Notes from eChai's DeepTech Startups Meetup at Ahmedabad University

How drivebuddyAi started and what drivebuddyAI does?

DBAI is an Automotive AI startup working in the domain of Automotive Aftermarket in the category of ADAS.

What is AI in drivebuddyAI and what are the challenges about Human AI Interactions?
The drivers are usually in touch with our driver trainer team who talks to drivers and comforts them for their better safety and behavioral issues identified by the technology.

How do drivers react to AI alerts and how the resistance is being handled?

The drivers take 10-12 months of efforts to get confidence and comfort with the AI alerts i.e. a typical human psychological phase of accepting a tech in daily work life.

⁠What are the challenges of getting a customer, investors?

DBAI is funded and was raised before Covid in 2020 and since then have progressed towards becoming one of the major players in Indian market.

What are the challenges about hiring talent, building AI models and how it was handled in the case of drivebuddyAI?

Ahmedabad specifically lacks in talent pool required for AI, dbAI has talent pool available in Delhi, Vizag, Pune, Jaipur and all these are mid experience to entry level engineers working under the managent of domain expert AI engineers to solve daily AI challenges.

Typical challenges of building AI involves data collection, data curation, annotations, training, GPUs, model optimization etc. 

The DBAI journey started at a very early stage by using the pre-trained models for perception module to collecting and annotating data for Indian ecosystem when there was no Indian dataset available for building AI on it. The process of annotations, having GPUs for training purpose and managing a complete cycle of the data generation to updating a model with continuious learning is the journey in building AI.

To build AI/deep tech product startups, first one needs to start with whatever is readily available in the market which can give functional accuracy and then building on top of it by the feedback from the users, customers can help building the product focused on a specific domain.

The eChai Effect - In Their Words

"For me, eChai is a second home. I've been associated with it since the early days, when it was already setting a different tone for how startup communities could work. As a traditional business owner entering the new-age D2C space, eChai supported me in every direction. Over the years, it became my window to the startup world — and also gave me lifelong friends who continue to show up, for business and beyond."
Pankaj Bhimani - Founder, 58miles
Pankaj Bhimani
Founder, 58miles
"I have evolved from role of Community Builder to Startup Consultant to Startup Ecosystem Enabler to Angel Investor and now launching a Venture Studio and eChai has been a catalyst in my overall journey as Startup Evangelist since 13 years."
Mehul Shah - Co-Founder at Counselvise & Ivy Growth
Mehul Shah
Co-Founder at Counselvise & Ivy Growth
"We found eChai to be a force multiplier throughout our startup journey. Through it, we connected with folks from DevX, Allevents, Plutomen, and more - many of whom became friends of IndiaBizForSale.com and even part of our clientele."
Bhavin S Bhagat - Co-founder of Indiabizforsale and IBGrid, TiE Ahmedabad President
Bhavin S Bhagat
Co-founder of Indiabizforsale and IBGrid, TiE Ahmedabad President

eChai Partner Brands

eChai Ventures partners with select brands as their growth partner - working together to explore new ideas, open doors, and build momentum across the startup ecosystem.

Legal
LegalWiz.in

Online legal services for startups and MSMEs.

D2C Brands
Perrian

Affordable gold and diamond jewelry with over 1600 designs.

Coworking Spaces
DevX

Collaborative workspaces and a venture fund.

FMCG Food and Retail
Hungrito

Building experiences through food fests.

ERP
Biziverse

Powerful ERP and CRM software.

Gaming
Zatun Games

Zatun is an award-winning, innovative indie game developer since 2007. We develop our IP and do work for hire.