AXL Systems began with three people working out of a corner of someone else's office in Kerala. Around 15 years later, the company has grown into a 150-member technology firm, developing surveillance drones with the Indian Army and powering merchandise checkout systems at New York's Madison Square Garden.
“About 15 years ago, three people sat in a corner of someone else's office,” co-founder Joe Kuncharia recalled. “When we started, we didn't even have a place.”
Unlike many Indian technology companies that grew out of Bengaluru, Hyderabad or Pune, AXL built its business from Kerala. Its operations now span two distinct areas: drone technology and radio frequency identification (RFID)-based retail systems.
From consulting to technology development
AXL started as a consulting business around 2013, serving customers in Europe and the US, before becoming a privately held company in 2015. Known as Axldrone Pvt Ltd in India, it operates internationally under the AXL Systems name.
The company initially focused on software integration but gradually moved into hardware development as customers sought solutions to problems existing products could not address.
“Developing is actually the easier part. The challenge is maintaining it,” Kuncharia told The Indian Express.
Building from Kerala has offered some advantages, including shorter employee commutes and a close-knit work environment. However, sourcing specialised components and hiring engineers remain challenges. Kuncharia said recruitment that might take weeks in Bengaluru can stretch to several months in Kerala.
From retail checkouts to military drones
AXL's RFID technology was developed through a partnership with a US software company. Its systems are now used at Madison Square Garden to power self-checkout stations for merchandise, allowing New York Knicks fans to make purchases without waiting in long queues.
The company says its RFID readers can process up to 300 tags per second and connect directly to point-of-sale systems through USB, reducing reliance on cloud-based processing.
Its entry into drone technology followed a similar approach: finding practical problems that existing solutions struggled to solve. The company saw potential in using drones for surveillance and inspections that require a wider, three-dimensional view.
Developing reliable drones, however, meant getting multiple systems, including motors, flight controllers, communications and power management, to work together. AXL also prioritised Indian-made components, developing several parts in-house, including power distribution boards, GPS modules, flight controllers, remote controls and batteries.
The company subsequently began working with the Indian Army on drone development. Kuncharia described the engagement as a joint-development effort shaped by the Army's operational requirements.
Beyond defence, AXL sees potential applications for its drones in industrial safety, wildlife management and detecting illegal mining. Its surveillance systems can identify people, vehicles and other objects across areas of up to 300 square kilometres.
Two businesses, separate paths
Kuncharia expects the drone and RFID businesses to eventually operate independently, potentially separating within five years. The drone division is looking towards greater autonomy and AI-based analysis, including operations in areas where GPS signals are unreliable. The RFID business will continue to focus on retail and international deployments.
For entrepreneurs looking to build technology companies, Kuncharia cautioned against spreading themselves across too many areas. AXL's expansion, he said, was driven largely by customers who brought specific problems to the company and committed to buying the resulting solutions.
Developing proprietary technology requires patience, he added, with the benefits of that investment sometimes taking four or five years to emerge.
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