How start-up Intangles is strategising to disrupt India’s mobility ecosystem

Adgully has been turning the spotlight on the entrepreneurs who fought against all odds to bring their dreams to fruition in our special series – START-UP STARS. We at Adgully wholeheartedly support the ‘Vocal for Local’ movement and have been featuring numerous local/ homegrown businesses, brands, and Apps in the country launched in the last few years.

In conversation with Adgully, Neil Unadkat, Co-founder & CTO, Intangles, speaks about the growth and entrepreneurial journey of Intangles, the company’s unique value proposition, addressing challenges faced by the mobility ecosystem, shift towards a more sustainable automotive industry, and much more.

What is Intangles’ unique value proposition, and how does it set them apart in the market?

Intangles sets itself apart in the market with a unique value proposition centered around transforming complex telemetry data into clear, actionable insights tailored specifically for fleet managers. Our platform stands out due to its ability to provide highly accurate performance metrics such as fuel consumption, distance traveled, and operational hours, alongside predictive failure alerts and detailed diagnostic information. This enables fleet operators to proactively manage maintenance, reducing downtime and costs.

Our advanced predictive analytics go a step further by alerting operators to potential failures well before they occur, coupled with comprehensive repair strategies. This innovation fosters a collaborative approach to vehicle maintenance, shifting the paradigm from reactive to proactive management.

We have developed digital twins for critical vehicle components, such as engines, batteries, and turbochargers. By creating virtual replicas, we can perform in-depth analyses, compare peer performance, and offer precise recommendations. This approach is revolutionary, providing fleet managers with the tools to preempt engine breakdowns, optimize route performance, and enhance operational planning for improved profitability.

Moreover, our solution addresses fuel pilferage and reduces reliance on manual report generation, directly impacting the bottom line by lowering trip overheads and operational costs. Intangles has also pioneered the use of machine learning for OEMs in India, enabling them to analyze real-time vehicle data to enhance product quality and offer proactive services.

How does your service cater specifically to the needs of fleet managers, and what benefits does it offer?

Our solutions are meticulously designed to align with the specific needs of fleet managers, offering a tailored approach to managing fleet operations efficiently. By leveraging advanced telemetry data, we provide fleet operators with critical insights into fuel consumption, distance traveled, and operational hours. This granular data enables precise monitoring of fleet performance and operational efficiency.

What sets our solution apart is the predictive accuracy of our alerts. These alerts proactively inform fleet managers about potential issues, allowing for timely interventions that prevent breakdowns, reduce maintenance costs, and minimize vehicle downtime. Alongside, our diagnostic alerts come with detailed metadata, offering clear insights into the causes of issues and suggesting actionable repair strategies. This level of detail facilitates informed decision-making and streamlines fleet maintenance processes.

Additionally, our solutions offer comprehensive reporting on trip schedules, itineraries, and fuel pilferage incidents, empowering fleet managers to optimize routes and reduce operational costs. Our platform enhances decision-making by providing visibility into route-specific performance metrics.

We have established collaborations with OEMs, leveraging cutting-edge technology to analyse real-time data from vehicles in the field. This partnership enables OEMs to improve their products and deliver proactive services, creating a transformative experience for their customers. By providing fleet managers with highly accurate performance metrics, including data on fuel consumption and distance covered, our system assists in optimizing vehicle usage and fuel efficiency. This optimization directly translates into reduced carbon emissions and a lower overall environmental footprint for the fleets utilizing our platform.

What challenges is the mobility ecosystem currently facing, and how is Intangles addressing them?

The mobility ecosystem faces several challenges that impact the efficiency, safety, and sustainability of vehicle operations. Key challenges include maintaining vehicle health to prevent on-road breakdowns, managing fuel consumption and combating fuel theft, monitoring driver behaviour to prevent accidents, and accurately predicting the range of EVs to encourage their adoption.

Intangles is addressing these challenges with advanced technology solutions that provide real-time insights into vehicle performance, enabling fleet operators to make informed decisions. For vehicle health, we use historic and real-time data to deliver alerts about potential failures, significantly reducing on-road breakdowns and maintenance costs. Our proprietary predictive algorithms and machine learning capabilities allow for preventive and proactive maintenance, ensuring vehicles remain operational and efficient.

