LightMetrics, a video telematics startup serving business automobile fleets globally, has raised USD 8.5 million in a Collection A funding spherical from Sequoia Capital India. Their answer makes use of edge AI and analyzes video feeds from the digicam put in in autos to raised perceive driver habits, and scale back accidents and enhance security.
LightMetrics was based in 2015 by Soumik Ukil, Ravi Shenoy, Mithun Uliyar, Gururaj Putraya, Pushkar Patwardhan and Krishna A.G. The six-member founding staff had labored collectively at Nokia Analysis on laptop imaginative and prescient and ML for cameras. Whereas advancing the tech in shopper images for smartphones was thrilling, they needed to do one thing extra impactful with their experience in laptop imaginative and prescient and AI.
The automotive business, and business fleets specifically introduced an enormous alternative. Proudly owning and working vans must be worthwhile however they grapple with issues like fraudulent lawsuits, growing accidents, danger of nuclear verdicts, lack of visibility into (growing) dangerous driving habits (dashing, onerous braking, drowsiness, distracted driving, and so on.), mounting insurance coverage prices, hiring and retaining drivers, rising gas prices, and so on, which considerably impacts their backside line.
“This funding by Sequoia Capital India is a testomony to the truth that we’re constructing the preeminent video-based fleet security platform globally. We are going to make investments deeply in constructing essentially the most superior and environment friendly edge AI, empowering our buyer base to ship this crucial know-how throughout the complete fleet ecosystem, and increasing our worldwide footprint.” Soumik Ukil, CEO & Co-founder, LightMetrics
The advantages of video telematics enabled by LightMetrics embody –
- On-demand video that exhibits what precisely occurred within the case of a dispute
- In-cabin teaching that alerts drivers in actual time upon detection of dangerous driving, averting accidents
- Visibility into dangerous driving behaviors in order that fleets can take remedial motion – this consists of itemizing drivers who want teaching and for what behaviors they have to be coached
- Driver teaching workflows that make it simple for self teaching
With improved security and decreased danger, fleets have a stable ROI by way of decreased whole price of possession.
“Video telematics is the quickest rising section of the telematics business. Lightmetrics’ means to deploy superior laptop imaginative and prescient fashions on the sting, throughout a variety of sprint cameras, permits it to serve all automobile sorts on this massive market. At Sequoia Capital India, we anticipate developments in AI to rework a number of industries and are excited to associate with Lightmetrics on their quest to enhance street security,” Ashish Agrawal, MD, Sequoia India.
LightMetrics has additionally taken a differentiated go-to-market method. It doesn’t promote to fleets immediately and as an alternative works with telematics service suppliers and fleet administration firms who combine the answer into their choices for fleets and upsell. This ensures that fleets get a deeply built-in product which has all of the insights they want about their enterprise in a single place, avoiding fragmentation and offering extra worth. Companions who work with LightMetrics can both use APIs to construct their very own UI or use the rebranded portal.
LightMetrics is deployed by over 2500 fleets throughout India, Center East, US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, and South Africa. Fleets utilizing LightMetrics’ powered video telematics have seen dangerous driving reminiscent of dashing and distracted driving drop by as much as 80% and 70% respectively in only a few months of onboarding – displaying how a mix of in-cab teaching and offline teaching can scale back danger for fleets in a major method.
