Pune: Rashmi Kulkarni launched an e-invoicing service in 2018 that helped companies automatically create quotations and recurring invoices. The Cub startup was growing rapidly until it participated in the Maharashtra Innovation Society’s AI competition. “That year we won the award and There was prize money of Rs 15 lakh,” he said. Enough for a startup. But it came with a rider. The winner had to create an AI (Artificial Intelligence) model for its students who participate in skill development programs run by the Government of Maharashtra.
“We have developed an app called DutyPar that provides facial recognition using one’s mobile phone. The app replaced the need for any hardware, so it became very easy to use by the government, which runs many such programs across the state, be it for sewing, typing, etc. Since it did not require any special hardware or cameras, it became very easy for officials to record the presence of people across Maharashtra, urban or rural. All anyone needed was their smartphone,” she said.
The app was successful and soon DutyPar started being used not only by the state government, but also by other states and the central government. “The National Skill Development Program has also started using our app and so far, we register around eight lakh people daily who participate in such sessions,” he said.
Duty Par Charged Rs 15 per user per month. They also offered their face recognition and GPS (Global Positioning System) location-based attendance service to smaller customers such as SMEs and educational institutions. so far so good. But no startup can afford inertia, otherwise it may simply stagnate and die.
“At that time,” Rashmi said, “one of our angel investors introduced us to BVG Group. This was our first private sector customer. BVG provides various services at airports including housekeeping and 108 ambulance service. He needed to get a grip on the presence of his 75,000 employees, who were spread across the country, from cities to villages. And DutyPar was perfect for their needs.
A large private client came with his special needs. Rashmi said, “So far we have not faced any problem with our app. But at BVG, we realized that scaling comes with special requirements. Many of his employees were semi-literate or had little or no knowledge of basic technology. Our UI (User Interface) and UX (User Experience) were quite simple, however, the age of the people registering their presence was between 19 to 65 years. They needed some help so we had to hire people to help them in the beginning. We also used these team members to help other customers with their issues.
facial recognition stage
E-invoicing was the starting point. But AI is a different ball altogether. Rashmi said, “To develop AI-based apps, we needed large data sets. So, if a person is sitting at home or in an office, or with beard, without beard, profile, etc., a person in all angles, positions captures his/her presence, which should be captured by our AI. .
“AI is like a neural network that uses images to process data. Initially we used several data sets from Google, about 10,000 faces. Then the skill development department also allowed us to use their data to train our AI which was a big help. The algorithm takes embedded images daily, which in turn trains the AI.
In four months, they had a mobile app for AI-based face recognition and a GPS-based location matching attendance app ready to use. “It can be used on Android, iOS or web applications.”
Prize money and Covid somehow conspired to make DutyPar a success. Starting with government as a client and then moving to the private sector, everything went well. Initial prize money of Rashmi invested Rs 15 lakh in developing an AI-based facial recognition app.
“The money was used to pay our employees and cover other expenses. Whatever revenue we earned, we invested it back into the business. In the first year, we had revenue 8 lakhs. In 2022 we earned approx 22 lakhs. Our revenue last year was 60 lakhs. We are focusing on stabilizing the product and revenues from existing customers while managing our expenses. Till now, we had not focused on direct field sales, but through distributors and channel partners, he said, leading a team of 25 employees.
new plan
Rashmi saw the possibilities that AI was offering. “Not just facial recognition for attendance, but AI can be used in a variety of situations. Like fire, security, vehicle tracking, gesture recognition and more. For this we used our resources to build an AI app for vehicle tracking in parking lots, bus stops, housing societies etc. We have developed an AI model that can detect fire and smoke and sound the alarm. The problem with smoke detection is that it can mistake cigarette smoke for fire, so we had to train our AI to differentiate harmless smoke from dangerous fire smoke.
With the new application for its app, the company is now named IndoAI Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
“We have developed our own Edge AI camera where all the data is processed in the camera itself. There is no need for any other external hardware like DVR/NVR (Digital and Network Video Recorder). The data is sent to our servers where it is encrypted, and a report is generated for the client. Attendance is reported as present or absent.
“For example, our cameras in the school in Badlapur will be able to identify the presence of teachers and staff. An alert will be sent to the authorities in case of encroachment by a stranger (a person not registered by the school). Personal information is not compromised in any way as it is encrypted and on our servers which is subsequently destroyed.
“And the good thing is that Indo AI’s offering can be used on mobile phones, unlike many that require specialized hardware. All one has to do is set up the IndoAI Edge AI camera and assign tasks to people. This could be for attendance monitoring, security at parking lots, fire protection, etc. Our AI tool will notify the responsible people directly on their mobile phones,” she said.
Indo AI has decided to be proactive with its new offering.
“Although we do our sales online, we have hired 10 salespeople who will manage the area. We also plan to tie up with service providers like Urban Company to help in last mile delivery. So, if we sell in Tamil Nadu and the company needs help in installing cameras, people from Urban Company can go and help them, for which we will negotiate a fee. Will work for them, will work for us too,” Rashmi said.
Currently, the AI works on special cameras developed by Indo AI. “These cameras process all the information and send a report to the customer. Then all they need is their mobile phone. The current price of the camera is 2,50,000. “We aim to sell 2,000 cameras by December 31, 2024.”
But will cost be a barrier? Rashmi is confident that this will not happen.
“When people look for a solution, they are willing to pay for it because the cost of failure is very high. We are also working on a chip that can be deployed on any edge AI camera or drone. This will cost the customer approximately 60-70,000.”
She calls this easy use of AI tools on any mobile phone “appification”, because you can use any of our services from your mobile phone. You don’t need separate hardware for facial recognition, vehicle tracking or smoke detection. All apps can be used on mobile phones.”
From e-invoicing to competitions, attendance tools to now an AI app. But this “use” is not yet complete. It still has miles to go and evolve into many new stages.
