Tech Startups Marrying Profits with Social Good: Going Extra Mile From special shoes to smart watches,companies churn out products for differently-abled APURVA VISHWANATH & PEERZADA ABRAR BANGALORE Creating technology that can improve quality of life for the differently-abled is becoming a focus for a number of entrepreneurs who see this as an opportunity to build scalable businesses.These ventures are developing a range of products from smart watches that monitor the emotions of the autistic to devices that improve vision and help the paralysed access the Internet that combine profits with social good.Innovations remain a one-time news story unless they find a marketplace, said Shilpi Kapoor,founder,BarrierBreak,a Mumbai-based company that develops and markets assistive devices for a range of disabilities.Kapoor,40,a former consultant for a US-based technology company,was spurred to set up the firm when she became aware of the everyday struggles of her supervisor at work,who was paralysed.Among the products from BarrierBreak,which has raised seed capital from early-stage investor Aavishkaar Venture,is ListenorPro that helps adjust decibel levels for people with auditory impairment.Other devices include a colour-coded keyboard for the dyslexic as well as battery-operated toys for children with cerebral palsy.This year,the company expects to clock revenues of.4.5 crore.Experts are of the view that with nearly 21 million people categorised as differently-abled in India,the opportunity is huge for businesses that make technology affordable for them.Computing technology can hugely improve lives of people with disabilities, said Ashutosh Chadha,director of corporate affairs for South Asia at Intel.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Jun 2013 02:06:03 +0000
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