SAN FRANCISCO/LAHORE: COVID-19 changed people’s relationship with technology. Amidst the pandemic, human beings were more reliant on tech-enabled platforms to not only communicate but also to entertain themselves.
This is evident from the fact that semiconductor chips which are widely used in consumer electronics ranging from mobiles phones to vehicles saw a rise of 6.5% just in 2020. Compared to May 2020, sales rose by 26% in May 2021, reflecting how people were buying more and more products that used semiconductor chips. This demand escalated by the pandemic resulted in a supply chain crisis which has negatively impacted the production and deliveries of such consumer electronics.
In Pakistan, various customers buying new automobiles have witnessed their car’s deliveries being delayed by several months. It’s clear that it is difficult to work around the global supply chain crisis surrounding the shortage of semiconductor chips.
Another reason contributing to this crisis is the constantly evolving consumer demand. Customers have higher expectations from newer products especially in the realm of technology. From the electric car industry which is heavily reliant on such chips to regular car manufacturers which are offering improved performance, better infotainment systems to newer mobile phones which are pushing the limits of choices a customer has, the crisis is deepening.
Amidst this crisis, two Pakistani innovators have built Inventhub, a cloud-based collaboration platform that allows users to maximize productivity, maintain quality and commercialize products faster.
The tool is already being used by electronic manufacturing who have been reliant on conventional design tools which are not efficient enough to keep up with rising consumer demand and expectations.
Inventhub founder Usama Abid had predicted early on that the design processes for such electronics were suffering from years and years of neglect and that the pandemic only accelerated, the process of providing viable alternatives.
While various industries which were heavily impacted by COVID-19 like hospitality were able to recover without significant innovation, companies that heavily rely on the use of technology find it difficult not to improve their production and design processes.
The hardware industry in particular suffered from the lack of innovation and was deprived of such advanced collaborative tools which would inevitably make their processes more efficient and effective, before Inventhub entered the market.
Usama Abid, who has significant research experience in hardware product design forecasted these challenges and built Inventhub to solve this global problem.
Even though Inventhub’s team is led by Pakistanis, it has attracted global attention with US billionaire Tim Draper investing in the company at the idea stage in 2019 via his venture capital fund Draper University Ventures.
Connect all the electronics product design resources — people, tools, design data, component libraries, bill of materials, manufacturing — with a secure cloud based data management solution.#electronics #pcbdesign #manufacturing #hardware #collaboration pic.twitter.com/UNOTYNaFgA
— Inventhub (@inventhub) June 4, 2021
Inventhub’s collaborative platform allows hardware designers to collaborate remotely and enable borderless cooperation. The tools Inventhub offers optimize processes, improve productivity and make it easier for designers to build great products attracting dozens of global customers.
A graduate of Information Technology University in Lahore, Usama used his research with various research centers coupled with significant experience as a consultant for US and European hardware companies to deliver a solution to this global problem. His primary area of research focus includes developing low-cost devices for GAIA (global access to the internet for all), connecting remote areas with the internet, human activity tracking, smart energy meters and many more. Usama also has extensive experience developing low powered sensors and wireless-based solutions.
“We think early communication and instantaneous feedback should be at the core of every design process. We want to empower individuals and businesses with Inventhub, improving early communication and finding a way to manage all the electronics hardware resources by unlocking multitudes of verticals to achieve the true value of collaboration in the electronics manufacturing industry,” Usama said in an exclusive conversation with Profit.
Usama was further joined by Usman Maqsood in 2020 to help accelerate the development of a unique solution that is disrupting the manufacturing industry.
Usman’s extensive experience working with several companies across North America like Eventbrite, Ava technologies, and Portable Electric in product and engineering positions brought the knowledge of how companies at scale operate to Inventhub.
His key focus has been to help enhance collaborator experience for hardware engineers by building a simple and integrated solution that provides, visible enhanced user experience and efficiency improvement to hardware companies. This has been driven by the experience of working with various manufacturers on the electronics designs where there was always a conflict of how manufacturing can be done.
“We put users first. This means the product is built the way they want, not how we want them to use it,” Usman said.
Inventhub’s growth accelerated many folds amidst the pandemic garnering interest from major market players that are working with them to help Inventhub tailor into an integrated collaboration platform helping hardware companies build products at scale optimizing their process and reusing material.
More recently Inventhub attracted investments from Fatima Gobi Ventures and Walled City Co amongst other angel investors.
Ali Mukhtar from Fatima Gobi Ventures: “These are key times for hardware industry disrupting with a surge in the demand for electronics. The need for a platform like Inventhub is now more than ever.”
