Our story · 2013 to today

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.

2013 founded2016 first self-driving car2026 AntaraX
012013

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.

022014 – 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.

032016

Early AI.

In 2016 the team moved into early artificial intelligence: convolutional neural networks for images, optimisation, image processing and digital signal processing.

042016

Malaysia's first self-driving car on open roads.

In September 2016 REKA began building its own self-driving technology: a retrofit kit for an ordinary car, run by a controller board REKA designed itself, with off-the-shelf cameras, radar, laser and GPS. REKA called the project CRETA.

By the end of 2016 the car, a Proton Waja, drove from Melaka to Kuala Lumpur with no one in the driver's seat.

  • Project CRETA
  • RIG · REKA Innovation Gear
  • Proton Waja
  • Melaka → Kuala Lumpur
052017

REKA Inisiatif, and the public takes a ride.

In 2017 the studio became REKA Inisiatif Sdn Bhd, an R&D company spanning AI, sensing and autonomous systems. At the Malaysia Autoshow 2017, members of the public rode in its self-driving car.

062018 – 2021

From cars to software automation.

The car worked. Bringing it to market was another matter. Across the region the roadblocks were commercialisation, regulation, road and network infrastructure, market adoption and culture.

So 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.

072019

Joining SERV Group.

In December 2019 REKA joined SERV Group, to take its AI and autonomous technology into mobility services across the automotive industry.

082020 – 2021

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.

092019 onward

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
102022 – 2024

Partners and the open-source stack.

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.

112026

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 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.

// The short version

Thirteen years, at a glance.

  1. 2013Founded as REKA Studios, a graphics and web design company
  2. 2014Focus moves to technology; hands-on training in web, electronics, IoT and mobile
  3. 2016Early AI, then Malaysia's first self-driving car on open roads, on REKA's own RIG board
  4. 2017REKA Inisiatif Sdn Bhd; the public rides at the Malaysia Autoshow
  5. 2018Main effort moves to software automation; autonomous-vehicle frameworks and government ties continue
  6. 2019Smart-city sensing with Murata; REKA joins SERV Group
  7. 2020Pandemic automation keeps UMW Industries and Murata Electronics running remotely
  8. 2022Recognised by Frost & Sullivan for crowd analytics; MoU with Elmlab
  9. 2023Autonomous test bed at the Malaysia Autoshow
  10. 2024Member of the Autoware Foundation
  11. 2026AntaraX launches on 23 July; Kinetik continues the autonomy work
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