India's coolest start-ups: Meet the founders of Cybernetics Laboratory

Cybernetics Laboratory

(Visual object intelligence platform & deep-tech company)

Key People: Gokul N.A., Founder; Nikhil Ramaswamy, Co-founder

Key investors: Speciale Invest, GrowX Ventures and Arali Ventures

Funding: Pre-Series A in 2022 funding of $4.5 million, led by Speciale Invest and GrowX Ventures; Seed round of about $775,000 in 2019, led by Speciale Invest & Arali Ventures

Over the past few decades automation technology has scaled greater heights. However, achievements in the fields of automating physical tasks remains limited. And that is where two friends saw a major business opportunity. So Gokul N.A., Founder, and Nikhil Ramaswamy, Co-founder of Cybernetics Laboratory (CynLr), took the plunge in 2019 to build a platform that allows robots to be intuitive in handling objects. The “journey has been long”, as Gokul puts it. It all started with their first stint at the American multinational National Instruments, focussed on automated test equipment and virtual instrumentation software, in Bengaluru in 2011. CynLr is about to become a $2-million turnover company by end-2024 and expects to raise it to at least $5 million in 2025. As Gokul emphasises, the philosophy behind CynLr is to bring automation to its basic principles, making physical tasks efficient.