Srikanth
NucleusVision (formerly known as Bell Boi Inc.) is backed by Tim Draper, Reliance Capital, IndusAge Partners and several other prominent industry players. NucleusVision has offices in San Francisco, USA, and Hyderabad, India.
In India, NucleusVision has been working with several state governments, like Telangana, Assam and Goa to foster mainstream blockchain adoption in India. Nucleus is also working with government bodies like NITI AAYOG, ICRISAT etc. by helping them explore areas where they can leverage the power of blockchain.
Lets talk to Abhishek Pitti the founder and CEO of Nucleus Vision on the future plans
- Please describe your startup and what is that one problem it solves (in a very crisp and easy to understand sentences).
Ans: Nucleus Vision is an end-to-end technology solution that captures and provides previously inaccessible customer data to offline retailers through blockchain and real-time sensor technology. Our proprietary IoT sensor technology doesn’t depend on any RFID, WiFi, Bluetooth, or even facial recognition technologies to identify any customer within its vicinity.
By building a secure blockchain based information network for IDs captured, Nucleus Vision aims to protect consumers privacy, while mining intelligence using neural models, and integrating its nCash tokens, to create the largest global loyalty rewards network.
- Background of founders and what’s the journey behind getting this particular idea.
Abhishek Pitti is the founder and CEO of Nucleus Vision. A serial entrepreneur and seasoned management professional, Abhishek dropped out of Harvard Business School to realize his vision for Nucleus Vision.
Abhishek drew inspiration from his childhood experiences helping his father with their retail business. Incepted at Harvard business school, Nucleus Vision aims to offer a personalized shopping experience for customers in brick and mortar stores and has been disrupting retail as we see it today.
Prior to Nucleus Vision, Abhishek worked as an aeronautical engineer for Gulfstream and as a management consultant for The Blackstone Group.
- How did you start working on this idea?
Abhishek had been observing the problems faced by the brick-and-mortar stores since his childhood and was keen on solving the problem. After his first year of MBA, Abhishek pitched his startup idea and got thrilled to see his own vision coming into life.
During the fall of his second year, he spent most of his time talking to brands, retailers, investors, and technology companies to understand the problem he was trying to solve. Abhishek pitched his idea to venture capitalist Tim Draper, who was impressed by the idea and agreed to back the company and came on board as one of the early investors.
- What’s your USP (unique selling point)?
Nucleus Vision has developed the proprietary ION Sensor technology that seamlessly identifies customer presence in retail stores. The sensors are also capable of sensing physical parameters including temperature, pressure, acceleration, sound, and motion.
Neuron, a state-of-the-art deep learning platform, backs the IoT layer and creates real-time customer personas using the collected data.
Nucleus Vision technology outperforms many other solutions in terms of seamless consumer adoption and real-time indoor accuracy. Most of the current technologies are dependent on Wifi tags, RFID or Bluetooth beacons, which could provide only limited customer intelligence.
Nucleus Vision has created a blockchain network for secure data transition among all the nodes. This layer gives complete control to the customers over their personal data.
- Early days struggle.
Nucleus Vision uses cutting-edge technologies including AI, IoT, and Blockchain. We had to find the right talent and put more efforts into product research and development. So, it took us three years to develop the platform.
We had to face some hurdles in getting approvals from the regulators and it was long gestation period to materialize our partnerships with telecom players.
- Funding received (if any)
Nucleus Vision is backed by Tim Draper, one of the most successful venture capitalists in Silicon Valley. There are many other investors who trusted the potential of our disruptive technology and been with us on our journey. Early this year, we have raised $40 million through a token sale, which stands as the biggest ever in India.
- User base you have achieved till now.
We have launched pilot projects with leading fashion brands, quick service restaurants, and big-box retailers in India. During all these pilots, we have gathered the behavioral patterns of more than hundred thousand customers. Our existing customers are excited about the value the solution has brought for them and want to expand the scope of partnership with us by implementing the technology in more number of stores.
- New Areas if you are looking to expand.
There are enormous opportunities to implement Nucleus Vision technology in other industry as well. However, we are focused on retail as of now.
- Future plans (for 2019)
We have been working on expanding our scope from fashion retail to multiple retail formats including restaurants and big-box retailers. We are working to expand our presence in a few more countries in Asia. We are also exploring partnership avenues in Korea while growing our footprints in India.
