Svaya Robotics

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Svaya Robotics is an Indian robotics company headquartered in Hyderabad, founded in 2018 by Vijay R. Seelam. The company designs and manufactures collaborative robots (cobots), general-purpose humanoid robots, quadruped robots, and wearable exoskeletons for manufacturing, defence, and healthcare applications. Svaya is notable for launching what it described as India's first indigenously designed and manufactured collaborative robot in early 2023, and for developing India's first quadruped robot and a wearable exoskeleton in collaboration with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).^[1][2][3]

The company follows a vertically integrated approach, designing the mechanical hardware, control electronics, motion software, and AI stack in-house. Svaya targets manufacturing and beyond with what it calls software-defined robotics, emphasizing a no-code interface, digital twin integration, and atomic AI skills that can be reused across factory tasks. As of mid-2025 the company remains privately held and bootstrapped, though it has publicly stated that it is engaging prospective convertible note and debt investors ahead of a Series A round.^[4][5]

history

founding

Svaya Robotics was founded in 2018 by Vijay R. Seelam, who serves as the company's founder and managing director. Before starting Svaya, Seelam co-founded ZUTI Engineering Solutions Pvt. Ltd in 2004 and worked in business development at simulation software firm Altair, accumulating more than a decade of experience in industrial machinery, simulation, and automation before launching the company. He has stated publicly that Svaya was founded with the aim of empowering next-generation factories to become intelligent, adaptive, and scalable through collaborative robots and general-purpose humanoid robots.^[3][6]

The company chose to keep design, software, and manufacturing in Hyderabad, citing the city's electronics, defence, and aerospace ecosystem as well as proximity to suppliers in Telangana. Svaya has consistently described itself as a Make in India manufacturer, building its products domestically rather than rebadging imported components.^[2][6]

early product development

During its first years, Svaya focused on developing a full-stack collaborative robot platform spanning mechanics, joints, drives, controllers, and a graphical programming environment. The company has said publicly that it manufactures most components and assembles final systems in-house under what it describes as rigorous quality control. Svaya positioned its early offerings toward Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in India, a segment that historically had limited access to industrial automation.^[5][7]

IMTEX 2023 launch

Svaya formally introduced its collaborative robots at IMTEX 2023, the Indian Machine Tool Exhibition held at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) from 19 to 25 January 2023. At its booth (Hall 1B, Stall B110) the company demonstrated five cobot models alongside solution partners FerRobotics, 3M, PHD, and Schmalz. The launch was reported in the trade press as India's first collaborative robot completely designed and manufactured in India.^[3][8]

"We just wrapped up at IMTEX 2023 in Bengaluru. Svaya Robotics debuted India's first collaborative robots, completely designed and made in India." Vijay R. Seelam, Managing Director.^[3]

Later the same year, in October 2023, Svaya showcased a robotic Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM) built on its cobot platform with a tactile touch probe, demonstrating the use of its torque-sensing joints for high-precision metrology applications.^[9]

DRDO collaboration

In March 2023, Svaya publicly unveiled India's first indigenously developed quadruped robot and a wearable exoskeleton, built in collaboration with two laboratories of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO): the Research and Development Establishment (R&DE) in Pune and the Defence Bio-engineering and Electro Medical Laboratory (DEBEL) in Bengaluru. The development was announced under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) initiative, with the explicit goal of replacing imports of similar systems from the United States and Switzerland.^[1][2][10]

Dr G. Satheesh Reddy, Scientific Adviser to the Raksha Mantri (Minister of Defence) and former chairman of DRDO, visited the Svaya facility in Hyderabad along with senior DRDO scientists to review the project. The systems were presented as technology demonstrators with dual-use applications spanning defence, industrial inspection, and medical rehabilitation.^[1][10]

products

Svaya organizes its portfolio into collaborative robots for industrial automation, the Bimanual humanoid platform, and defence-oriented platforms developed with DRDO. The major products are summarized below.

