AwakeY Transforms Smartphones To Digital Key

AwakeY’s lock accessory works on Bluetooth, and is accessed by your smartphone

- Anusha Ashwin

A well-established brand, Jainson Locks, that has been manufacturing locks since 1955, had to escalate its legacy business with modern times. Jainson not only boosted sales via the e-commerce route, but also moved to leverage emerging opportunities in placing digital locks for India’s smart city solutions.

Ankit Chhajed, a new-gen entrepreneur with his father’s lock making family business behind him, has taken the digital route to innovation in next-gen locks. Chhajed has founded his dream venture called AwakeY, a start-up that makes smart locks and smartphone based keys.

To elaborate, AwakeY is a lock accessory that attaches to most of the existing electronic locks. This attaches to the lock from inside of home/office, and it becomes an automatic key. The accessory works on Bluetooth, and is controlled through the smartphone. It allows the door to unlock, without any requirement of manual insertion and turning of a manual key.

Pushing the idea: Ankit Chhajed’s AwakeY is currently being accelerated at the World Start-up Factory in the Netherlands. In an e-chat with Voice&Data, Chhajed, discusses how he passionately set up his dream venture and the ups and downs of putting the product in the market.