On September 30, 2026, former leaders from Epigamia, Housing.com, and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited launched Kokasa, a deep-tech startup focused on defense, aerospace, and space systems. The New Delhi-based company aims to build collaborative autonomous systems by integrating engineering, software, product development, and advanced manufacturing. Kokasa did not disclose investment, funding, order values, or customer names in its launch announcement, but it signaled an ambition to strengthen India's domestic technology and supply capabilities.
Founding Team and Strategic Vision
Kokasa is led by cofounders Rahul Jain, previously associated with Epigamia, Snehil Gautam, a former Housing.com executive, and Vikalp Bagdi, who worked at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Textron. The founders believe India now possesses the engineering talent, manufacturing capability, and policy momentum required to build globally competitive systems locally. Jain said Kokasa aims to contribute to the next phase of India's deep-tech capability while serving sectors that are critical to the country's future.
Core Technology Capabilities
Kokasa designs and develops mission-critical electromechanical and electrohydraulic systems spanning actuation, motion control, sensing, instrumentation, and embedded control. This focus gives the company deep ownership of how advanced platforms sense, move, and act. It is also developing autonomy and mission-system capabilities across perception, sensor fusion, decision-making, guidance and control, and real-time multi-system coordination for high-performance platforms.
Collaborative Autonomous Systems
The company's vision is to build Collaborative Autonomous Systems in which multiple autonomous and semi-autonomous platforms, sensors, and effectors operate together through a common software architecture. Kokasa is building toward this vision from the physical system layer upward, alongside a modular software architecture that can work across platforms. The name Kokasa is inspired by the legendary architect associated with the Kailasa Temple at Ellora, reflecting engineering excellence, precision, and unconventional problem-solving.
Defense Platform Programs
Kokasa is already executing multiple indigenization programs across major defense platforms, including the Su-30MKI, MiG-29, and T-72. These initiatives are designed to replace imported systems where reliability, performance, and supply assurance are absolutely mission-critical for operational readiness. By targeting established platforms, the company is addressing immediate defense modernization needs while building long-term domestic engineering, manufacturing, and supply capabilities.
Engineering Discipline and Lifecycle Support
Vikalp Bagdi said that in mission-critical engineering, getting a prototype to work is only the beginning. The real challenge is making a system perform consistently across demanding environments, qualifying it rigorously, and supporting it reliably through its lifecycle. He added that Kokasa is building this engineering discipline into its operations from day one so that systems deliver sustained performance in demanding conditions.
Market Context and Strategic Ambition
India has built significant capability in manufacturing individual platforms and components, but the next opportunity lies in critical systems, autonomy, and system-level intellectual property within and across those platforms. Kokasa aims to bridge a gap increasingly critical to modern platforms by connecting intelligence and decision-making directly to reliable physical action. The company brings engineering, software, product development, and advanced manufacturing together under one roof to strengthen domestic technology and supply capabilities.
Kokasa enters India's deep-tech sector with a focus on defense, aerospace, space, and other high-performance platforms that demand reliable physical action. Its founders bring experience from consumer brands, digital platforms, and aerospace engineering to the challenge of building mission-critical systems. The company's stated ambition is to build globally competitive critical systems and autonomous technologies engineered in India, for India and the world.