Making Cars and Pajamas Smart

Jahangir Mohammed was driving to Lake Tahoe in 2004 when his car engine failed, leaving him stranded for three hours. While he waited for a tow truck, the engineer wondered why cars didn’t come equipped with software that alerted their drivers to impending malfunctions and directed them to a nearby garage for repairs.

Mohammed’s lightbulb moment led him to start Jasper Technology that same year. The Mountain View (Calif.) company’s cloud-based software enables machine-to-machine (M2M) communications. Using Jasper, Coca-Cola’s vending machines inform the drinkmaker when they are running out of sodas, and Nissan Motor’s cars send out tracking signals if stolen. “When things are connected, they become a service,” says Mohammed. “Jasper’s software allows companies to manage and monetize those services.”