Trashbots founders Paul Austin, Rohit Srinivasan and Sidharth Srinivasan want to bring simpler and more cost-effective STEM education to emerging and rural markets.
The Srinivasan brothers visited India and Southern Asia when they were in middle school. They noticed that children in orphanages in developing areas were not learning problem solving and creativity skills through STEM education.
Meanwhile, Paul worked at National Instruments for more than 20 years, helping to engineer many early education technology products. He also taught in India, the Congo and South Asia, as well as mentoring robotics teams in Austin ISD.
Sidharth and Rohit, who were teens when they connected with Paul, enjoyed programming and digital marketing. The team of founders consider their skills complementary and appreciate the different perspectives each individual brings to the table.
“Our focus has been making STEM education more practical and cost-effective in developing markets, whether that’s in the rural U.S., India or Africa,” Paul said. “When these Silicon Valley companies try to tackle this issue, cost can get in the way sometimes. The idea of Trashbots is building robots using trash.”
“We wanted something a second-grader can pick up and start using."
While brainstorming ways to make on impact on STEM education, the Srinivasan brothers spoke with a liaison at Science in Suitcases. Trying to bring computers and other materials to students in developing areas was costly. She brought up the desire to just build robots out of what was already in these communities, like trash. That sentence was the basis for the development of Trashbots, Rohit said.
“Working on the front lines, you realize it takes a pretty unique circumstance to find a teacher willing to work to get a robotics program off the ground,” Paul said. “We wanted to know what we could do to make this something practical for schools to have interest in.”
Trashbots robotics kits will contain four levels of curriculum, Rohit said. The four levels will encompass all different skill levels and ages of students by building off the lower levels.
“We wanted something a second-grader can pick up and start using,” Paul said. “A lot of research shows that when someone makes something they are able to interact with, the learning process is much easier. So, you’re coming up with a little program that responds to the world around it.”
To engage a classroom, it’s essential for the robots to take shape relatively quickly, Paul said.
“You’ll be able to take our robotics kits into a classroom and build something pretty quickly that looks different than what you saw in the box,” Paul said. “That’s the creativity part. It has to happen fast for it to work right.”
Trashbots is operating out of Galvenize in Austin. The startup has received validation through SXSW Edu, Global EdTech Startup Awards and The Youth Assembly at the United Nations. So far, they have worked with schools in India, Peru and Mexico as Trashbots.
“The bulk of the engineering has been accomplished,” Paul said. “We actually have our first production order underway for our products. We are basically establishing that the core parts we need can be manufactured in a way that we want and at the right price point.”
“What we hear back from people is that this is a spot that hasn’t really been served well, so we are excited to get into this area,” Paul said.
A senior in high school, Rohit plans to continue to pursue entrepreneurial endeavors in his career. Sidharth, now a sophomore, has a strong interest in computer science and digital marketing. But for now, both brothers plan to continue seeing where Trashbots can go.
“We didn’t exactly set out to start a company,” Sidharth said. “We were just doing what we are interested in and Trashbots formed. It’s an exciting journey to be on.”
Trashbots is currently raising capital and taking pre-orders through their pre-launch Indiegogo page.
