Getting a PCB (Printed Circuit Board), which is the heart of any device, designed and printed is the toughest part in the development of any electronic product.

Designing it, sending it to a foundry abroad to get a prototype printed, getting it back, fine-tuning it to make a product live — the process is painful and it involves a lot of time and effort.

Founders of Voltera, who had faced similar challenges when they were students, have built V-One, a 3D printer that lets developers and academic institutes to print their prototypes right in their labs, saving weeks or months of time in making a product go to the market at the earliest.

“They can prototype here and can go for upscaling elsewhere,” Katarina Ilić, Co-founder and Head of Research and Development at Voltera, told BusinessLine.

Sold over 2,500 printers in the last two years in over 60 countries, Voltera is now eyeing the Indian market.

“We are here to talk to the channel partners to sell the product here. We already have sold about 50 units through the organic enquiries that we received online. We would like to be accessible to them more,” she says.

Katarina Ilić was here in connection with a Indo-Canadian programme at T-Hub that seeks to handhold the start-ups from the North American country to tap the potential in India.

Priced at under ₹5 lakh a piece in India, the printer allows designers to go from concept to creation in a matter of minutes.

Depending on the complexity of the design, developers, companies and researchers at academic institutes can produce a functional board at their offices.

Compare this with the regular practice of sending the design to China, awaiting for the prototype to arrive, make the changes and starting the process all over again, she points out.

“This printer will allow the researchers to go to the market by saving time in the development cycle,” she said.

The company, which raised a seed round in the past, has no plans to go for further round for now. The start-up has about 25 employees.

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