Imagine a world where cars drive themselves without relying on expensive infrastructure, map data, or complex rule-based AI. While self-driving tech exists, it’s still too limited, too expensive, and too dependent on controlled environments.
Enter Minus Zero, India’s first startup building Foundational AI Models for autonomous driving, delivering industry-first intelligent autopilot capabilities to automotive companies.
Founded by Gagandeep Reehal and Gursimran Kalra, this company isn’t just trying to compete with global AV giants, it’s rewriting the playbook on autonomous driving, making it smarter, scalable, and more accessible for emerging markets. And with game-changing partnerships and industry recognition, they are poised to make India a global hub for AI-driven mobility.
Let’s dive into their journey. 🚗✨
The Founders: Two Undergrads, One Bold Vision
When Gagandeep Reehal and Gursimran Kalra founded Minus Zero in 2021, they were just two undergrads with a dream to solve autonomous driving in India.
- Gagandeep Reehal (Co-founder & CEO) is an AI & robotics expert with three published books and experience mentoring 65+ developer events worldwide. He has spoken at TEDx, G20, and multiple AI conferences and holds a B.Tech in Computer Science.
- Gursimran Kalra (Co-founder & President) is an expert in generalized intelligence, bridging the gap between human decision-making and AI for autonomous systems. He holds a B.Com degree from SRCC, proving you don’t need an engineering background to innovate in AI.
Together, their vision was clear: Build foundational AI models for self-driving cars, tailored for India’s chaotic, unpredictable roads.
What is Minus Zero by Gagandeep and Gursimran?
Minus Zero is pioneering Nature-inspired AI, a paradigm-shifting autonomous driving model that imitates human-like reasoning rather than relying on traditional rule-based AI.
Instead of manually programming AI to follow road signs, Minus Zero trains its AI using large-scale fleet data, creating adaptive, self-learning driving models that tackle real-world, unpredictable road conditions, the kind emerging markets like India struggle with.
- Self-supervised learning, no labeled data required.
- Generalized intelligence scales across different geographies.
- Mapless driving, operates even without HD maps or costly infrastructure.
This isn’t just a software upgrade, it’s a fundamental shift in how AI understands and operates vehicles autonomously.
Revenue, Sales & Business Growth
Minus Zero’s business model focuses on partnering with major automotive OEMs, enabling autonomous driving and autopilot capabilities for next-gen vehicles.
🤝 Major partnerships: Ashok Leyland & International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad (IIITH).
🚗 India’s first autonomous vehicle demo: The zPod, showcased in June 2023, proves that AI-driven cars can navigate real-world Indian roads autonomously.
💵 Backed by top investors: Chiratae Ventures and more, securing funding to scale their AI technology.
They’ve come a long way in three years, but this is just the beginning.
Achievements & Industry Recognition 🏆
Minus Zero isn’t just disrupting AI-driven mobility, it’s also getting global recognition for its innovation.
- Forbes Asia Under 30 honorees.
- NASSCOM AI Gamechanger Award.
- Tech 30 from YourStory.
- E&T Innovation Awards.
- Represented India at Vivatech 2023 & World Self-Driving Congress in Dubai.
It’s not just another startup in the AI race, it’s leading India’s autonomous driving revolution.
The Problem: Why Autonomous Driving is Still Stuck
Despite global advancements, autonomous driving isn’t scaling well in emerging markets.
❌ 80% of road accidents happen outside developed countries.
❌ ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) are only available in a few rich economies.
❌ Most AI-powered vehicles rely on expensive HD maps & sensor-heavy infrastructure.
For autonomous driving to go mainstream, it must be affordable, adaptable, and scalable across diverse environments, not just work in perfectly mapped cities like San Francisco.
How Minus Zero is Solving It
Minus Zero is eliminating these barriers with:
- End-to-end driving models, replacing traditional modular AV architecture with a single foundational AI model that generalizes across driving scenarios.
- Self-supervised learning, AI learns from raw data rather than relying on manually labeled datasets.
- Imitating human decision-making, AI learns from human driver responses, helping it navigate unprecedented traffic conditions.
- Mapless navigation removes reliance on HD maps, allowing vehicles to scale to new roads and cities instantly.
- Customizable AI can be fine-tuned for new driving rules, constraints, and vehicle form factors without retraining the entire model.
Simulation & Data Studio: Training AI in Virtual Roads
One of Minus Zero’s biggest breakthroughs is its proprietary driving simulator, which was built to train AI in complex, high-risk driving scenarios.
- Photo-realistic simulations mimic rare, real-world traffic conditions.
- Validates AI algorithms under extreme, unpredictable road situations.
- Supports training for diverse driving landscapes in emerging markets.
Additionally, Data Studio, their off-board AI toolkit, helps streamline data ingestion, improve analytics, and enhance fleet-wide learning to continuously evolve driving intelligence.
The Road Ahead: Scaling AI-Driven Mobility
Minus Zero is on a mission to democratize AI for next-gen autonomous driving. Their vision?
🔹 Develop foundational driving models that scale globally.
🔹 Enable autopilot features for emerging markets where existing AI solutions don’t work.
🔹 Accelerate commercialization through partnerships with automotive leaders.
🔹 Expand their AI research & development to tackle the toughest driving scenarios.
Final Thoughts: Can Minus Zero Make Self-Driving Mainstream?
Minus Zero isn’t just building a better self-driving car, it’s redefining how AI thinks about mobility. With Nature-inspired AI, self-supervised learning, and true scalability, they are fixing the flaws in today’s autonomous tech while ensuring India doesn’t lag behind in the AI mobility race.
So, the next time you see an autonomous vehicle cruising past traffic jams, it might just be powered by Minus Zero’s AI brain. 🏎️✨
