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Juhaim Ibnu Abdul Jabbar’s startup Reckone Innovations has developed a connected motorcycle system called ridelogic that can communicate with the rider

For this young entrepreneur, each and every invention is a way of protest against the establishment, system, government and even nature.

Unlike many other entrepreneurs of his age, he is a ‘biomimic’ — which means he examines nature from a variety of perspectives (its systems, processes, models or elements) and emulates what happens there in order to solve a practical human problem.

Born to a middle class parents, Juhaim Ibnu Abdul Jabbar had everything he could wish for at home.

And it ended up turning him into a spoiled brat.

For his unruly behaviour, he had always been at the receiving end — not just from other kids, but teachers too. This spoiled behaviour, however, did not affect his curiosity to earn new things.

When he was in the 7th standard, the principal asked him to attend the district science fair representing the school. He regarded it as an opportunity to become a star among friends. He wanted to do something different and unique.

Juhaim had heard from his engineering brother about a perennial problem that Indian railways faced — that trains needed huge amount of energy to take off from stations. At the science fair, he wanted to develop something that could reduce this waste.

Crazily as it might seem, he created a rotating railways station, where trains don’t have to stop at stations to board or un-board passengers to conserve energy. His sheer craziness made the invigilator at the fair frown and ask him: ‘what the hell have you created’?

This was his first date with entrepreneurship.

Today, the native of Calicut in Kerala is the brains behind the connected motor technology startup Reckone Innovations. When e27 talked to Juhaim, he was packing his bags to go to Hong Kong to pitch his startup at the ‘RISE’ conference.

An elephant in the room

After schooling, Juhaim tried his hands at engineering entrance exams. The initial result was disappointing, but in the second attempt, he managed a seat at Toch Institute of Science & Technology in Kochi.

It was a perfect platform for him to unleash his creativity. Like any other crazy entrepreneur, he did not believe in classroom teaching. So he bunked classes and pursued his dream outside of the four walls of the school.

“As a social concern, I had experimented on an elephant deterrent device which could save them from possible accidents, deter them from damaging crops and also prevent poaching of the animal. I also took up projects like aerial telemetry substation, a linear generator to tap energy from vibrations,” said Juhaim.

Then he met Joseph Stephen, who is now the Co-founder and CTO of Reckone, along with other friends at college. They took up some international projects and participated in CanSat in Texas. They also designed and built the next generation of Mars rovers during the URC Mars Challenge 2014.

Their inventions bagged them an entry into Startup Village, a government-supported incubation programme. The team immensely benefited from the programme and their perspective totally changed, which eventually led to the creation of Reckone.

A tech that can speak to the rider

Reckone’s first product was an remote meter for smartphones, but it did not take off.

After, they developed a small motorcycle-mounted mobile charger.

“My friends at college liked and wanted it. So, I improvised on the design as a weather-proof charging mount, which could help riders to charge their device on the go. We then decided to convert this idea into a serious business and hence ‘ridelogic’, a complete motorcycle performance monitoring system,” he explains.

The idea of ridelogic came from Juhaim’s own painpoint. “Being a passionate rider, I understood that there lacks a connect between the rider and his motorcycle. The motorcycle cannot talk to the rider when it requires attention on service, replacement of accessories or maintenance. While motorcycles are the primary transporting solution in [many] countries, no manufacturers offer a solution to connect the rider with the motorcycle.”

Juhaim claims that ridelogic — which comprises an Android app and dynamic dashboard — can give voice to the machine and add value to the riders, manufacturers and any enterprises associated with motorcycles. It can also diagnose the vehicle’s performance.

“We are currently doing the pilot run with riders and mechanics to better the platform. We are planning to launch the final product this year itself,” says Juhaim.

Reckone Innovations was incorporated in the US. Juhaim believes that a hardware+software products like Ridelogic essentially need global exposure and he found Silicon Valley to be the best place to grow — surrounded by other great tech startups. The company also has an office in India.

Reckone has also been selected for Enchant VC Hardware Accelerator Program in Singapore, along with 12 other startups globally. Given that Singapore is a very startup-friendly nation and a potential market for their product, Juhaim and team have decided to open a subsidiary in the island country.

The startup received its initial funding from two angel investors in India, followed by Asha Jadeja, a renowned angel from Silicon Valley. Juhaim claims that Enchant VC has also committed funding as part of the programme.

“Our vision is a connected platform for the motorcycle segment, which is large and least-integrated with technology. Our plan is to evolve Ridelogic into an Operating System for motorcycles just like an Android for your smartphone,” he concludes.

The post A spoiled brat in childhood, this young man from India is a serial inventor now appeared first on e27.

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