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A lab between Berlin and the Indus.
Indus Ventures is an independent innovation lab based in Berlin. We bring technology, art and learning together, and we build for and with the places where most of the world’s families live.
The Indus near Skardu, Gilgit-Baltistan · Photo: Furqanlw, CC BY-SA 4.0
Berlin, the Spree and the TV tower at dusk · Photo: abbilder, CC BY 2.0
The Indus is one of the great rivers of the world. It rises on the Tibetan Plateau, runs through the mountains of Ladakh and the length of Pakistan, and reaches the Arabian Sea, around 3,000 kilometres in all.
Along its banks, around five thousand years ago, grew one of the earliest civilisations: the cities of the Indus Valley, such as Harappa and Mohenjo-daro. They were planned with streets and drains, used standard weights, made seals and fine crafts, and traded as far as Mesopotamia.
They also made toys. Archaeologists have found little clay carts with wheels, whistles and animal figures, made for children thousands of years ago.
02 The connection
Why the name fits.
- Art meets technology. Our work sits where the two meet: artists and engineers making characters, stories, sound and objects together.
- A river connects. Ideas, people and skills flowing between places is how we work: between Berlin, South Asia and beyond.
- Everyday life, well designed. A civilisation that planned its streets and drains for daily life is a good model for technology that quietly makes life better.
- Toys, stories and craft. The oldest toys from the Indus remind us that learning and play are as old as cities. We build new ones.
- Roots and reach. The name points to where much of our work begins, while our lab stays open to the whole majority world.
Berlin brings together artists, engineers, designers, musicians and researchers from all over the world, along with art schools, technical universities and a lively scene of studios and makers. It is home to growing South Asian and international communities.
That mix is what our work needs. From Berlin we work with universities and creative studios, and with makers, partners and families in South Asia and other fast-growing regions.
04 How we’re organised
Small core, wide network.
- A small core team that imagines, designs and builds, and stays with an idea all the way.
- A wide network of studios, universities, workshops and manufacturers we work with on each project.
- Ventures that grow out of the lab and become companies of their own, with the lab behind them.
05 Get in touch
Let’s build something together.
Say hello.
Whether you’re an artist, a student, a maker or a partner, we’d like to hear from you.