Skip to content

Navajith and Jagath are ready to pump up the beat with their startup

Navajith and Jagath decided to launch their line of headphones as they began their startup, Rapture Innovation Labs Pvt. Ltd.
Navajith and Jagath decided to launch their line of headphones as they began their startup, Rapture Innovation Labs Pvt. Ltd.

Music has become a part of every person’s life in one way or the other. From the nursery rhymes for toddlers to devotional songs for older people, music has played an essential role in our lives, from learning things to entertainment, it has various uses in our life. The revolution began in the music industry when earphones and headphones were introduced as they were the audio equipment that would allow the user to listen to music individually and enjoy the kind of music that they like.

Since college days like many music lovers, Navajith and Jagath have been on the quest for finding the best pair of headphones that would act ac the all-rounder for every field. They were looking for a pair of headphones that would satisfy their audio needs without going broke for the rest of the month. During their quest, they realized that there was no such headphone in existence due to the limitations on the headphones technologies.

The duo decided to take matters in their hands after years and finally developed their acoustics technology and made a prototype for their daily use. The reason behind this was that high-end speakers and home theatre systems had subwoofers in them to enhance the bass, but adding those to headphones was a tough task. The prototype was a hit amongst their peers, and they were willing to pay for another pair. This was the inspiration for them, and they decided to launch their line of headphones as they began their startup, Rapture Innovation Labs Pvt. Ltd.

The beginning for the dynamic duo

Navajith Karkera belongs to Mangalore, and Jagath is from Madikeri. The two aspiring engineers crossed their paths in Sahyadri College of Engineering from where they were pursuing their bachelor’s in mechanical (Navajith) and electronics (Jagath) engineering, respectively. Their dreams were big as, since college, they were actively participating in tech and innovation contests that were organized by IIT and other premier institutes.

They participated in these contests under the name of the team of techies and innovators called Dreamers. They developed a smart helmet for motorcyclists that lead to their win in several national innovation contests. There have been many prestigious moments in their lives, but the highlights are when they received the “Best young innovators” award in 2015 by CII, AICTE, DST, IIT-D, which was given by Dr. Harsha Vardhan. The second one was when they won a Gold Award at KPIT Sparkle 2018, which was presented to them by Dr. Harkesh Mittal, NSTEDB, and Dr. Radhakrishnan, Former Chairman, ISRO.

The working of Rapture Innovation Labs

There were limitations in audio driver technology as current headphones are either highly useful for the melodious music genre, for, eg. Sennheiser or focus on bass-heads like Beats by Dre and SkullCandy. Premium headphones from companies like Bose and Sony sound great, but the quality of the bass is not as good as compared to the high-end speakers. This led to the development of their prototype.

Incubated and supported by National Institue of Design (NDBI) and Sandbox Start-ups, Rapture Innovation Labs is developing a ‘new breed’ of headphones using proprietary and patent-pending technology that would overcome the current limitations faced by the headphones market. The product delivers premium audio, immersive, and theatre-like experience for the headphones. The headphones are developed for music enthusiasts and bass heads who wish for premium audio, and blissful experience.

They have developed a functional prototype for the headphones, and the tests have proved to be successful when compared with several global premium brands. The design for the manufacturing of the product is in progress as they wait for three pending patents. They also provide consultancy support for product and hardware development for startups.

The hardships during the development

As a startup, there are a lot of challenges that they have to face, and they have faced in the past. The primary ones are the limitation of resources and capital, especially in their case, as they decided to enter the market that was already well established and was dominated by big brands. Their prototype is going through rigorous testing, and they are trying their best to improve the product and getting ready for the last challenge. The final challenge for them is to compel people to try their product and let the product do the talking for the company because of its audio experience.

The first speedbump for Rapture

While talking with TimesNext, they mentioned how they achieved the first milestone of their life when they decided to give up their well-paying jobs and enter the world of entrepreneurship. The decision was tough as this would mean using up their savings for the development of products along with their expenses, but the duo was dedicated.

The second milestone for them was when they developed a system with improved audio technology for their headphones, and the users highly appreciated it as they gave positive responses for the sound quality.

The current growth and the big picture for Rapture

As the company is getting closer to the launch, they are getting excited and nervous at the same time. Currently, they have developed a fully functional prototype of the headphones, and the alpha testing phase and user validation phase is over. It is expected that in the coming three months, we can get our hands on one of these headphones by pre-ordering them.

Rapture means ‘a feeling of intense joy or pleasure,’ and they wish to deliver this blissful experience to the people of India with their innovative product.

Latest