Einsite, a California-based technology startup with a presence in Hyderabad, has raised a seed round of funding from KPCB Edge, the seed stage investment arm of top Silicon Valley VC, Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers (KPCB). KPCB is one of the Valley’s most prolific and successful investors, having funded technology majors like Google, Uber, Twitter, Amazon, Nest and Snapchat.
Einsite is a startup building Internet-of-things (IoT) technology to make the construction and mining industries smarter. It is based out of California (officially registered as Invento, Inc.) but has its development team based out of Hyderabad, India. It was founded in 2015 by brothers, Rajiv (25) and Anirudh Reddy (23), both of whom are from Hyderabad. Anirudh (CEO), a graduate of Stanford University, previously worked at the Project Controls Department of global construction giant Bechtel Corp, and currently runs the day-to-day operations at Einsite. Rajiv, a graduate of University of Illinois (UIUC), has worked with the Singaporean power and utilities company, Sembcorp, and is currently the VP of Operations at Indian construction major, Gayatri Projects, where he focusses on the implementation of highway and mining projects.
The product that Einsite is bringing to market is a combination of hardware and software to make the traditional construction industry more accountable and efficient. Talking about the need for such a product in the industry, Rajiv says, “Innovation in this space is long overdue, and what we’re working on can really revolutionise how construction projects are executed,” and that “most tech entrepreneurs don’t realise what a major market tech in construction and mining could be.” Rajiv has spent a lot of time on the field in various construction and mining projects, and thinks both industries are ripe for innovation and technology.
The technology being developed for this product is based on the concepts of the IoT or industrial internet, because it connects every machine and piece of equipment on a project site to the internet, and makes the data useful. Talking about the overall IoT industry, Anirudh says, “IoT and industrial internet have become major buzzwords but there are very few market-ready, end-to-end products- we want to be the first for construction.” Talking about how IoT will transform traditional industries, Anirudh asserts that “our lives today are unimaginable without constant access to technology, and we think construction will be in a similar place a few years from now.” Anirudh’s time at Stanford has convinced him that every major industry, and infrastructure in particular, will soon be revolutionised by technology.
The company is currently developing its product and testing it out in Hyderabad, but has global aspirations. The founders believe that building and running pilots is easier in India, but plan to use India as a launchpad to go overseas. The initial target market overseas would be the Middle east, but they also see a lot of potential across Asia and Latin America, where contractors face similar problems in project management and execution. The company hopes to perfect its product by the end of the year and sign on its first overseas customer in early 2017.
To speed up the process of product development, the company plans to aggressively hire new team members across the board, from hardware and firmware integration, to front-end software and data analytics.
Einsite has taken a small convertible note from KPCB Edge, but expects to bring on a few other seed funds before it completes its product development.
KPCB Edge is a young team of technology builders who invest in other technologists working on exciting and emerging sectors. Having invested in sectors such as virtual reality, computer vision, drones and the blockchain, KPCB Edge has emerged as one of the Valley’s most forward-thinking and founder-friendly seed funds.
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