He broke the sound of silence, said Dr Vishal Rao, Inventor of the Aum Voice Prosthesis, while talking about the very first patient who got the Aum Voice Prosthesis device implanted. Since then, the device that helps throat cancer patients to speak, has become a voice to around 400 patients who have not spoken for around 8-10 years. “In fact, we decided to call it Aum, because it is the sound of silence,” explains Rao.
Rao, Chief Innovation Officer with Innaumation Medical Devices said, “We started moving slowly but today 10 countries are using the device.” He is optimistic that his device will touch the lives of people in 188 countries someday. “We have got requests from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, and others.”
The journey which started in 2013, when two biker-friends— Rao and Shashank Mahesh — decided to talk about science. “It seemed serendipitous that we were discussing this (then).” During the conversation, both realised that Rao was good at production and innovation and Mahesh could handle technical aspects. “This was a collaboration which was decided with serendipity,” he reiterated.
After that for the next two years, they meet every month to check on the progress. “It took us two years to reach the prototype of the device (which we can make in one dollar),” said Rao.
However, he feels more than creating an innovative product, the challenge in making it a sustainable product when you scale up, as there are regulatory requirements, large requirements of investments and other issues. “It is a tough journey. Now I know why 95 per cent of start-ups fail. It is not a conducive environment.”
The company received its first round and second round of oxygen in the form of funds to survive from the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), stated Rao. “They supported the journey from prototype to becoming a minimally viable product.” However, the company failed to attract any investors who shared the same philosophy as the company.