[Startup Bharat] How Kochi-based NAVA Design and Innovation’s Sapper is tapping AI to automate neera extraction from coconut trees
Kochi's NAVA Design and Innovation's claims to ease the process of neera extraction using AI, and increase the productivity of tappers by 72 percent.
- The tall palm trees that dot Kerala's landscape are a rich source of tender coconut water, and neera, a sap extracted from mature coconut palms trees.
- I always wondered why the process couldn't be automated," recalls Charles Vijay Varghese, 35.Years later, he founded Kochi-based NAVA Design and Innovation, which has developed Sapper, a neera extractor than claims to increase a tapper's productivity by 72 percent.
- NAVA's team comprises one full-time traditional tapper, two part-time tappers, who help with feedback, and five engineers (including Charles).
- The second challenge lay in creating awareness about the product among traditional Indian tappers need.