. These announcements, which are mainly centred around product optimisation, will be made in the next one to two months.
