Following the launch of a 15,000-square-foot robotics factory in Abuja, 21-year-old Nathan Nwachuku, cofounder of TerraHaptix, speaks exclusively with Nairametrics on the challenges and plans for the firm, as well as the benefits of automation and robotics for Nigeria.
Originally founded as a defence startup, TerraHaptix has rapidly evolved, shifting its focus from military applications to pioneering solutions in automation and robotics.
In an exclusive interview with Nairametrics, Nathan sheds light on how automation and robotics are pivotal to protecting critical infrastructure and solving broader issues in manufacturing and food production.
You started as a defence startup and once tried to collaborate with DICON, what is the state of that collaboration? And is there collaboration with any government agency?
Right now, we don’t have any formal collaboration with the government. We have been having discussions. When we first started, we thought we would be in defence, so we actually have some sort of collaboration with DICON. We exited defence just two weeks before the launch of this Abuja factory because we did not want blood on our hands with our systems.
We don’t necessarily have any plans right now for a collaboration. But if it comes, we’re happy to accept that. I think right now TerraHaptix has kind of achieved self-sufficiency where we do not necessarily need the government aid to help us succeed, but we are happy to work with the government to ensure that we can accelerate.
Your firm provides products for protecting critical infrastructure, how has the market been?
I would say that the most profitable sector has mostly been protecting critical infrastructure, protecting critical utilities like dams and so forth. We have had work with North-South Power, an energy company in the north and we are exporting to a company called Axe Security in Ghana, which works with oil companies and construction companies in Ghana to protect their major assets.
I think right now the most successful industry for us is critical infrastructure, protecting critical infrastructure but the most exciting for us is agriculture because the potential of water systems can do and accelerate in the agricultural market is vast.
With the rise of automation comes the reduction in inefficiencies and with reduction in inefficiencies comes optimization of things like food production. For instance, a lot of farmers in the north are not able to even go to their farmlands because of insecurity. With our systems, we can help secure these families and their farmlands.
Regarding profitability, in the last seven months since we began, we have made almost $1,000,000 in revenue and over $15 million in LOIs, basically signed contracts that are yet to get payments.
This has come from major customers in the mining industry, in the oil and gas industry, construction industry, both within Nigeria and Ghana. We expect to end the year with up to $2.5 million in revenue, our first operational year and most of that would come from exportations.
To what extent do you depend on the import of raw materials into the country and what are the major challenges around imported raw materials?
Right now, we have tried to be as vertically integrated as we can. For example, for our Archer UV systems, from the airframes to the GCS to most other major components, we try to build as much as we can here.
Of course, things like the sensors and the imaging equipment have to be brought in from Asia. But right now, we sort of have a 70% produced locally, and 30% imported for component ratio.
What are the major challenges with exporting for your firm?
Exportation has been a bit tricky. You know it’s not like you’re exporting food. We are exporting things that the borders have not seen before, most of our systems.
So, I think it’s that has been a bit tricky. You know figuring out the best channels, figuring out the best ways to ensure that we are still under the right legal process. But there is a lot that can go wrong.
These are delicate equipment and if they export it the wrong way, and it arrives faulty or spoilt, we will have to send a technician over there to fix it. You know all these are the things that come with exporting the product.
Can you speak more on the role of robotics in protecting critical infrastructure in the country?
Yes. Automation and robotics are the future of security in Africa, and I think the only way we can scale this up is if we build it here. We can export the system from any other place.
First of all, it’s too expensive. Second of all, they don’t understand the context of the African problem. Our systems are built with the context of protecting critical infrastructure in Africa.
The government and commercial institutions need to adopt automation first and foremost to solve our security issue. Once that is solved, we can now start looking at how we can use automation and robotics to solve other issues in manufacturing and food production.
TerraHaptix today is serving a major role. Our mission today is to accelerate automation in emerging markets. We are dedicated to building low-cost robotic systems that cannot just automate the core industries in Africa but can also help other markets around the world.
So, we intend to not just build here but also export the systems. On the ecosystem aspect, TerraHaptix today serves as the first major hardware company coming out of Nigeria. A lot of people have not really placed a big bet on hardware and manufacturing startups.
Today, we want to show the world that you can build hardware at scale. Young Nigerians can build hardware at scale and succeed at it, and that is what. We’re trying to.
