Incubated under Government of Kerala’s StartUp Program, Samdo Labs’ Tezlaa comes in two versions
For Midhun V. Sankar, Jishnu P and Ashin Al it was their urge to solve the pollution problem in the cities that forced them to come up with the idea for an e-bike.
“We wanted to engage in today’s challenges of dying Earth, pollution, dense traffic congestion, climate change and health issues in general by creating unique, fun filled and quality electric bicycles. We truly believe that people will adopt a greener safer mode of transportation in the coming years and the faster the world stops relying on fossil fuels and moves towards a zero-emission world, the better it would be for a healthy life,” said Mr. Midhun V. Shanker, a software engineer and CEO of Samdo Labs, which was incubated under Government of Kerala’s StartUp Program.
“Our team too had the dream of disruption in the field of electric automotive. This vibe during the years paved the way towards an e-Bike. This dream started with super bikes, cars and finally ended up with an e-Bike,” Mr. Shankar said.
Once they had the idea, the co-founders started to build an e-bike unique to the market. After three years of rigorous work and multiple failures, the friends finally developed a one-of-its kind electronic bike in July this year.
“So we targeted this as our goal in order to transform the current trend into a technologically advanced one focusing on clean energy and health with the introduction of our e-Bike. We started the journey towards the e-bike in 2016. We indulged in various rounds of testing and, research waiting for the right moment to kick-start our future in the field,” Mr. Ashin, who is Chief Operations Officer of the firm, said.
Samdo Labs started off with an IoT device for door automation in 2013. “We even won the Hardware Venture Launchpad Program of Start Ad New York University for their IoT Project. We wanted to build a cycle that can be used by all age groups, is faster and most importantly does not cause air pollution. The trend of cycling needs to come back,” he said.
The partners came in touch with each other at the StartUp Village where they realised the spark within them. The team members were constantly researching and testing various types of motors, batteries and other things. They have five-long years of experience and expertise in both battery and motor technology.
All the core team members come from engineering background. “We gained our expertise and training in our respective fields of interest. Speaking of the creation of our very first products, all the members in our team have put their own efforts. The core product design geek among the team is Mr. Jishnu P, Chief Technology Officer. He himself had spent sleepless nights in the research and designs of the project starting with the minutest aspects of the product,” according to Mr. Shanker.
Mr. Ashin turned into a cyclist over the past four years, spending long distances on the roads of Kerala and other parts of South India, trying to find out the challenges that an individual might face in the long run.
“Mr. Shankar has constantly worked in grading up quality and expertise in all our activities and also manage the whole managerial operations,” said Mr. Ashin
Mr. Arun, the electronics lead, has proved his expertise in the case of the core of the project. “Our industrial research and expertise will grow itself into various scalable clean energy projects. We are using Panasonic Li-Ion Cells which were custom made for Electric Cars in the United States and are the best in class,” says Mr. Arun.
The company had carried out a market study before the launch and, “We have designed other products too for the market in order to address the fluctuating trends of the public,” he said.
The bike we have developed does not require any service or charging stations. Once the bike runs out of battery it can be charged at home, says Mr. Shankar.
Christened ‘Tezlaa’, the bikes come in two models – Alpha-1 and Alpha-1 Pro and both can be charged in two hours. At one time charge, the former covers a distance of 50 kilometres and the latter covers 100 kilometres.
The portable batteries of the e-bike are made of aluminium and alloy frame and can be removed from the bike for charging purposes. The aluminium allows the bike to ride even in rains.
The e-bike is designed in a way that can be used by all genders and age groups as the seat is adjustable and the bike can be used in three forms: The pedal riding works like a normal cycle and does not require battery
In the assist riding, the user has to pedal a little and for the rest, the cycle will assist. The electric riding mode works like a motorcycle.
The bike is foldable, easy to carry and can be taken anywhere from a metro station, car to an apartment.
The product was officially unveiled to the public on July 20 this year by social media figures namely Sushanth Nilambur (Philanthropist ), Abijith Blogger (Youtuber), Fawas (TikTok Star) and Sarath Krishna and Geetha (Instagram Stars). The “Kerala market has definitely given a hearty welcome to both our products,” the founders said.
Asked about how they found the resources for their dream project, Mr. Shankar said, “We have successfully completed two rounds of funding seed round from a builder and Angel round from a United Arab Emirates based company.”
Samdo Labs is planning to scale up and have requested for Scale Up Space at Maker Village. “If it doesn’t work out we would definitely be moving out of the village,” said Mr. Ashin.
