Students of SRM University-AP, Andhra Pradesh become successful young entrepreneurs
With the vision of bringing surveillance cameras to life, Sourav Sanyal, Miran Junaidi, and Saurabh Ghanekar, 4th year, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, SRM University-AP, Andhra Pradesh, founded OurEye.ai, an automated, end-to-end video intelligence solution for enterprises to monitor surveillance camera recordings, leveraging pre-existing CCTV-IP infrastructure. The young entrepreneurs extend their gratitude to SRM AP for shaping their career from the inception of their erudite journey with the university. Miran says, “The pioneering active learning pedagogy at SRM AP in place of a memory-based rote learning method enabled us to evolve as learners. Also, the approachable management at SRM AP supported and encouraged our ideas, steering us to the path of success. Today we feel honoured for achieving the ability to give back to the university that made us. We have the best talent at SRM AP and have employed 6 students in a part-time role.”
The idea of starting a company infused with innovative technology was instilled among the students by the student-run technological club of SRM AP, Next Tech Lab. Miran narrates, “ SRM AP gave us something that no other university has, which was Next Tech Lab. I met my batchmates, the co-founders of OurEye, at Next Tech Lab, where we built so much every day round the clock while having fun with technology. We could not be more grateful for the opportunity and freedom that we got at the lab. Also, SRM AP has Introduced us to mentors like Adithya and Anshuman, founders of Next Tech Lab, who have been there for us every single day and helped us in developing a problem solving and curious mindset.”
Along with sponsoring over 5 international conferences, SRM AP enabled the brilliant students to study a semester at the University of California, Berkeley as part of the Semester Abroad to broaden their horizon of knowledge. The trio envisioned this start-up while they were pursuing their semester at UCB. Miran remembers that when he lost his mobile phone in a park, they had to wait for 10 days for the CCTV supervisor to analyze the cameras. The three students identified that capital expenditure by businesses on setting up cameras is huge and return on investment is low. This drove them to ideate a platform that will send real-time notifications to the supervisors through embedded Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning technology. OurEye enables businesses to deploy a remote auditor/quality controller through existing cameras. Based on industry requirements, the platform is programmed to observe and monitor, producing actionable insights to improve business operations and scale.
Initially, the students commenced their journey by showcasing their platform in international hackathons. Recalling, Miran says, “The biggest challenge was to raise funds as it entails the daunting task of sharing your idea and vision with the rest of the world.” OurEye received $35000 from Sanjay Mehta led 100X.VC, and currently comprises 23 team members including the 3 co-founders. Being used by 11 companies across 17 outlets, the start-up generated a revenue of Rs. 1.7 million in the recent financial year. The students inform, “We’re learning so many new things and growing so very fast. We also plan to add more features to the platform, hire a sales team to expand the client base to hospitals, schools, and commercial spaces. Very soon after the pandemic, we would be opening an office in Bangalore that would house 35 engineers and other employees.”
