Five friends from DB College, Sasthamkotta in Kerala, Venu, Binu, Sreejith, Harsha, and Hari, built successful careers across IBM, Kuwait Airways, and product design roles. But despite professional stability, they shared a common pull toward solving a deeper problem: restoring independent mobility for people with severe physical disabilities.
The turning point came when they were introduced to individuals who could barely move, some able to control only a finger. At a time when India had no startup ecosystem or funding support for such ideas, they built an early motorised wheelchair prototype using a Maruti Suzuki Baleno wiper motor. That experiment became the foundation of something much larger.
Building Ostrich Mobility
In 2007, they founded Ostrich Mobility, named after a bird that has wings but cannot fly, a symbol of restricted movement. At the time, India depended heavily on imported electric wheelchairs that were expensive and not suited to local conditions. The founders focused on a different approach: design for Indian roads, Indian homes, and Indian users.
Their guiding idea was simple, don’t start with the wheelchair, start with the person and where they want to go. Every solution was built around individual needs instead of standard templates.
Engineering for Real-World Mobility
Over time, Ostrich developed key innovations like the Split Frame Chassis for stability on uneven terrain and the Automatic Wheelbase Adjuster that allows users to switch between compact indoor use and stable outdoor movement. These were not comfort upgrades but essential tools for independence.
Impact and Reach
Today, more than 18,000 users depend on Ostrich Mobility, collectively covering nearly 150,000 km of movement every day. One example is Nishana from Kozhikode, who moved from complete dependence to full independence, continuing her studies and teaching.
The company has crossed ₹180 crore in revenue, but its real strength lies in deep customization and lifelong doorstep service support. Its solutions are used across hospitals, airlines, and government programmes, and have even appeared in films like Bangalore Days and Wazir.
Ostrich Mobility has received multiple national awards and has been studied at Harvard Business School as a case in purpose-driven innovation. It is also part of India’s Military CSD supply network.
At its core, the story is not about technology or wheelchairs. It is about five friends who chose empathy over comfort, and built a system that gave thousands of people something far more valuable than machines, independence.
For more Details visit: https://www.ostrichmobility.com/mobility-scooter
Contact: 7847033033
