StartUp Circle: How is CamCom.ai an AI platform for Quality Assurance in Motor Vehicle?

“Deep Tech, Big Data and AI are not just a top priority, but the way of the future. Sectors that are labour intensive require this edge to transform digitally. Earlier, most quality checks in the Auto Industry mandated a manual inspection subject to human interaction and error. In the time of COVID-19, one can do it remotely through our Computer Vision platform, thereby minimizing the risk, reducing the margin of error and generating revenue for Enterprises,” says Ajith Nayar, Co-founder of CamCom.

CamCom’s hyper-intelligent quality assurance platform helps to drive efficiencies across the automotive value chain, from manufacturing, service, motor insurance and the used cars sector. In conversation with CiOL, Ajith talks about what CamCom represents and a general overview of the one-of-its-kind startup.

Q1. What is Camcom.ai about? Tell us about the team.

CamCom fundamentally is an AI platform for defect/damage assessment built on a computer vision (CV) stack. Headquartered in Bengaluru, we are the partner of choice for enterprises in India and across the globe in hyper Intelligent quality assurance. We are proud to be recognized as providing disruptive solutions to the Automotive Industry. We firmly believe that our solutions will be imperative in the post COVID world for enterprises.

CamCom’s was founded by Umesh (COO), and myself (CMO) with Mahesh as CEO.

Umesh has 35 + years of experience in the IT industry and was the Global business head at Wipro and the India CEO of ANSR Source.
Mahesh lends his 23 years of experience in networking, media and products. As a serial entrepreneur in the technology space, he also mentors many start-ups. He used to be the global CTO at ONE Championship.

I have 25 years of international experience in strategy advisory and technology consulting services. I was previously associated with AugRay in the capacity of Vice President as well as Global Practice Head at Wipro.

Q2. How did you come up with the idea?

The journey of CamCom began 3 years ago on the 7th of September 2017 in Bengaluru. A quintessential ‘Silicon Valley’ story whose humble beginnings began on a napkin in a pub by Umesh and me. The question we asked ourselves was- How do we leverage Computer Vision at an enterprise level that will lead to monetisation and simultaneously be a ‘go-to’ product.

At the time, the world was seeing a penetration of AI in the consumer world at an unprecedented scale and unbelievable frequency. We realised that leveraging AI in the Automotive damage and defect assessment had never been done before. Using our collective experience and first-mover advantage- the idea of CamCom was born.

We knew our solution would be welcomed by consumers even though contactless solutions at the time were not relevant. We had the foresight to see value in our solution, where the contactless, scalable, objective solutions and less than negligible human error is now the ‘new normal’.

Presently, we are on track to being recognized as the pioneers of leveraging Computer Vision (CV) and associated technologies in the enterprise quality assurance process.

Q3. What is your business/market growth?

At the moment we are at a 15x growth in terms of revenue and 3x expansion in terms of employee headcount.

Q4. What is the significance of quality checks post-pandemic?

COVID19 has disrupted on an unprecedented scale affecting every sector, enterprise and common people like no other. It has proved that anything associated with human contact and subjectivity is not future proof as the ‘new normal’ takes hold. Companies that are catering to the present ‘normalcy’ will perish- whereas ones that adapt to future-proofing holds the key to success.

We predict the significance of our offerings will escalate given the path of the contactless world we are embarking on. We saw COVID-19 as an opportunity to improve our offerings to consumers and fill the gaps that arose in related sectors. One such sector is in insurance, where, given the circumstances, break-in insurance and claim settlements fell short. The defect and damage product allowed insurance companies and consumers to file claims effortlessly and seamlessly without physical surveyance or human error. As mentioned, we are confident our solutions will be imperative in the post COVID world for QC processes

Q5. The pandemic has affected every sector. How are you coping?

Under the circumstances, CamCom is working at 50% capacity and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. There is a bifurcation in terms of the architecture of our business; in that one aspect is the cloud computation (that has been largely unaffected from a tech development point of view) and the on-premise aspect where we access physical RIGs with Cameras.

Like all other industries and sectors, we too were affected, but we ensured that our customers did not suffer a major blowback from the time of COVID. We are already seeing growth and increase in customer base from before the pandemic - so the situation is approaching normalcy.

Q6. What are some of the parameters that one should look for when entering the deep tech industry?

Typically, CV which is a smaller subset of AI focuses on three aspects- people, places and products. The people aspects include surveillance that is the most advanced as the need for security and scrutiny are at an all-time high.

When it comes to the place factor the best example is ‘Google lens’. It is truly remarkable to see how metadata gives consumers volumes of information in nanoseconds. For example, a picture of a building can yield information on the various shops, centres and services that can be found within it.

The product aspect (though not as glamorous) gives more power to the consumer. For example at CamCom, the consumer drives the assessment process and cuts out third-party intervention, human error, fatigue and subjectivity entirely. This results in accurate and measurable damage and defect assessment report.

Q7. What are your Post-Covid plans?

Our goal is to go global. We aim to provide this solution on the international stage as the ‘go-to’ company for defect and damage solutions. Although this goal is ambitious, we plan to grow steadily but surely using a partner-driven approach. Post-COVID and in the world of the new normal, partner networks will prove to be a key ingredient in our success. We have many exciting offerings up our sleeves in the developmental stage that are sure to be welcomed by enterprises and consumers alike - so for now, all I can say is - Stay Tuned!

Q8. Funding

Initially, we raised angel funding of about $150,000. Then came along Triton Investment Advisors who put their faith in us and came on board earlier this year with a Pre-Series A funding.

Our user base includes leading insurance companies- Bajaj Alliance and HDFC Ergo, leading fashion and apparel company Myntra.com. Despite the derailment caused by the pandemic, there are about a dozen pilots and field trials currently happening around the world. Revenues are expected to hit between the range of one to one and half million US dollars by the end of this fiscal.