An elevated motorcyclist's indication system on their safety vest
Elevator Pitch: Share a concise summary. Help us pitch this solution! Provide an explanation within 3-4 short sentences.
The Smart Jacket is a safety vest fitted with lights to increase the motorcyclist's visibility. The lights are controlled wirelessly from the motorcycle's indication system and clearly show the intents to turn left, right or to brake. This ensures the motorcyclist is always riding conspicuously.
WHAT IF Inspiration: What's one way your project dares to ask, “WHAT IF?”
What if you could save lives and prevent injuries using wearable technology for a motorcyclist?
Problem: What problem does your solution address?
The poor visibility of motorcyclists on the roads contributes to a significant portion of deaths and injuries resulting from motorcycle accidents where the involved parties claim "I didn't see him/her turn (or brake)!"
The existing motorcycle indication system are lowly fit as the motorcycles are about 1m high from the ground.
Solution: What is the proposed solution?
Provide an elevated, conspicuous indication system on the motorcyclist's safety vest/jacket that controlled from and in sync with the bike's indication system.
What awards or honors has the project received?
Example: Walk us through a specific example(s) of how your solution makes a difference; include its primary activities.
The Smart Jacket reduces visibility-related motorcycle accidents saving lives and/or preventing injuries that might have resulted.
The jacket also encourages motorcyclists to always wear protective, high visibility clothing and prompts them to indicate whenever they intend to make a turn.
Impact: What is the impact of the work to date and expected impact in the future?
We've done 5 pilot tests with motorcycle taxi operators in Kenya. 2 have claimed to have an increased customer rate as they offer them conspicuous clothing while transporting them.
We plan to have mass production of the Smart Jackets in order to supply the huge motorcycle market in Kenya and the East African region in 2 years, as a start, and then scale to other countries such as India, Pakistan and other (emerging) markets in about 5 years.
Full Impact Potential: What are the main spread strategies moving forward?
Motorcycle taxi business is on the rise in the East African region. Uganda has many motorcycles than Kenya. The formation of a common currency and trade policies in the East African region is offering us a platform to reach to these markets easily.
Patents in all our markets will offer us an advantage against competition that may crop.
Sustainability Plan: What is this solution's plan to ensure financial sustainability?
The main source of income for the project is the sale of the jackets. We also have envisioned to include branding/advertising packages for corporates on the jacket that will offer an additional source of income.
Partnerships with motorcycle assembly plants, motorcycle SACCOs and other institutions will offer us a blanket on the sale of the jackets instead of selling them directly to the motorcyclists.
Funding: How is your project financial supported?
Friends and family, Individuals, Businesses.
Marketplace: Who else is addressing this problem and how does the proposed solution differ from these approaches?
Elecrtonic merchants in the city fit LEDs on the motorcycles for increased aesthetics of the bikes. We differ from them by fitting such lights on the jacket which forms an elevated indication system for the motorcyclist. Our solution uses wireless technology to transmit the signals from the bike which forms an advantage for us as most of the competitors are not conversant with our proprietary technology as at now.
Founding Story: Share a story about the “Aha!” moment that led you to get started and/or to see the potential for this to succeed.
I, Charles, thought of wiring my jacket with LEDs at the back as a home project in application of the skills I learnt in my undergraduate. Upon discussing the idea with Joseph (co-founder) and other people (CEO - Nailab), the project changed to safeguard motorcyclists by providing an elevated indication system on their reflective safety vests.
Team: What roles does your team consist of (i.e. full-time vs. part-time staff, volunteers, board members, etc) and how do you plan to expand the team as the project grows?
Charles Muchene, CEO, Electronics engineering graduate, full-time
Michael Gathogo, Project Manager, IT graduate, full-time
Joseph Muchene, CFO, CPA-K graduate, part-time
The Nailab (a startup incubator with a team of business mentors and an awesome product development team), Full-time
We are looking for electronic technicians and designers to work further on the design.