Digital transformation is all that enterprises can talk about since 2020. And with good reason.
Traditional companies looking to up their game are acquiring innovative startups, VCs seek out tech-first companies that solve long-standing challenges across industries. In fact, since the pandemic introduced new challenges, customers have been looking for touch-free delivery systems, contactless payment options and digital fronts that make banking, shopping and working from home seamless. Companies that don’t rise to the new challenge will soon lose out to the competition.
Datatechvibe has our ear to the ground to look out for fresh talent that will soon be a gamechanger. Here is our watchlist of a new breed of tech companies who are driving tech innovation.
CamCom
Founded: 2017
Founder: Mahesh Subramanian
Segment: AI-Powered Inspections
CamCom is an artificial intelligence and deep learning-based startup focussed on quality assessment, defect and damage detection. It is interesting to note that CamCom is currently in the process of setting up the first computer vision lab in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region with their office in Dubai. They claim to be industry-agnostic though their current set of clients is predominantly in the automotive, warehousing and manufacturing.
Defect and damage visual inspections are a labour-intensive process that can be slow and prone to error. The AI solution claims to eliminate human subjectivity from the quality control process entirely with the help of using a computer vision stack. Bespoke rigs with high-end machine-vision cameras for production or logistics are deployed on the mobile app for after-market solutions. Enterprise clients can then follow a visual track and trace the audit trail across the life cycle of the product.
Considering manufacturing and automotive industries were some of the most impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown, CamCom might be a game-changer for the industry. The company is also entering the aircraft inspection space.
In the motor insurance sector, CamCom works to allow a self-inspection model for spot settlement of claims and instant premium calculation for break-in policy renewals.
CamCom is the winner of the DSH Market Access Programme Q3 2020 conducted by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce.
Also Read: The Analytical Ladder of Success
Transform
Founded: 2021
Founder: Nick Handel
Segments: Centralised metrics store
Is it a blue ocean product? One can only wait and see. First, we must understand what a ‘metrics store’ refers to. According to Handel’s LinkedIn post, it’s a centralised repository that sits on top of your data warehouse and enables metrics governance at scale while making data accessible to every other tool in the modern data stack through APIs. Interestingly, CEO Nick Handel, COO James Mayfield and software engineer Paul Yang — all cofounders at Transform previously worked together at Airbnb.
In a blog on their new website, they talk about their experience at Airbnb working with an experimental range of tools in the modern data stack. While it’s easier than ever to deploy these tools, there remains a gap between the many applications for data and the places where data sits cleaned and polished for consumption. This gap is precisely what Transform’s products hope to solve. Their metrics engine will define, organise, manage, and deliver metrics at the scale and speed that companies require to make confident decisions.
Considering big tech companies are investing in-house for custom-built solutions that will help them action data insights into business strategy, smaller companies would be keen to look for more affordable solutions that help them do the same.
Last week, the company announced that it has closed a Series A of $20 million led by Index Ventures and Redpoint Ventures while in stealth-mode.
eqtble
Founded: 2021
Founder: Joseph Ifiegbu
Segment: HR Analytics
eqtble works with companies to gain insights from their HR data. The human resources analytics platform can collate data from over 100 sources and deliver insights and visualisations in the area of talent recruitment, workforce, engagement metrics such as attrition and compensation. It also claims to help HR teams to identify why top candidates decline their job offers.
Joseph Ifiegbu, CEO and co-founder of eqtble comes with the experience of previous stints as the director of HR technology at Snap and head of people analytics at WeWork.
The company, a Y Combinator alum, recently announced it has raised $2.7 million in seed funding, led by Initialized Capital, with participation from SB Opportunity Fund, RS Ventures and other venture capital firms.
There are more than a few up-and-coming startups trying to leverage machine learning to change the way companies hire, incentivise their top-performing workforce and manage teams in the new normal of remote working. HR is touted as the next industry to go through a transformation.
Also Read: Is MENA Ready for 5G and Mobile Advertising?
Maxab
Founded: 2018
Founder: Belal EL-Megharbel
Segment: B2B e-commerce marketplace
MaxAB enables grocery stores to order shipments directly from manufacturers via a mobile app, eliminating all intermediaries in the supply chain. The startup has a fleet of trucks and a large warehouse that serves Egypt’s capital, Cairo.
Egypt’s food and retail market stands at an estimated $45 billion and is still yet to reach its full potential. The vast majority of its grocery sector still operates as a disorganised sector leaving considerable room for startups to capitalise on gaps within this market. Enter MaxAB.
Founder and CEO Belal El-Megharbel was working as a General Manager at Careem when he hit on the idea and started MaxAB with co-founder Mohamed Ben Halim in 2018. They both wanted to revolutionise Egypt’s supply-chain network for food and grocery retailers. It provides more than an app to order groceries. They have built a digital platform to manage procurement and delivery of grocery products to shops in Egypt, an app for store owners to purchase goods, another logistics app for its delivery fleet and one for its customer support team.
MaxAB’s ability to use data and analytics to streamline supply-chain logistics and their ability to fuse regional knowledge to ease adoption with local stores is why they are worth keeping an eye on. That and the fact that they raised $6.2 million in MENA’s largest seed round in September 2019.
Hum Capital
Founded: 2019
Founder: Blair Silverberg
Segment: Funding platform
Hum Capital claims to have reimagined the private capital market. Last week, it launched Intelligent Capital Market (ICM), a new funding platform that uses AI to make the fundraising process more efficient, transparent and data-driven for companies and investors.
For companies looking to raise funds, it promises to use performance insights to substantiate valuations and make for a more compelling pitch. For VCs, it works to cut through the noise and identify more meaningful relationships.
The time is right. Seventy per cent of business applications are cloud-based, generating volumes of valuable company data. The availability of data is an opportunity for founders to supplement traditional fundraising decks and static metrics with performance insights. It also requires investors, many of whom have underinvested in technology, to rapidly modernise in order to capture critical investment insights.
