Had an inspiring interaction with the Hon'ble Union Minister of Education @dpradhanbjp. Shared our journey from our roots in @vssut_satellite rocketry team @VSSUTB to building frontier DeepTech today at SpaceFields in line with the vision of #AatmanirbharBharat

Who are the VSLV Mafia? The thing about India is, if you don't look closely enough, you will miss stories of grit, perseverance and brilliance. Let me explain. We recently invested in @Space_Fields, but @AMasook (Co-founder) has been in touch with us since 2021. He got several rejections just from us, more from others, I suppose. But it didn't matter to him. No was just a momentary setback. He kept coming back with progress, updates, and, more importantly, even more proof that we were wrong so many times to say no. And he was right. We were absolutely wrong to have said no a few times. But we fixed that a few months ago, when we decided to participate in their recent round. They are working on advanced solid propulsion technologies, specialising in systems for aerospace and defence. But more importantly, excelling in precision engineering. Now to the looking closely part of this story. Was casually chatting with Apurwa yesterday and he mentioned that one cohort from a student rocket club at @VSSUTB in Odisha has resulted in 7+ startups and 12+ entrepreneurs. Including himself and Spacefields. Look at that photo from 2017! They are the VSLV Mafia! Think about that for a second. One college rocket club in Odisha. 7+ startups. This is the kind of thing you miss if you're not paying attention. And, by the way, Apurwa keeps reminding me how wrong we were on a daily basis. So yeah, I wanted to share this and make sure I document it. :) @Rainmatterin exists to invest in exactly these kinds of teams. People who will go to any length to do what they set out to achieve. We're all super glad that we get to back them and support them.

ଓଡ଼ିଶାର ଅତୀତ କେବଳ ଗୌରବମୟ ନୁହେଁ, ତା’ର ବର୍ତ୍ତମାନ ମଧ୍ୟ ସମ୍ଭାବନାମୟ । ଏକଦା ବିକାଶ ଦୃଷ୍ଟିରୁ ପଛୁଆ କଳାହାଣ୍ଡି ଆଜି ଇତିହାସ ରଚୁଛି । ସାମାନ୍ୟ ଘରୁ ଆସିଥିବା ବୁର୍ଲା ଇଞ୍ଜିନିୟରିଂର ପିଲା ରକେଟ୍ ଓ ସାଟେଲାଇଟ୍ ମାଧ୍ୟମରେ ହୀରାକୁଦ ଡ୍ୟାମର ପାଣି ଓ ଗଭୀରତାକୁ ବୈଜ୍ଞାନିକ ପ୍ରକ୍ରିୟାରେ ଜାଣିବା ପାଇଁ ଚେଷ୍ଟା କରୁଛନ୍ତି ।

First 5G enabled VTOL - IG Drones Skyhawk; by Odia entrepreneurs from Odisha's first engineering college VSSUT, Burla.