The company, which provides safety monitoring for infrastructure assets across sectors such as aerospace, defence, oil and gas, is also rebranding itself as Avathon.
“India is at the heart of Avathon’s roadmap, with AI projected to contribute over 50% of the Asia-Pacific region’s growth in traditional industries by 2028. India will play a pivotal role in our expansion, serving as a hub for product engineering, delivery, support and R&D,” Johar said.
The startup plans to convert its Bengaluru facility into a centre of excellence for AI across all of its product areas, he said. It has another centre for AI research in Austin, Texas.
The company entered India by acquiring visual AI player Integration Wizards for an undisclosed amount in 2022. It currently has 140 employees in Bengaluru and is looking to increase this to 400 over the next two years.
Founded in 2013, Avathon last raised $123 million in a Series D fundraising round and hit a unicorn valuation of $1.4 billion at the beginning of 2022. It has raised a total of $340 million so far.
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The startup uses AI to maximise the lifespan of assets and is contracted by major oil and gas organisations in India across 17,000 retail outlets, 83 terminals, and 15 airport fueling stations. It also counts chip majors Nvidia and Qualcomm among its clients.Johar explained that AI’s key roles in mainstream sectors like infrastructure are prediction, prescription and automation. “AI is used for predictive technology, using sensor data to capture normal behaviour and predict failures in machines like aeroplanes etc through anomaly detection,” he said. Generative AI also acts as an AI copilot for the mechanical and maintenance staff of its clients.
According to industry reports, the global impact of AI in traditional industries like the oil and gas market is expected to grow by 16% by 2028, of which the Asia-Pacific region will contribute 38%.
A public issue is still two to three years away, Johar said, adding that the company is focussed on building its platform, and treats an initial public offering (IPO) as primarily a funding mechanism. “We are currently focussed on our next round of funding, looking at how we can raise capital on the private side, rather than the public side. It will happen at some point, but it is not in the short term,” he said.