Read how a woman built a ₹150 crore venture by starting ‘Securities business’

A bird is born to fly, a fish is born to swim and a human being is born to achieve something great in life. But the biggest question arises as to how many of them really use their true potential to create something extraordinary in life? But the universal truth is that there is literally nothing that can stop a woman from touching the heights of success.

The story of Saily Lad is one that needs to be told to inspire women. The journey of Volksara Pvt Ltd started when Saily Lad went on a walk with her father around London where they had a casual conversation about CCTV cameras which were installed at different points.

However, the important discussion turned out to be her topic of research, which is a project for smart cities in the small counties of England.

Credits: Google

“This led us to a discussion on my topic of research – the advantages of electricity produced through water, that we conducted while working on project SEMA. It was a smart city project initiated in the small counties of England. This was when the idea gained momentum, and we began discussing possible scenarios for the Indian diaspora.

With the support of my father, these ideas turned into possibilities, and my venture was born. This was when the idea gained momentum, and we began discussing possible scenarios for the Indian diaspora. With the support of my father, these ideas turned into possibilities, and my venture was born,” Saily added while recalling her venture.

Saily’s father had founded the Krystal Group of Companies, which, over the years, transformed into a massive firm, which provides multiple services (integrated facilities management, aviation services, etc) to consumers.

Saily’s role at Krystal Group of Companies was to look over new developments including the expansion of the business in the manpower-based service industry. Saily did her BA in Strategic Management and Consulting from Nottingham Trent University and MSc in Business Consulting from Royal Holloway, University of London.

“At the age of 12, I had decided to start my own venture, rather than joining the family business. After completing my Master’s I turned my attention towards the IT industry in India, as I saw immense scope in it. Through these ideas, Volksara was born in 2014. While initially, we concentrated on providing surveillance security business solutions, we evolved into a 100 percent IT business over the years,” she added.

In today’s world, Volksara works with smart cities and towards cybersecurity development. It plans to expand its operations wider into other implementations of IT components like system integrator. Volkswara provides security solutions with the help of technological advancements.

“The Kumbh Mela was the very first opportunity that we, as a startup, received in the first six months of operating from WIPRO. It was one of the first few cities to be under the safe city project at the time and had the added importance of being one of India’s biggest religious events. While working on this project, we used of a lot of AI-based technologies like number plate recognition, people counting, and ICCC. We also received abundant appreciation for executing such a large project in just two months, and also got nominated as the ‘Best Indian Safe City’ by the FSAI,” she says.

Over the years, Volksara has been well connected with many safe cities like Gondia and Matheran including smart cities like Nashik, Namchi, and Pimpri-Chinchwad. “We have also executed a number of projects in the oil and gas industry and at airports – the major one being the work we have done for the Mumbai airport. Here, we installed 85 one-of-a-kind cameras, weighing almost 35 kgs and with 20 lenses in each, spread in a 2.13 km radius. AI (artificial intelligence) was used in it for the purposes of detection for theft from the flight to the belt, checking landing points for aircraft, as well as to issue parking penalties if applicable,” she adds. While Saily says she counts her blessings for the success so far, the biggest challenge has been her acceptance as a woman, not just in business, but in the IT industry.

Talking about Volksara’s current revenues, as of March 2020, are at Rs 150 crore while projections for March 2021 are almost at a staggering Rs 300 crore. “We intend to expand into different IT ventures as an SI (System Integrator) which brings together all the different types of technology in hardware and software under one roof and run operations simultaneously and seamlessly. We also set up a production unit for R&D (Research and Development) of new technology products which largely focus on the AI and machine learning industry to bring better and more effective services to our consumers,” she says.