How This Startup Is Helping Indian Bikers Combat Highway Hypnosis
As an avid biker, I’ve roamed the length and breadth of the country with my gang — some astride thumping Royal Enfields, others on screaming Kawasakis and wild KTMs. Of course, I have had my fair share of close shaves. But let’s be honest, can you really call yourself a biker if you haven’t had a tryst gone wrong even once? Not really.
While I don’t keep a count of how many times I have flirted with danger on the road, there is one instance in particular that still sends goosebumps racing down my spine.
It was the monsoon of 2023 when I decided to hit the Western Ghats. Like many bike enthusiasts from Bengaluru, I, too, had an itch for a weekend ride along the scenic roads, threading through small townships, mist-laden hills and lush greenery.
However, what began as a simple escape into nature nearly spiralled into something major. After riding for 180 kilometres at a stretch, I fell prey to a biker’s worst nightmare — the white line fever, commonly known as highway hypnosis.
I was just an inch away from smashing into a fellow rider when my pillion shouted a warning — “Hey, watch out!” — snapping me out of my trance and forcing me to take control of the situation that would have otherwise proved fatal, to say the least.
While I count my stars for that day, the memory resurfaced when I recently met Aayush Kumar and Prakhar Agrawal, bike enthusiasts and founders of BYTES, a startup building advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) for two-wheelers.
A few months ago, BYTES bagged a non-dilutive grant from Nikhil Kamath’s WTFund to work on their AI-driven ADAS for two-wheelers to prevent accidents by predicting and identifying high-risk scenarios in real time.
I knew I had to speak with them — not because I am a journalist, but because it stirred something inside a biker. Therefore, I fixed a date with the founders.
What started with a formal ‘good afternoon’ at their office in Bengaluru soon turned into a downpour of stories and experiences — just three bikers celebrating their love for bikes and the open road.
You can’t stop birds of a feather from flocking together, and you certainly can’t stop bikers from bragging about the miles they’ve conquered in a single stretch and the places they’ve left their tyre marks.
Drawing from my story, Kumar and Agrawal began sharing their experiences with highway hypnosis, tunnel vision, and mental and physical fatigue that bikers endure.
They spoke of how a 10,000 km road trip, covering the two fag ends of India — Kashmir and Kanyakumari — became the inspiration behind building BYTES.
“We, too, were nearly hit by a truck because of highway hypnosis,” said Kumar. “It’s a common issue where riders slip into a trance on long stretches of road.”
But the problem is not unique to two-wheeler riders, and the real challenge lies in the sheer vulnerability of riding on two wheels.
“While cars are getting more advanced each year with cutting-edge safety features, similar tech upgrades for scooters and motorcycles remain largely absent,” Agrawal said.
The founders claim that they have designed an AI-powered ADAS system that can help riders avert potential dangers on roads. In the nascent market of ADAS for two-wheelers, the 2024-founded startup is directly competing with German engineering major Bosch, which also offers advanced rider assistance systems.
The idea of building an ADAS had been brewing for a long time — back when they were still working at Minus Zero, a startup focussed on autonomous vehicles.
“Coming from a technical background and being a biker, I wanted to solve the pain points of the rider community,” Agrawal said. Therefore, he joined forces with Kumar, a go-to-market (GTM) strategist.
“We spent 28 days on the road. We entered specific roads, rural and urban scenarios, and interacted with people from different cities. We zeroed in on 10 reasons that lead to accidents.”
Some of the most prominent ones include blind spots, forward collisions, and rear collisions. Besides, highway riding presented additional challenges, such as muscle fatigue, drowsiness, and highway hypnosis.
In August last year, the founders resigned from Minus Zero to incorporate BYTES, an acronym of Beyond Your Technological Explorations.
“The industry hasn’t focussed much on research in this area, preferring to concentrate on autonomous vehicles or basic dashcams. There’s a huge gap in the ADAS industry, and we wanted to build something more than just a product,” said Agrawal.
Therefore, they started building. Also known as threat-aware perception, they are preparing to file a patent for their technology.
Founders claim to have spent around INR 10–15 Lakh to develop the technology and have raised INR 1 Cr in grants so far. Strategic backers include Nikhil Kamath’s WTFund (which invested INR 20 Lakh), IIMB’s NSRCEL, IIT Mandi Catalyst, IIT Mandi iHub, HCi Foundation, and Startup Karnataka.
