Syed Alwi Al-Haddad
Co-founder · Hardware, clinical, regulatory
- MEng Biomedical Engineering, UCL
- Built a neonatal diagnosis AI pipeline at 87.5% accuracy
- Founder of Gunung and Tempa Digital
Bangkit · Malay for “rise”
Rise again.
An AI bionic hand you control with your own muscles. Built in Malaysia, for the people imported hands leave behind.
RM 9,500Target price. Imported bionic hands start at RM 25,000.
Four grips. A thumb that moves itself. No phone, no cloud.
Concept render
The problem
Every year, around 128,000 people across Southeast Asia lose a hand or arm. Most are young, working, and the only earner at home. A bionic hand that works costs RM 25,000 to RM 160,000. So most go without.
The price
A premium imported bionic handA BANGKIT hand
RM 160,000
Not a subsidy. The price comes from how it's made.
- Durable polymers, not machined metal.
- One motor for the fingers, one for the thumb.
- Built and serviced in Malaysia.
Intelligence
Think it.
It moves.
Sensors in the socket read your forearm muscles. A tiny neural network on the hand works out which grip you mean, in real time.
86.2%grip accuracy across four grips in testing
< 20 KBmodel size, running on the hand's own chip
5–10 mincalibration to learn your muscles at fitting
Two senses
So sweat doesn't win.
Electrodes read the muscle's electrical signal, and lose it when skin contact fails. Force sensors read the muscle changing shape, and don't mind the heat. The hand listens to both.
99.4% fused, when electrodes alone fell to 90.9%, in a published stress test.
The hand
Built for the real world.
Getting fitted
From clinic to everyday life.
Sold through the prosthetics clinics that already look after patients. They fit it, calibrate it and service it.
Scan
Your prosthetist 3D-scans your limb.
Fit and calibrate
A socket printed to your shape, then 5–10 minutes teaching the hand your signals.
Live
Home, work, teh tarik. Two hands again.
Where we fit
The capable hand people here can afford.
Premium Western hands do more, and cost three to fifteen times as much. Budget hands leave out the motorised thumb and the AI. We sit in the gap.
Affordable and capable
Delivered price → cheaperCapability →Ottobock bebionicSGD 15,000–50,000
Open Bionics Hero ArmSGD 8,000–17,000
Vulcan AugmeticsSGD ~1,470
BANGKITSGD 3,000
No one else puts all five in one hand.
- On-device AI
- Motorised thumb
- Custom socket
- RM 9,500
- Made and serviced here
Where we are
It works on the bench.
Next, it goes on an arm.
- Today
Benchtop validation
On-device neural network and dual-sensing architecture validated in lab testing.
- Next phase
Wearable prototype
Integrated, battery-powered socket and hand engineered for active limb wear.
- Clinical
Trials & clearance
Multi-patient usability studies and regulatory clearance with MDA & HSA.
- Commercial
Regional rollout
Fittings and ongoing service through certified prosthetics partner clinics.
Company
Two UCL biomedical engineers.
One mission.
Martynas Pocius
Co-founder · Machine learning, firmware
- MEng Biomedical Engineering, UCL
- First-author IEEE publication (ISBI 2024)
- Ex-Senior ML Engineer, Autodesk AI Lab; founding engineer at a YC-backed startup
Backed by and building with
Shortlisted, CIP Spark
Where we trained
Socket partner
Who is the hand for?
Adults with a below-elbow amputation. The muscles that move your fingers sit in the forearm, so after a below-elbow amputation most of them are still there to control the hand.
When can I get one?
Not yet. We're building the wearable prototype now. Patient trials come next, then launch through prosthetists, starting in Singapore. Register your interest below and we'll tell you when trials open.
How much will it cost?
Our target is RM 9,500 for the flagship hand, with configurations from RM 4,500 to RM 14,500. An annual service plan covers recalibration, firmware updates and replacement parts.
Can insurance or SOCSO help pay?
In Singapore, private insurance and the Assistive Technology Fund already pay towards prosthetics. In Malaysia, SOCSO can help after a workplace injury, alongside employer insurance, NGOs and hospital welfare funds. Your clinic can tell you what applies to you.
How do I control it?
You think about the grip you want. Sensors in the socket read your forearm muscles, and the hand works out which grip you mean. A 5–10 minute calibration at your fitting teaches it your signals.
Does it need my phone or the internet?
No. Everything runs on a small chip inside the hand. Bluetooth is only used for firmware updates.
Will it work in the heat?
That's what it's designed for. Electrodes can lose contact when you sweat, so the hand also uses force sensors that read the muscle's shape instead. Using both keeps it working in tropical heat.
Is it approved as a medical device?
Not yet. Registration with Malaysia's MDA and Singapore's HSA is part of our path to launch, and the hand won't be sold before it's cleared.