Home › About
The GridMats team receiving the Adani GreenTalks award

Our story

From mending potholes to building roads

GridMats began inside PotHoleRaja, the Impact Innovation Lab that has fixed more than 40,000 potholes with citizens and companies in 30+ cities since 2016. The question that followed was simple: if recycled plastic can hold a pothole repair together, can it hold a road? Seven years, a patent, a Shark Tank pitch and 32 sites later, the answer is the six systems on this site.

40,000+potholes fixed by PotHoleRaja in 30+ cities
32sites built
398992Indian Patent
ExportsNigeria, Romania, Canada, USA, Mauritius
2019 first GridMats sites
2021 Indian Patent 398992 filed on 1 December; the patent is in force from that date
2023 PCT application published as WO/2023/100191
2024 Shark Tank India, season 3
2025 Adani GreenTalks award, SDG 9 · IIT Hyderabad research programme · RINAC and Reliance sites
2026 six systems, from permanent roads to temporary surfaces; exports to five countries; urban-heat-island (UHI) patent filed; Climate Redesign Award at Delhi Climate Innovation Week

The team

Dr Prathap B Rao with a GridMats TC mat
Dr Prathap B RaoManaging Director

His TEDxLavelleRoad talk, Fixing the world, one pothole at a time, set out the idea behind GridMats.

Watch the talk → (opens in a new tab)Talks and interviews →Connect on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)

Pavan SampathPavan Sampath
USA Business Development
Ex-Goldman Sachs · Michigan State University
Abhimanyu KinhaAbhimanyu Kinha
USA Strategy and Operations
QC Engineer, Tesla
Surya BSurya B
Sales and Projects
National-level sportsman · Lead accountant
Dr Kalpana SampathDr Kalpana Sampath
CPO
Serial entrepreneur
Poornima PrathapPoornima Prathap
Controller
Educator
Shravan KumarShravan Kumar
Techie, R&D
MTech Highways · PhD scholar

Awards and certifications

Climate Redesign Award 2026 plaque, Climate Collective Foundation
Climate Redesign Award 2026 Climate Collective Foundation, Delhi Climate Innovation Week Source: award plaque ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Adani Green Talks Social Impact Awards 2025 certificate, SDG 9
Adani GreenTalks 2025 SDG 9 award Source: Adani Connect ↗ (opens in a new tab)
CII GreenPro certificate GPGEP277001
GreenPro GPGEP277001, CII Source: certificates pack ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Indian Patent 398992 certificate
Indian Patent 398992 In force from 1 Dec 2021 · PCT WO/2023/100191 Source: certificates pack ↗ (opens in a new tab)
UHI patent application Urban heat island, filed 2026 Climate Collective CCF-CIC-003 Shark Tank India S3 Featured pitch, 2024 Source: Shark Tank India on YouTube ↗ (opens in a new tab)TGS 2026, IISc IIT Hyderabad research presented, for publication by Springer Urban Mobility Challenge 2023 Recognition Source: Press Information Bureau ↗ (opens in a new tab)BAICONF 2026 Paper submitted

Exports and channel partners

GridMats is exported for installation by local channel partners in Nigeria, Romania, Canada, the USA, Mauritius and other countries. Partners receive the systems manual, the method statements, the design engine output for their sites and installer training (online or on site).

Partner enquiry

In the media

All media, podcasts, talks and recognition

Watch

From the blog: articles by Dr Prathap B Rao and the GridMats team →

What would your road or yard cost on GridMats?

A free indicative estimate in about a minute. Our engineers follow with the design and the bill of quantities.

Get my free estimate   Talk to an engineer on WhatsApp (opens in a new tab)

Buying for several sites? One rate for 12 months: the annual rate contract →