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SR-L collaborative robot series

The SR-L series is Svaya's flagship line of six-axis collaborative robots. The lineup announced at IMTEX 2023 included five models with payload capacities reported in the range of 6 kg, 10 kg, 12 kg, and 16 kg, intended to cover light assembly, machine tending, palletizing, and surface finishing tasks.^[7][8]

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The robots are described as a full-stack platform: precise, perceptive, versatile, and safe. Svaya has stated that its motion control combines high-precision encoders with torque feedback to enable tasks ranging from delicate assembly to heavier handling, and that the same controller can host vision and force-driven applications without external PLCs.^[3][8][9]

At IMTEX 2023, Svaya partnered with FerRobotics on a sanding and surface-finishing demonstration that combined an SR-L cobot with FerRobotics' Active Contact Flange (ACF) end-effector. Other showcased applications included material handling using Schmalz vacuum tooling, gripping with PHD pneumatic systems, and abrasive consumables from 3M.^[3][8]

Bimanual humanoid robot

The Bimanual is Svaya's general-purpose humanoid platform. It uses a dual-arm configuration designed for dexterous manipulation in tasks such as assembly, pick and place, and laboratory automation, prioritizing control and stability over high-speed mobility.^[4][11]

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Svaya has publicly stated that the Bimanual leverages the same in-house actuators, controls, and perception stack used in the SR-L cobots, scaled into a humanoid form factor. The robot is positioned as a flexible research and industrial development platform that universities and R&D teams can adapt with custom software and AI models.^[4][11]

quadruped robot

The Svaya quadruped is a four-legged ground robot developed jointly with DRDO's R&DE Pune. It is designed to navigate unstructured terrain that is unsafe for human operators, including rocky surfaces and uneven ground. Public reports describe the platform as capable of carrying about 25 kg of payload while walking alongside soldiers, and as the first indigenous Indian quadruped robot of its kind.^[1][10]

Intended use cases include remote reconnaissance for the armed forces, inspection of hazardous industrial sites, and medical or rescue logistics in difficult environments. Before this project, comparable quadruped robots used by Indian agencies were imported from manufacturers in the United States and Switzerland.^[1][2]

wearable exoskeleton

The wearable exoskeleton is being developed in collaboration with DRDO's DEBEL laboratory in Bengaluru. It is engineered specifically to fit the anthropometry of Indian soldiers, with the goal of augmenting strength for two main scenarios: walking long distances under load without fatigue, and lifting heavy items with reduced physical effort.^[1][10]

Svaya has described the exoskeleton as dual-use, with applications spanning military logistics, industrial lifting, and medical rehabilitation for patients recovering from neurological or musculoskeletal injuries. As of the March 2023 disclosure, the exoskeleton was characterized as a technology demonstrator developed under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat programme.^[1][10]

technology

Svaya's products share a common technology stack that the company has built largely in-house, covering hardware, control software, and AI.

hardware platform

The SR-L cobots and the Bimanual humanoid both rely on Svaya-designed actuator modules with integrated joint torque sensors. According to the company, every joint provides force feedback, enabling whole-body force control and safe interaction with humans without external safety scanners. The cobots are rated IP67 and target functional safety category 4, performance level d in line with ISO 13849-1:2023 and ISO 10218-1:2025. The platform supports third-party end-effectors and integrates with industrial buses such as EtherCAT, EtherNet/IP, Modbus, and Profinet.^[8][9]

software and AI

Svaya's controller hosts a graphical no-code programming environment that allows operators with no prior robotics experience to author tasks. A digital twin of the cell runs alongside the physical robot for simulation, validation, and offline programming. The company has stated that it integrates computer vision and AI-driven planning to handle unstructured environments, and that it builds reusable atomic AI skills (such as picking, inserting, or fastening) that can be combined to compose new applications.^[3][9][11]

