UTM Grads' Smart Charging Cable Has Raised More Than RM232,000 On Indiegogo
The Johor-based startup has started a crowdfunding campaign to commercialise its product.
By Tang Ruxyn — 11 Jan 2018, 12:59 PM
Three Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) graduates have made a name for themselves by developing their own smart charging cable for mobile phones
Chik Sheng Fei, Lim Thol Yong, and Cheok Ming Jin were students from the electronic engineering and mechatronic engineering, Faculty of Electrical Engineering (FKE) at UTM. Together, they founded a company, Charby, that makes the smart charging cable known as 'Charby Sense'.
While there are plenty of other charging cables in the market nowadays, Charby Sense is said to be the industry's smartest and most durable charging cable that is compatible with Apple, Micro USB, and Type-C Android devices.
The trio has developed the charging cable in a way that it will help prolong battery lifespan by reducing overheating and putting strains on the battery. Each Charby Sense cable is also built to last with Kevlar fibre, the material used in bulletproof vest.
It's not officially available yet, but the Charby Sense is already a hit
Based in Skudai, Johor, Charby is taking pre-orders through its crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo. The team was looking for funds to support its innovation, setting USD7,000 (about RM28,000) as its goal.
The campaign is blowing past all expectations as it was fully funded in just 18 hours. In fact, it is actually performing extremely well - more than 1,000 backers have pledged their support and raised more than USD58,000 (about RM232,000) so far, and counting.
The trio has come a long way since their early beginnings into entrepreneurship
During their time as students in UTM, the three young men took part in various competitions using their engineering skills under the mentorship of Dr Yeong Che Fai, who is a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering.
Together, they have achieved a lot through their innovations, including emerging as champions in the National Robocon competition for two consecutive years in 2012 and 2013, the Autonomous Hovercraft Competition 2014, and Dreamcatcher Software Hackathon 2015, among others.
There were also challenges along the way, as one of their inventions - a 360-degree car sensor prototype that was designed for blind spot and upcoming collision detection - had some issues and their idea was rejected.
However, they kept charging forward and eventually got a major breakthrough when they received the Cradle CIP150 fund in June 2016 for the charging cable prototype they were developing then.
The Charby team has never looked back since then as they put in all efforts to make their dream a reality.
The Charby Sense cable is in production but shipping has been delayed to sometime in April due to overwhelming demand
"Our manufacturing partner is currently overwhelmed by massive amount of production requests from other companies, and as the result, our estimated shipment time will have to be delayed to this coming April.
"We are very sorry to announce the delay, but we wish to be upfront and transparent with all of our backers," the Charby team said in an update.
The Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign has been extended and will be ongoing until 20 January.
Those who wish to support Charby's venture may make a pledge here.
