Saurab is the founder of one of the first AI companies that used deep learning. His company Gazemetrix helped market research teams understand consumer behavior.
Gazemetrix was acquired by Sysomos (now Meltwater) in 2016. He is now working in a senior technology role at Apple (Special Projects Group).
Won the startup weekend competition and got great feedback. http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-11-23/news/35317313_1_startup-weekend-accelerator-ventures
Founded Uberlabs Software Technologies Ltd In 2012.
Took the role of the Chief Technology Officer with the responsibility to setup and manage the engineering part of the organization and lead the direction of the product.
Hired our first engineers.
Worked in tandem with the CEO to define the product strategy and direction for the company
Launched the company at UnPlugged Conference. http://blog.nextbigwhat.com/unpluggd5-demo-startups-297/
Rave reviews of the technology by industry leaders “One company in particular, UberLabs talked about their product gazeMetrix. One word – awesome.” https://bestengagingcommunities.com/2012/07/08/unpluggd-a-quick-take-on-uber-labs/
Raised funding from American VC’s and Angels
Got funding from 500 Startups which is a venture capital firm based in Mountain View California. http://yourstory.com/2012/10/500-startups-make-a-splash-newest-partner-pankaj-jain-announces-investments-in-instamojo-and-tradebriefs/
Moved to Silicon Valley to learn the tricks of the trade through the 500 Startups accelerator program. http://techcircle.vccircle.com/2012/11/01/four-indian-startups-picked-for-5th-accelerator-programme-of-silicon-valley-based-500-startups/
“gazeMetrix - fantastic technology and founders who won't quit” http://www.zdnet.com/article/500-startups-sees-potential-in-indias-e-commerce-education/
Won Qualcomm award
Regional runner-up of the India Edition of Qualcomm QPrize competition for 2012.
25K USD Grant received from Microsoft. https://www.qualcomm.com/news/releases/2012/10/16/qualcomm-awards-us100000-venture-financing-deck-app-technologies-winner
500 Startups incubator program.
Helped in fund raising and launching of the product while in the accelerator.
Launched the product with signups from leading fortune 500 companies
http://venturebeat.com/2013/02/06/500-startups-demo-day-round-1-disrupting-babies-brazil-billing/
Launched Gazemetrix based on cutting edge technology.
“Cool and interesting application of technology that’s matured over the last two decades.” https://www.technologyreview.com/s/511461/software-with-an-eye-for-starbucks-and-nike-and-coke/
“The company’s technology uses an algorithm that breaks down the unique characteristics of a brand’s logo, everything from the corners, shapes, lines, shadows, and colors, to create a brand signature. ”http://betakit.com/gazemetrix-using-image-recognition-tech-to-find-branded-instagram-photos/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/willburns/2012/12/12/finally-your-brand-can-see/
http://adage.com/article/startup-watch/gazemetrix-instagram-insights-brands/238665/
Moved to Bangalore and setup base here.
Setup the office and started managing the finances.
Grew the team to 10 people.
Started managing the day to day operations of the engineering team.
Early customers included fortune 500 brands like Coca Cola, Kingfisher
Led and Grew the engineering team to 10 employees. Took hiring decisions.
Completely redesigned our technology stack based on deep learning using Faster RCNN as the core deep learning model.
Build training pipeline and infrastructure to support deep learning stack.
Increased the number of deep learning models in production to detect logos, food, objects, scenes, gender, face, NSFW etc.
Hired and built the annotation team (10 engineers).
Got accepted to Google Developers Startup Launch Program- 2014
Got accepted to Microsoft Ventures Growth Stage Startup program- 2015
Sold the company to Sysomos