Hunny Bhagchandani is a social innovator and entrepreneur who is passionate about empowering people with disabilities (PwD) with the power of independence. He is the founder of Torchit Electronics Pvt. Ltd., a company that develops affordable and innovative assistive devices for PwD, such as Saarthi, a mobility device for blind people. He is also a director of Dot Inc., a company that produces braille smartwatches.
Hunny Bhagchandani has a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (PDPU), India. He has also been a fellow at the Royal Academy of Engineering, UK and the MIT Media Lab, US. He has received multiple accolades for his work, including the National Award from the President of India and being featured on Shark Tank India.
Hunny Bhagchandani was inspired to create assistive devices for PwD after witnessing a terrible accident involving a visually impaired person during his internship at the Blind People’s Association (Gujarat) in 2013-14. He realized that existing devices were inaccurate and unreliable, and decided to use his technical skills to make a difference. He came up with a prototype that later became Saarthi, which uses ultrasonic sensors to detect obstacles and provide haptic feedback to users. Hunny Bhagchandani is also a member of Meaningful Business, a global community of leaders who are combining profit and purpose to help achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. He is also an ambassador of One Young World, a global forum for young leaders. He is also a business mentor at Founder Institute, an accelerator program for aspiring entrepreneurs.