The idea for Russell Ure’s latest venture came in the midst of a snowstorm.
His daughter was driving home from school in Montreal during a spell of particularly bad weather, and the Ottawa entrepreneur had no way of knowing if she was OK.
“I was frustrated. Why are cars so dumb?” Ure told Techopia Live. “So much of our technology connects us so incredibly well … Why is there nothing in cars?”
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The former Alcatel executive had previously launched home Internet of Things firm Blacksumac, which was sold to iControl Networks in 2014. With a non-compete clause keeping him out of the sector, he decided to dive into the connected automotive technology industry by co-founding Klashwerks with Dan Carruthers.
Its product, Raven, is a small camera-equipped device that can sit on a vehicle’s dashboard and is plugged into a car’s on-board diagnostics port.
Billed as an all-in-one connected car solution, Raven can notify the owner if the vehicle is bumped, broken into or stolen, as well as allow family members to check-in by viewing live video and GPS location, among other features.
Raven is scheduled to start shipping in the first quarter of the new year, and Ure is hoping to develop sales channels with mobile service providers such as Verizon and electronics retailers including Best Buy.
Watch the video above to learn more about Ure’s IoT journey.
