Millionaires in just five days

: Raising $100,000 in just five days can be a dream come true for any start-up company.

Sunil Vallath and Parvathy, the husband-wife duo who made Startup Village their second home for over a year, is living one with their product Exploride, a futuristic hands-free head-up display for cars controlled with gesture and voice controls.

Though they always believed in their product, the response since its global launch on August 18 has left them spellbound.

Pre-order campaign

“We have so far raised $1,59,000 in IndieGOGO (a portal for fund raisers). Our goal was to raise $100,000 within 40 days to the pre-order campaign,” said Vallath.

With more than a month still left of the campaign, the youngsters have scaled up their target and are now eyeing $500,000. Discussions are under way for the mass production of the product in Taiwan to deliver them in January. The company is planning to go for retail launch of the product after the pre-order campaign at a price of Rs. 499. “While we will be tapping into the potential of e-commerce in a big way, dealers from across the world, including from Africa, have approached us evincing interest,” Mr. Vallath said.

Startup Village CEO Pranav Kumar Suresh attributed the success of the product to the intelligent application of technology for a niche product. “At this rate, Exploride would be one of the biggest success stories of Startup Village sending out a clear message to the world that youngsters from the State can come up with cutting edge technology products,” he said.

Upgradation of the product will be free as users will have access to mobile applications the company brings out from time to time. A software development kit is also on the anvil promising additional applications on the platform.

Tech couple create ripples with an innovative head-up display for cars