Founder Sambathkumar N pitches WarpMagic – a Tirupur based startup seeking to serve as a automatic knotting service provider to weavers. It offers a new technology to the handloom silk saree weavers.WarpMagic facilitates the process of changing the beam of handloom weavers that saves them precious time making them more productive.
“More than 6.5 million people across India are engaged in handloom weaving. Even today the saree is made using modern technology without changing the antiquity. But even today in the case of beam attachment, they connect the beam by hand. It takes a lot of time and effort for them. During this period they experience the financial burden of not being able to earn income. It takes 18-22 hours to change a beam, on average a weaver spends only 15-20 days a year changing the beam,” says Sambathkumar.
“First time in India we designed a customized automatic knotting machine that is suitable for warp (beam) changing especially on silk saree warp. The total time of automatic knotting will take only 60-75 min. If handloom weavers use our service they will get extra time to work.”
Sambathkumar belongs to a handloom weaver family and has known since his childhood how weavers work, and has also worked as a weaver. Many extremely delicate actions are required to create a saree. He noticed that changing the beam every time in their home, would take one and a half to two days to complete. It occurred to him that automating this process would make them more productive and he started developing a prototype about a year ago. After working on the idea for many months he designed and tested a machine that was exclusive to his family’s handloom.
The results of a small poll he ran about the machine, amongst handloom weavers in the area suggests that the machine could save weavers 15-20 days a year. The team is seeking to offer these services to other weavers and is therefore seeking to raise funding.
Team:
Founder:
Sambathkumar N
Master of Science in computer science, Bharathiar University Coimbatore
10 yrs of industry experience
Advisors:
Parthiban
30 yrs of industry experience as a jacquard designer
Senthilkumar
25 yrs of industry experience as a handloom weaver
