From a design studio to AI for the physical world
REKA began in 2013 as a small studio in Kuala Lumpur. A self-driving car, a pandemic and a lot of sensors later, it builds technology for the places where business actually runs. This is how it happened.
Scroll to begin2013
A design studio.
REKA started in 2013 as REKA Studios, a graphics and web design company working with Malaysian businesses. The name means to design, to invent in Malay, and the studio took it literally.
It did not stay a design studio for long.
2014–2015
Learning by teaching.
In 2014 the studio turned to technology. Through 2014 and 2015 the team ran a lot of hands-on training, and teaching others meant mastering each tool first.
- Web development
- Raspberry Pi and Arduino
- Internet of Things
- Mobile apps: PhoneGap, AppDroid
That breadth, hardware and software together, became the base for everything that followed.
2016
Early AI.
In 2016 the team moved into early artificial intelligence: convolutional neural networks for images, optimisation, image processing and digital signal processing.
Then it built a car.
2016
Malaysia’s first self-driving car
In September 2016 REKA began building its own self-driving car and called the project CRETA. It became Malaysia’s first self-driving car, and the first in Southeast Asia on public highways.
The first, CRETA MK I, was a Proton Waja that saw the road through a single webcam. By the end of 2016 it drove from Melaka to Kuala Lumpur with no one in the driver’s seat. Read the case study.
- Project CRETA
- CRETA MK I · Proton Waja
- One webcam
- Melaka → Kuala Lumpur
Inside CRETA MK I on the PLUS Highway, 2016
That drive is the road this page follows.
2016 to 2017
One car became a line of them.
CRETA MK II followed in mid-2017 on a Proton Inspira, courtesy of MIDA, with one puck LiDAR and two webcams. CRETA MK III arrived in late 2017 in two versions, V1 and V2, on two Proton Perdanas: a maroon one lent by NanoMalaysia and a white one from MARA. Each carried at least two LiDARs, two side radars and three cameras, the most advanced of the line at the time.
None of the cars could be driven by wire, so REKA automated the controls mechanically, with motors, servos and its own electronics, including RIG, REKA Innovation Gear: REKA’s own development board, built to rival Arduino and, by REKA’s account, the smallest with GSM on board at the time. On MK III it went further, reverse engineering the braking and acceleration with digital signal processing and its own algorithm.
Who helped build it
- IMBiG: metal fabrication, motors and actuation.
- Kolej MARA Masjid Tanah: workshop space, workbenches, tools and expertise from its automotive department.
- Elmlab: GPU computing, and the electronics maker lab at its Beranang facilities.
- MARii: exposure at the Malaysia Autoshow.
- MARA and MARA Corp: the space to show CRETA at NICE Expo 2017.
2017
REKA Inisiatif, and the public takes a ride
The car changed what the company was. What followed, in order:
- In September 2017 the studio was incorporated as REKA Inisiatif Sdn Bhd, an R&D company spanning AI, sensing and autonomous systems.
- At the Malaysia Autoshow 2017, with MARii’s support, members of the public rode in its self-driving car.
October 2017
On show at NICE Expo.
In October 2017 CRETA went on show at NICE Expo 2017, the National Innovation and Creative Economy show in Bukit Jalil, in a space MARA and MARA Corp secured for it. NanoMalaysia Berhad, which lent one of the Perdanas, worked with REKA on the project that year. Read the 2017 release.
The car worked. Bringing it to market was another matter.
2018–2021
From cars to sensing and automation
Across the region the roadblocks were commercialisation, regulation, road and network infrastructure, market adoption and culture. So REKA took what the car had taught it somewhere else.
From cars to software automation.
From 2018 to 2021 REKA put its main effort into software automation. The autonomous-vehicle work never stopped: REKA built ties with governments across Southeast Asia, developed frameworks for deploying autonomous vehicles quickly in different situations, and kept working to clear the way for autonomous-vehicle startups in the region.
REKA announced the shift in May 2018: most of its R&D moved to software, to AI, data analytics, cloud computing and mobile applications, lower-priority research such as blockchain was paused, and the self-driving car carried on with its team working externally, in its own direction. Read the 2018 release.
2019
Joining SERV Group.
In December 2019 REKA joined SERV Group, to take its AI and autonomous technology into mobility services across the automotive industry. Read the 2019 release.
2020
Keeping companies running remotely.
When the pandemic closed workplaces, REKA turned seriously to automation, robotic process automation and robotics, so that organisations could keep operating while their people worked remotely.
- UMW Industries and Murata Electronics were among the companies that used this work to run tasks remotely.
- It taught REKA something lasting: most operational work still needs people. The value is in seeing every task live and letting a few people steer many. That lesson later became Yara.
Since 2019
Sensing the city.
The sensors and edge computing built for the car went into smart-city sensing with Murata, from 2019, and into crowd analytics across Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. That work was recognised by Frost & Sullivan for Best Crowd Analytics in 2022, and the line continues today as PLExyz.
- Murata · smart-city sensing
- Malaysia · Thailand · Vietnam
- Frost & Sullivan · recognised, 2022
2022–2024
Partners and the open-source stack.
The road work never stopped. In 2022 REKA signed an MoU with Elmlab to co-develop autonomous-vehicle technology, covering connectivity and teleoperation. In 2023 it showed an autonomous test bed at the Malaysia Autoshow. In 2024 it joined the Autoware Foundation, after building on the open-source Autoware stack since 2021.
Ten years after the drive from Melaka, the research became products.
2026 · today
AntaraX, and research that continues
On 23 July 2026 REKA launched AntaraX: its proven, repeatable technology, turned into AI products for business, on one platform underneath called Lapisan. Yara, Janka and PLExyz Grid lead the line.
The road does not end here. The research goes on at REKA, and the next stretch starts with the next problem someone brings.
Yara
Janka
PLExyz Grid
“Our Autonomous Vehicle project will always be something that all of us are honoured to be a part of.”
In numbers: founded in 2013, 4 research divisions, 3 main products leading AntaraX, 6 closed pilots, and active work in 3 countries.
What comes next
The research goes on at REKA. The full autonomy stack stays in its Kinetik division, where autonomous machines are still being built, alongside sensing, applied AI and the work no product covers yet.
- HarmonikSensing the physical worldSee the capability
- KinetikAutonomy and roboticsSee the capability
- HeuristikAI-driven applicationsSee the capability
- EsoterikDigital transformationSee the capability
Building in the real world since 2013: from a studio to a self-driving car to AI products.
ReadoutHover or tap a part to read it; select a division to open its capability.