Why This Gurugram Startup Thinks Factory Floor is the Next AI Growth Market

While AI copilots have transformed how white-collar teams communicate and operate, millions of industrial workers still rely on analogue systems to do their jobs. In factories, construction sites, mines, oil fields, and refineries, communication often still happens through walkie-talkies, paper slips, and manual supervision. 

As per data from the latest Annual Survey of Industries, over 3.6 crore people in India were employed in the informal manufacturing sector, while 1.4 crore people were employed in formal manufacturing. Many of these jobs are in environments where traditional computing devices are impractical or unsafe.

Gurugram-based deeptech startup Proxgy believes this gap represents one of enterprise technology’s least digitised frontiers.

“There is no third device that workers on the field can use,” Pulkit Ahuja, Founder and CEO of Proxgy, tells AIM. “Field workers cannot use laptops or mobile phones while working in industrial environments.”

Founded in 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown, Proxgy builds wearable hardware and AI-powered enterprise software designed specifically for blue-collar and frontline workers. Its flagship product is SmartHat—an industrial safety helmet embedded with sensors, audio-video communication tools, AI processing capabilities, and safety monitoring systems. The device includes features such as 360-degree audio-video calling, fall detection, body parameter monitoring, and gas leakage detection.

“What we have created is a complete ecosystem,” Ahuja notes. “The smart hat becomes the AI hub for a worker on the field and substitutes the need for carrying a laptop.”

The company has also developed a “sleeve device” that can convert standard caps into connected wearable devices for industries where hard-hat-grade protection may not be required, including logistics, policing, and assembly lines.

IoT Enterprise Stack

The startup is building a three-layer enterprise stack—industrial IoT devices, a backend platform layer, and a SaaS intelligence layer powered by what it calls “Chanakya AI.” The system aggregates data from wearable devices and existing infrastructure such as CCTV feeds to generate predictive insights on safety, workflow optimisation, and operational monitoring.

One of the company’s enterprise customers is Maruti Suzuki, where Proxgy says its platform integrates wearable devices with over 200 CCTV cameras across manufacturing facilities.

“So much industrial video data today simply gets stored and deleted later,” Ahuja observes. “Nobody is analysing 24 lakh hours of video every day. We are building agents that can identify risks, anomalies, and patterns in real time instead of only reacting after an incident happens.”

The company is training its AI models not only on language-based systems but also on video intelligence models tailored for industrial environments. That places it within a growing category of industrial AI startups focused on predictive maintenance, worker safety, and operational analytics. These include Hyderabad-based Jarsh Safety and Delhi-based Project Hero. 

According to the IMARC Group, the Indian industrial IoT market size was valued at $10.61 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $30.35 billion by 2034, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 12.38%. The growth is driven by demand for automation, connected devices, and AI-led monitoring systems across factories and supply chains.

Business Model

Yet the opportunity also comes with significant privacy and ethical questions.

As industrial AI systems monitor worker behaviour, stress levels, and biometrics, questions around workplace surveillance are becoming increasingly relevant. Proxgy acknowledges that much of the data collected through its devices can include sensitive operational and behavioural information.

“The customer owns the data,” Ahuja asserts. “Most deployments are on-premise. We primarily access metadata for AI training and co-development purposes. We are not a B2C company using data for cross-utilisation.”

The startup’s business model is built around enterprise deployments. Revenue comes through hardware sales, connectivity subscriptions, and SaaS billing. According to Ahuja, hardware margins vary widely depending on product sophistication, ranging from 20% to 400%.

Proxgy has raised over ₹50 crore ($6.7 million) in funding so far, with investors including Nikhil Kamath, Ajinkya Rahane, and Suniel Shetty joining the cap table. The company also appeared on Shark Tank India Season 1 and received industry recognition, including the NASSCOM League of 10 and CES innovation acknowledgements. 

The startup did not disclose its revenue figures.

Challenges and Future

Still, building deeptech hardware in India remains one of the company’s biggest challenges.

“The ecosystem simply doesn’t exist at the level we need yet,” Ahuja explains. “Even rapid prototyping and advanced hardware manufacturing required us to build partnerships from scratch.”

He also points to a growing challenge faced by Indian hardware startups: competition from imported and white-labelled products marketed as locally built innovation.

“A lot of traders import products, relabel them as ‘Made in India’, and compete on price. When you have spent years building IP and R&D, it becomes difficult to compete purely on cost.”

Deeptech industrial hardware remains a relatively niche and underdeveloped segment compared to software-led startups. That broader shift may ultimately determine whether companies like Proxgy remain niche industrial solutions or become part of a larger transformation in how frontline workforces are connected.

“The future of industrial work is not just automation; it is connected intelligence for the people actually operating on the ground,” he notes.