The Bimanual robot extends this stack with stereo vision and autonomous grasp planning, with the company describing the goal as dexterous manipulation enabled by whole-body force control and vision intelligence. Svaya has indicated that the same skill framework spans cobots and the humanoid, so applications developed for one can be ported to the other.^[4][11]

vertical integration

A recurring theme in Svaya's public communications is vertical integration. The company designs the actuator modules, motion controllers, and AI software internally, and assembles the final systems at its Hyderabad facility. Founder Vijay Seelam has framed this as necessary to ensure quality, supply security, and cost competitiveness for Indian customers.^[5][7]

partnerships

Svaya has built or disclosed several technical and industry partnerships:

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These partnerships were highlighted at IMTEX 2023, where Svaya demonstrated combined applications such as cobot-driven sanding and pick-and-place using third-party end-effectors integrated with its own controller and software.^[3][8]

funding and corporate structure

Svaya Robotics is incorporated as Svaya Robotics Pvt. Ltd. and has remained privately held and bootstrapped since founding. The company has stated publicly that it has not raised institutional venture capital and that it has financed product development and deployments primarily through founder capital and customer revenue. According to Tracxn data referenced in May 2025, Svaya had not raised an external funding round; the same source reported a headcount of about 52 employees as of mid-2025, reflecting modest year-over-year growth.^[4][5]

In parallel, Svaya has indicated that it is open to inquiries from individual convertible note and debt investors, as well as institutional and family-office investors, ahead of an anticipated Series A financing intended to scale manufacturing of the SR-L series and accelerate productization of the Bimanual humanoid.^[5]

reception

Media coverage of Svaya has emphasized its position as one of a small number of Indian companies attempting to design and manufacture industrial and humanoid robots domestically rather than re-badging imported hardware. The Hyderabad-based daily Telangana Today and the trade publication Robotics and Automation News covered the IMTEX 2023 launch as a milestone for Indian robotics manufacturing. Coverage of the DRDO collaboration in 2023 by Deccan Chronicle, Newsmeter, Analytics Insight, and IT Voice framed the quadruped and exoskeleton as concrete outputs of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat policy, with Dr G. Satheesh Reddy publicly endorsing the rapid progress made by the team.^{[1][2][3][10][12]}

Svaya has also appeared on listings of Indian humanoid robotics efforts alongside other domestic platforms, with industry analysts grouping it with companies pursuing general-purpose humanoid robots for manufacturing applications.^[4][11]

see also

• Bimanual (Svaya humanoid robot)
• Humanoid robots
• Collaborative robot
• DRDO
• Exoskeleton
• Quadruped robot
• Industrial robot
• Digital twin

references

1. "Hyderabad-based Svaya Robotics develops first indigenous quadruped robot for defence sector." Telangana Today. ↩
2. "Hyderabad's Svaya Robotics Has Developed India's First Quadruped Robot." Analytics Insight. ↩
3. "Svaya Robotics launches 'India's first collaborative robot'." Robotics and Automation News, 6 February 2023. ↩
4. "Bimanual Humanoid Robot by Svaya Robotics." Humanoid.guide. ↩
5. "About: Svaya Robotics." svayarobotics.com. ↩
6. "Vijay Seelam, Founder and CEO at Svaya Robotics." LinkedIn profile. ↩
7. "Leading Cobot Manufacturer Shaping India's Industry." Svaya Robotics blog. ↩
8. "Flexible automation cobot supplier: Cobot manufacturer." svayarobotics.com. ↩
9. "Indian Cobot Manufacturer Showcases Tactile Sensor Robotic CMM." Metrology News, 19 October 2023. ↩
10. "Hyderabad's Svaya Robotics develops India's first quadruped robot and wearable exo-skeleton." Newsmeter, 14 March 2023. ↩
11. "Svaya Robotics: company profile." LinkedIn. ↩
12. "Hyd-based Svaya Robotics develops indigenous quadruped robot for defence sector." Deccan Chronicle, 14 March 2023. ↩