India's Answer To China's Control On Global Supply Chain | Bhaktha, Chara Tech

China processes nearly 90% of the world's rare earths.

Rare earths are hidden inside everything from EVs and smartphones to fighter jets, making them one of the most critical materials powering the modern economy.

When China restricted rare earth exports in April 2025, the world saw the huge risk of depending on a supply chain controlled by a single country. For Bhaktha Keshavachar, however, it was validation of a bet he had made 6 years earlier.

After exiting Ezetap, Bhaktha founded Chara Tech to create electric motors that don't need rare earth magnets at all. The journey was anything but easy. Six years of R&D. Investors who didn't understand the problem. Customers who weren't convinced. And a motor technology that engineers had known about for over 200 years but never successfully commercialized at scale.

Today, Chara is shipping hundreds of motors, signing major customers, and finding itself at the center of a global geopolitical shift. Bhaktha explains how software became the breakthrough that made rare-earth-free motors practical and what it takes to build a deep tech company long before the market believes the problem exists.

If you are interested in building deep tech for the world, this episode is for you.

0:00 - Trailer
01:10 - When China bans rare earth exports
04:15 - How today’s rare earth shortage is like 1970s oil embargo
05:26 - Are rare earths really rare?
07:23 - Why China has a monopoly
11:43 - 3 reasons why Chara was founded
15:11 - How Chara made a 200-year-old technology practical
16:45 - How software protects deep tech startups
18:53 - The conviction to build deep tech in 2016
21:52 - Why electricity is still the biggest opportunity
26:59 - 4+1 technologies every country should possess
28:17 - The story of 6 years in R&D
33:16 - The response from early customers
36:10 - How China’s ban changed Chara’s journey
39:30 - Why Growth-stage fundraising for DeepTech is Hard
44:28 - What India needs to win in deep tech
52:53 - 3 things needed for a deep tech startup
55:10 - Why the wealthy should invest in deep tech
58:00 - Where Chara is today
01:03:47 - Why Intel lost the race it was winning
-------------
India’s talent has built the world’s tech—now it’s time to lead it.
This mission goes beyond startups. It’s about shifting the center of gravity in global tech to include the brilliance rising from India.
What is Neon Fund?
We invest in seed and early-stage founders from India and the diaspora building world-class Enterprise AI companies. We bring capital, conviction, and a community that’s done it before.
Subscribe for real founder stories, investor perspectives, economist breakdowns, and a behind-the-scenes look at how we’re doing it all at Neon.
-------------
Check us out on:
Website: https://neon.fund/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theneonshoww/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/neon-fund/
X: https://x.com/TheNeonShoww

Connect with Nansi on:
LinkedIn: https://in.linkedin.com/in/nansi-mishra
X: https://x.com/nansi_mishra
-------------
This video is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the individuals quoted and do not constitute professional advice. Receive SMS online on sms24.me

Watch on YouTube

Subscribe on YouTubeReaderBot

TubeReader video aggregator is a website that collects and organizes online videos from the YouTube source. Video aggregation is done for different purposes, and TubeReader take different approaches to achieve their purpose.

Our try to collect videos of high quality or interest for visitors to view; the collection may be made by editors or may be based on community votes.

Another method is to base the collection on those videos most viewed, either at the aggregator site or at various popular video hosting sites.

TubeReader site exists to allow users to collect their own sets of videos, for personal use as well as for browsing and viewing by others; TubeReader can develop online communities around video sharing.

Our site allow users to create a personalized video playlist, for personal use as well as for browsing and viewing by others.

@YouTubeReaderBot allows you to subscribe to Youtube channels.

By using @YouTubeReaderBot Bot you agree with YouTube Terms of Service.

Use the @YouTubeReaderBot telegram bot to be the first to be notified when new videos are released on your favorite channels.

Look for new videos or channels and share them with your friends.

You can start using our bot from this video, subscribe now to India's Answer To China's Control On Global Supply Chain | Bhaktha, Chara Tech

What is YouTube?

YouTube is a free video sharing website that makes it easy to watch online videos. You can even create and upload your own videos to share with others. Originally created in 2005, YouTube is now one of the most popular sites on the Web, with visitors watching around 6 billion hours of video every month.