Low Cost Emergency Ventilators – JV 50

When the first wave of COVID-19 hit India in early 2020, none of us at Mechbee Innovations had imagined the magnitude of what we were about to face. But as the lockdown was announced, and we began seeing heartbreaking reports of hospitals irunning out of ventila-tors, we knew we had to act. Within just 20 days of the first national lockdown, our small but determined team got to work on what would become one of our moist meaningful innova tions the JV50 Emergency Ventilator, which we later named Jeeva Varayu Machbee Innova tions started back in 2018 with the goal of solving real-world problenns using technologies like Al, embedded systems, IoT, and blockchain. But the pandemic was different. It wasn’t just a problem it was a crisis. We pivoted almost overnight to address the acute shortage of life-saving respiratory support.
What guided us wasn’t just the science, it was a sense of responsibility. We couldn’t sit still while people were dying due to lack of access to ventilators. So, we rolled up our sleeves, coordinated virtually across states, and poured every ounce of knowledge, urgency, and heart into building something that could make a difference and do it fast. Our team concep-tualized, prototyped, and launched the JV50 within three weelks. The device was engineered to be portable, affordable, and rapidly manufacturable, using a mechanical Ambu bag-based CPAP mechanism, optimized for emergency use. We received critical backing from Kerala Startup Mission’s “Project Breath of Hope”, andl soon after, our work was recognized by NITI Aayog and the Atal Innovation Mission. We started manufacturing and carrying out active sales across Kerala and Karnataka, partnering with both private and public healthcare facilities.
But the reach didn’t stop there. We collaborated with the United Nations for deployment in critical areas. Throughout our journey, the JV50 was appreciated and validated by doctors and frontline healthcare staff across the country. Hearing directly from ICU staff and rural health workers that our ventilator saved lives that was the real reward It made the long nights, supply chain challenges, and endless testing worth it. In total, we delivered multiple units across India during the peak of the pandemic. We didn’t build JW50 just as engineers we built it as fellow citizens, as sons and daughters, friends and neighbors, hoping that this small machine could give people a fighting chance when it mattered most.