Pravaig, known for its groundbreaking work in the Electric Vehicle industry, is now venturing into lifestyle products fueled by its AI-driven design and manufacturing capabilities. Their recent launch of Kedarnath-inspired cufflinks, priced at INR 10,800, seamlessly blends heritage with contemporary design, symbolizing the brand’s dedication to innovation. Drawing inspiration from Kedarnath’s spirituality, these cufflinks showcase Pravaig’s commitment to tradition and technology. Now, with an exclusive interview with Mr. Ram Divedi, CSO & Co-Founder of Pravaig, we gain deeper insights into their vision. As Pravaig expands its lifestyle portfolio, it remains steadfast in delivering innovative products that resonate with its discerning customers.
Could you elaborate on Pravaig’s journey as a company and how it aims to embody Indian values of independence and freedom in its products and services?
Since our establishment in 2011, as a deep-tech firm, we have had a focused vision that we want to manufacture world class technology-driven products that serve the Indian population. All three business partners had international exposure growing up, with two spending time in Hong Kong and I growing up in Paris. We always felt a deep connection with the country and when we got to the stage of setting up our own establishment, we wanted to make sure that our services make Indian consumers proud and help them become more technologically independent. Therefore, the inception of Pravaig, a brand by Indians for India and the world.
We currently have three mainstream businesses – electric vehicles, advanced batteries and state-of-the-art artificial intelligence labs which form the backbone of Pravaig. Our battery manufacturing business is the biggest and we are not only helping the Indian firms with our battery solutions but also exporting to various nations. We have also recently entered manufacturing of consumer goods as an extension of our AI-design labs with the launch of the Kedarnath Cufflinks and most recently the Ram Mandir cufflinks.
When it comes to our ethos, Pravaig has always been attached to India’s worldview of working with everyone without tying itself to ideological or geopolitical camps. We build on our values by continuously innovating in our products and ensuring that the power of choice remains in the hands of our consumers. For instance, we do not store data on our customers, we give customers the right to repair / update, and work to give true ownership of the product to the consumers in India and the rest of the world. Furthermore, we have applied a similar flexibility in our battery business as well, and we remain battery-chemistry agnostic till date, and can quickly change to work with different battery chemistries as needed depending on the requirement.
Additionally, at least 80% of the components in our products are Indian. We make the batteries in India, which is exceedingly rare, as most people import the battery packs. But we make the packs in-house, which is already 50% of the overall value. And if you look inside the pack, we try to make all sub-elements of the pack also in-house, even the electronics. There are some elements you cannot get in India, such as cells/semiconductors are not available in India right now.For example, we get our sound system from a French luxury brand called Devialet.
Could you shed light on how AI is utilized in the design and manufacturing processes at Pravaig, especially in the context of lifestyle fashion products?
As a deep-tech firm, Pravaig leverages AI extensively throughout its development process to enhance subsystems in its vehicles. We have now extended the same technology to the manufacturing of lifestyle products.
For instance, our AI modules are employed in rapid prototyping, facilitating several iterations, and exploring various technical solutions efficiently. Indian roads are a great training ground for AI-based autonomous driving solutions.
We even used AI to design products, taking into consideration the size, shape, durability, materials, and cost. Using these hard points, AI does multiple designs that are optimised. What makes things even more interesting is that we can make everything from cufflinks to a car with the same process.
What motivated Pravaig to venture into the lifestyle segment from the established EV segment?
I think our core product, the EV, is already a lifestyle product. We have in-house capabilities for AI-driven design, rapid prototyping, and 3D printing. We also have materials experts, creating a seamless integration between the software and the physical product design. We can use these resources to make great products and while we have started with cufflinks but will do online drops of different lifestyle products going forward.
How do you envision Pravaig’s lifestyle products resonating with customers who are accustomed to its electric vehicle offerings?
We see the lifestyle products as part of a seamless product portfolio – the perfect accompaniment to our EVs. Our target customer base is people enthusiastic about Indian modern tech products and our goal is to offer more to our customers, to keep them engaged and strengthen our brand and offerings. Over time, we will have a portfolio of products which will gradually sync even better with our core offering.
What are Pravaig’s future plans for expansion in the lifestyle segment? Can we expect to see more collaborations or themes in future lifestyle products from Pravaig?
Yes, we intend to make lifestyle products a mainstay feature from Pravaig and keep improving upon our AI design capabilities. We are already developing products and working on collaborations with both Indian and foreign brands including fashion, interior design and tech brands who are willing to innovate and have a similar value system.
Sustainability is a growing concern in the fashion industry. How does Pravaig integrate sustainable practices into the development of its lifestyle products?
Sustainability is one of the essential pillars of our operation at Pravaig. Our products do not have planned obsolescence and we are cognizant of the fact any manufactured object has a carbon footprint. We do not want to adopt the “fast fashion” business model and are focussed on building premium products that last. We are very particular about materials. As an environmentally conscious company, we use recycled fabrics in our products. Even the plastics used are recycled, mostly from fishnets. Our customers have the right to repair, update, and upgrade their products – not just for a second life but much more than that.
