Saurabh Chandra calls his three-year-old Ati Motors a ‘rogue startup’. First, it’s based in Bengaluru’s traditional Malleshwaram neighbourhood where uncles discussing cricket scores are a common sight—not a startup making autonomous vehicles (AVs).
Second, the AV space is a nascent one where tech giants and startups alike are hacking out the road ahead—so it’s definitely not a startup following a cookie-cutter model.
Lastly, the three co-founders challenge stereotypes, spanning the spectrum of entrepreneur age and experience. Fifty-five-year-old V Vinay is a former professor of computer science from Indian Institute of Science, while Saad Nasser is an 18-year-old prodigy who dropped out of Clarence High School when he was eight.