Learnings from Khushi Chandak on her electrochrome-based startup journey

Khushi Chandak was a second-year Electrical Engineering student when she attended my course "Managing technological innovation" in Spring 2025 at Desai Sethi School of Entrepreneurship (DSSE) at IIT Bombay. After the first or second class, she told me she had a startup on sustainable e-ink displays. I was surprised. In the second year of B.Tech., you don't start a company on display technology. I would have been less surprised if Khushi had said her company was into JEE mentoring marketplace or genAI-based animation. Anyway, she was absent for most of the course. Then I bumped into her this Spring when I was back on campus teaching the same half-semester course. I was curious about her startup journey, and she readily agreed to share it with the class.

"Imagine these class walls are made of glass, and with a tap of the switch, I can make it opaque or change its tint. Power consumption is an issue in commercial buildings with a high window-to-wall ratio. A tint can reduce sunlight entering the building and make it more power efficient." - This is how Khushi started her talk. We were curious now.

Here are the key points from Khushi's startup journey:

• Finding the right technology & experts: It began at the start of Khushi's second year, when she and her co-founder thought they could make eyeglasses in which a tap could change the lens color. The idea was selected for the IDEAS program run by DSSE, where selected teams go through customer and technology discovery over six months with the help of mentors. While researching, they realized that they needed to use electrochrome technology, in which material properties like color change with electricity. They found that IIT Bombay has a faculty working on the technology. They approached the professor for advice, and the discussion led to the professor joining them as a co-founder. This was a turning point.

• The danger of attachment to an idea: Khushi and her friend met between 100 and 150 people - potential customers and opticians, local vendors, as well as branded ones like Lenskart and luxury brands. They tried to find out if the idea is interesting and how much people would pay. They also started building a prototype and realized that 500 ml chemical costs Rs 35,000. Working on the prototype during Dec '24-Jan '25, they realized the glasses won't sell below Rs 20K. Then they reached out to experts working on electrochrome technology, mostly within India, but a few outside India. Three research groups were working on it in India. But the technology had not scaled like battery technology.

But the team decided to go ahead with prototyping plans. They were able to demo small glass prototypes changing colors. For three months, two of them were working late nights, with 2-3 hours of sleep. Their project got selected at an IIT Madras competition in the top 25 out of 200 applications. Here, they got a strong negative feedback and were convinced that the product won't sell. One month was spent in frustration, but finally, there was an acceptance, and they decided to pivot. "Don't get too attached to the idea," Khushi said.

• Learning to fail fast: They decided to work on flexible plastic sheets. In two weeks, they realized this idea is not viable. The market for e-paper displays was still in its infancy in India. This was faster. What next? Then they looked at buildings with high glass facades and with openings for natural light. They talked to architects and builders. The market looked promising. However, they realized they needed to move from a 5cm x 5cm prototype to a 4 ft x 6 ft window. This would take 4 to 6 years and significant capital before they reach the market with a product.

They incorporated the company in May 2025 and received multiple grants. They could demonstrate a 5 cm x 5 cm display for 5K cycles, perhaps a first time in India for the type of electrochromic technology they were working on. However, at this juncture, the girls asked if they are ready to make a long term commitment to this venture and decided to back out.  

• Productizing small wins: Looking back, Khushi felt they could have considered productizing the small glasses they had prototyped, perhaps as part of a larger painting, such as a Varli painting.

Despite the setback, Khushi and her co-founder are still together, looking for their next idea. Khushi, who made the presentation in my class last January, was definitely more mature and more confident than the Khushi I met a year ago. While she had put in a lot of effort for the venture, she had been wise enough not to borrow money or dip into her savings. Wishing her the best in her journey ahead.