‘Wings’ to Wheelchairs

IIT Madras alumni Swostik Dash started NeoMotion in 2016. The startup provides comfortable and travel-friendly variations of the common wheelchair. It comes with specifications like an attachable scooter and an adjustable back rest height.

“To do things, to move around, without being dependent on someone, would be the greatest joy for anyone using a wheelchair,” says Swostik Dash, an innovator by passion and profession.

As a mechanical engineer by education, he has put his expertise to solving unanswered problems of persons with disabilities (PwDs).

Even during his college days at IIT-Madras, Swostik was a regular at the Center for Innovation. For his final project before graduating in 2013, he decided to create something that could find a positive use in the real world. He came up with a swimming pool lift that was specially designed for PwDs.

This enthusiasm, met with a sense of social responsibility, led him to build his own startup called NeoMotion in 2016. In this venture he was accompanied by Dr Sujatha Srinivasan, a professor at his alma mater.

The purpose of this startup was to cater to the needs of the disabled like never before. For this purpose, the company came up with two unique models of wheelchairs.

The first model, named NeoFly, offers 18 types of customisations for a personalised experience for each user. It comes in a variety of colours, back support heights, sizes and seat belt fittings.

The second model, NeoBolt, makes it possible for the users to toggle outdoor mobility independently. It comes with an attachable front scooter which they can clip to the chair all by themselves. This means that the wheelchair is transformed into an on-road vehicle within seconds, and can travel up to 30 km per charge.

Swostik’s NeoMotion is enabling wheelchair users across the country to live and travel as they want, proving that no dream is impossible to achieve.