So, what exactly does BYTES’ threat-aware perception tech bring to the table, and can it truly bridge the safety gap for India’s everyday two-wheeler riders — not just premium bikers?
Before diving into the tech, Agrawal highlighted that research shows humans typically take 200–300 milliseconds to react to potential danger. Reaction times can stretch further under stress or in challenging environments, such as high altitudes with lower oxygen levels. The longer a rider takes to respond, the greater the risk of an accident.
The founders say their technology reduces reaction time by providing timely alerts to riders.
The AI model built by BYTES processes inputs in as little as 33 milliseconds — from scanning the environment to sending out an alert or taking control of the vehicle. This effectively gives the rider enough time to respond to danger.
Yet, I still couldn’t quite figure out the voodoo behind how it all works. The two were sharp – not just because they were founders, but because they could read my expressions, knowing I was craving clarity.
So, this is how they put it:
- The tech stack features two wide-angle cameras — one mounted at the front and another at the back of the vehicle. These cameras feed into a small inference device powered by the vehicle’s battery.
- The hardware integrates with BYTES’ in-house AI software, trained on thousands of kilometres of riding data collected across diverse Indian terrains.
- Its AI stack continuously maps the relative trajectories of objects around the rider. For instance, if a truck is ahead, the system analyses not only its speed but also how it is moving in relation to the rider.
- The AI performs real-time threat analysis — like a human brain, but faster — giving riders more time to react and take precautions.
- To deliver timely alerts, BYTES uses three feedback channels — LEDs embedded in the side-view mirrors, notifications on the infotainment screen, and haptic feedback on the throttle body.
The founders claim their technology achieves a 98% accuracy rate in responding within 33 milliseconds at speeds of 120–130 km/h. However, drawing power from the battery affects range and mileage of a vehicle, “but the impact is minimal”.
It also features an L2 ADAS system, enabling partial automation and supporting assisted braking.
“Taking full control of two-wheelers is risky, so our tech is limited to issuing alerts while the rider makes the final move,” said CTO Agrawal.
The founders were using some open-source datasets initially, but are now building specifically for Indian riding conditions. This is challenging because Indian roads are highly unpredictable.
“To solve this, we have integrated our tech with several vehicles of last-mile delivery executives. As they ride through every corner of the country, our AI is getting trained in real time,” the founder said.
Besides, BYTES is currently running pilots with six OEMs, including some of the top legacy players in the ICE and EV segments, who are testing its ADAS tech stack on their two-wheelers.
Currently, the founders said, they are juggling a few business model ideas, but the path to GTM is mostly clear.
“We are placing our product into three categories — the new vehicles, existing vehicles and fleet vehicles,” the CTO said.
For fleet vehicles, the startup plans to offer annual subscriptions, making its ADAS more affordable for fleet partners and gig riders. The goal is to bring costs down to an effective per-day rate — around INR 10–15 per day for a fleet rider.
At least 15 other OEMs have expressed interest in piloting BYTES’ ADAS. Once the initial products gain traction in the market, BYTES plans to sell directly to consumers via its website within the next 12 months.
These D2C products are expected to be priced between INR 7,000 and 15,000 each.
“We are making sure all of the categories of riders get this solution, as our vision is to democratise ADAS and safety systems across segments,” Kumar said.
The startup expects to clock steady revenue over the next nine to 12 months and is in the process of raising its first equity round of $1–2 Mn to expand its team for deeper R&D and scaling the business.
Even though OEMs are showing increasing interest in integrating these systems, the truth is that the ADAS market for two-wheelers is still in its nascent stages in the country.
But competition is likely to rise in this realm, especially as EV players are increasingly focussed on vertical integration. Electric motorcycle maker Ultraviolette, for instance, has its own laser-based ARAS system for two-wheelers.
Despite this rising threat and companies like Bosch on the prowl, founders are optimistic about their tech, designed for India-specific needs with India-only data.
“We are testing different India-specific scenarios, such as potholes, speed bumps, and animals crossing the road,” said the CEO. He added that in the next three to four months, the company will have collected 16–20 Lakh kilometres of data, making its AI model even smarter.
So, would I adopt it? Why not — after all, I stand witness to a biker’s millisecond paradox that could either be my guardian or my undoing in the blink of an eye. While the technology won’t make me invincible, it would act as an extra pair of eyes watching the road.
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