A group of six student entrepreneurs from Flip Technologies, a startup at the Startup Village, Kochi will fly to Canada in November to interact with innovation experts, investors and mentors after earning global acclaim for their smartphone app designed to improve the skills of skateboarders. The team from startup firm Flip Technologies won an all-expenses paid trip to Toronto after their innovative product “The Smart Riser” (Skateboard tracker) was ranked among the top five in the Next Big Idea Contest 2014 organised jointly by the Bombay Stock Exchange Institute; the Government of Ontario, Canada; IBM Global; and Ryerson Futures Inc.The Smart Riser has also been rated as one of the most interesting products by Intel, which will provide its latest Edison board to the students for prototyping and for development support.
Jibin Jose, Abimanyu Nair, Jishnu Vijayan, Balagovind Girish, Rohith Samuel and Abraham Alexander of Flip Technologies will attend a two week bespoke programme at Toronto’s Discovery District – a hotbed of innovation responsible for more than USD one billion of R&D annually –where they will meet sector experts, mentors, investors, experts in innovation ecosystem and scout for business development opportunities and networking. Startup Village Chairman Sanjay Vijayakumar said they were thrilled with the team’s achievement. “This is exactly the message we want to send out to youngsters in India. These student entrepreneurs are proof that if you have the idea, the enthusiasm and the drive, there is a world of opportunity awaiting you.”
“We aim to make Startup Village a breeding ground for innovative ideas. We are sure there will be more such products and innovations coming out of our campus in the coming months. A product that provides diagnostics for skateboarding is not something that would naturally occur to Indians, let alone Keralites. But you give the students the right exposure; they design something for the world,” said Startup Village CE0 Pranav Kumar Suresh. “We are really excited about our visit to Canada, where we will have an opportunity to interact with the top people in the industry. We are focused on developing cutting edge IOT (Internet of things) devices and tracking devices for adventure sports,” said Jibin Jose, Co-founder of Flip.
“Our device The Smart Riser is designed for skateboarders to enhance their ability to perform and analyse tricks whether he is an amateur or professional. The device is connected to the truck of the skateboard and it tracks the dynamics of the board and the data is send to a smart phone app via bluetooth. The app can determine the trick performed and help the skateboarders to improve their skills. It is like a personalized trainer,” added Abimanyu Nair, Co-founder of Flip. While Jibin Jose and Abimanyu Nair had passed out from the Toc-H Institute of Science and Technology (TIST) at Arakkunam recently, the other four students are pursuing different courses at the same college. Jibin was one of the five students who went to Silicon Valley from Startup Village as part of the SV Square programme. The students were also felicitated by Ed Fast, Canadian Minister for International Trade at an event held on October 14 at the Bombay Stock Exchange. 
