Dhruv Ratra, 23, Swati Vyas, 24, and Rahul Bhatnagar, 25, as students in IIT Guwahati, were very active in creating robotics and machine learning-related projects. In 2013, while researching for a project on home automation, the trio realised that such a platform, which allowed remote lighting, temperature and device control, held substantial commercial promise. They decided to model their project with the aim of taking it to the market. The trio applied to the Technology Incubation Centre at IIT Guwahati to start this project. “We had detailed discussions with senior professors, real estate entrepreneurs, investors, and soon things started to gain momentum,” says Vyas. In November 2013, while Ratra and Vyas were still at college, they incorporated Cubical Laboratories , a home automation startup . “Instead of using protocols and platforms available in the market, we set out to build our own technology from scratch, including the wireless secure communications platform, circuit designs and software,” says Ratra.Developing the technology and the products took some time and the company started commercial operations only in April 2015. Cubical’s business involves developing Internet of Things (IoT) technology, manufacturing the hardware— that helps control air conditioners, fans, temperature, CCTV, room lighting (intensity and colours to suit moods), among other things, through a mobile app—marketing their products, their installation, and offering after-sales support.In October 2014, the founders moved to Delhi from Guwahati, and started working out of a friend’s one-room apartment in Noida. After a couple of months, they shifted operations to a slightly bigger apartment in Dwarka.“There was a point when at least nine people were living and working out of a three room apartment and another eight people would come to work every day,” says Vyas. Now, Cubical has two offices in Delhi and one in Mumbai. The startup has a staff of 71.The team got several strategic investors to join its advisory board and it helped their company takeoff. Cubical generated Rs 1.28 crore in revenue for 2015-16 and is projecting a revenue of Rs 26 crore for 2015-16. It has already generated a revenue of Rs 1 crore in this fiscal.The founders, who are in the process of generating external funding, had a tough time creating a space for their products. “The manufacturing industry in India is not organised to leverage the Internet nor is it very conducive for startups. Only a small set of manufacturers have quality standards and most of them work only for the bigger players in the market,” says Bhatnagar. The founders set up a small production facility to conduct the initial trials of their products and had to work hard to build relationships in the manufacturing industry for mass production.Creating a market for IoT, due to lack of awareness, continues to challenge this young team. “Our next technological challenge is to expand and make Cubical a go-to platform for Indian homes/buildings for intelligent systems,” says Vyas. The startup is looking at expanding its bouquet of products to offer security, smart sensing technology, data-driven intelligence and a range of third-party devices.“The new products we will bring in are based on extensive market and technological research and development,” says Bhatnagar. Team Cubicle has to take on big IoT players such as Schneider, Legrand, Honeywell and Fibaro to establish themselves. The founders say, in addition to quality, the affordability of their products will help them win against the odds.Cubical has a presence in 10 states and, by end-2016, it aims to offer its products and services in 20 states. “We will increase our focus on tier-1 and tier-2 cities and are in the process of finalising 10 residential projects with major developers,” says Ratra.