Fuel and AdBlue monitoring are tackled with our ML-based algorithms, which detect precise amounts and locations of fuel fillings or pilferages. This helps compute the accurate cost per kilometer of fuel consumed, addressing long-standing issues of fuel theft and inefficiency in fleet operations. Driver behaviour monitoring is another area of focus, with our platform tracking over 20 exceptions in driving behaviour to generate actionable insights. Our Driver Scorecard feature promotes incentivizing efficient driving practices, reducing accidents and enhancing fuel efficiency and vehicle health.

For the EV segment, we offer our ambient cognitive AI technology to overcome the challenge of unreliable Distance To Empty (DTE) estimates, a major barrier to EV adoption. By considering factors like Battery Management System (BMS) degradation, ambient conditions, and driving behaviour, we provide accurate State of Charge (SOC) and DTE predictions, enabling more reliable and efficient EV operation.

What are the anticipated trends and challenges in the mobility ecosystem for 2024?

The mobility ecosystem in 2024 is set to be revolutionized by significant advancements in automotive technology, focusing on sustainability, connectivity, and enhanced driving experiences. The push towards alternative fuels, including biofuels and synthetic fuels, aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and utilize renewable energy sources, marking a departure from traditional gasoline and diesel. Hydrogen fuel cell technology is also expected to advance, offering zero-emission vehicles with competitive ranges and shorter refueling times. This shift towards cleaner alternatives is supported by governments and industry stakeholders through incentives, research initiatives, and the development of necessary infrastructure, setting the stage for a more eco-friendly automotive landscape.

In addition to alternative fuels, the integration of 5G technology in vehicles is expected to transform connectivity on the road. With ultra-fast download and upload speeds, 5G will enable real-time communication and data exchange, enhancing Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication. This will improve road safety by providing drivers with immediate information on traffic conditions, hazards, and road events. Moreover, the advent of 5G will revolutionize in-car entertainment systems with high-definition content streaming, online gaming, and augmented reality experiences, alongside enabling manufacturers to remotely update vehicle software.

The advancements in Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) will further contribute to vehicle safety and driving comfort. By integrating artificial intelligence and machine learning, ADAS will adapt and improve over time, offering advanced object detection, pedestrian recognition, and situational awareness. The use of biometric sensors to monitor driver’s vital signs for signs of fatigue or distraction will enhance safety, while augmented reality displays and gesture recognition systems will create an immersive driving experience.

Subscription-based vehicle services are expected to offer unprecedented flexibility and convenience to consumers, allowing access to a variety of vehicle models and types without long-term ownership commitments. These services will cover all associated costs, including maintenance and insurance, and feature usage-based pricing for cost-effective solutions. Meanwhile, EVs will see major breakthroughs in battery technology, charging infrastructure, and diversification of models, supported by government incentives and regulatory measures. These collective trends in the mobility ecosystem for 2024 highlight a significant shift towards a more sustainable, connected, and user-friendly automotive industry, redefining our relationship with vehicles and the road.

What challenges did your company face during its global expansion in the last two years, and what strategies did you employ to overcome them?

Over the past two years, our company has embarked on a mission to broaden our global reach, recognizing the unique opportunity our products and services offer in the international market, unmatched by competitors. Achieving this global expansion required securing additional funding, a process that brought its own set of challenges. Amidst a competitive landscape, it was crucial to select investors who not only believed in our vision but were also the right fit for our long-term objectives. Equally important was establishing an accurate valuation for our company that reflected our worth and future potential.

To navigate these challenges, we implemented a strategic approach focused on carefully evaluating potential markets for expansion. This involved a meticulous assessment of where our resources could be most effectively utilized to ensure a strong return on investment. We also faced technical challenges, particularly the need to adapt our algorithms to accommodate the varying technical specifications of vehicles in different regions. This required a significant investment in research and development, leading to innovations that allowed our technology to be versatile and responsive to diverse market needs.

Our strategy for overcoming these hurdles included forming partnerships with local fleet operators, which proved invaluable. These collaborations helped us understand the nuances of each market, enabling us to fine-tune our technology and ensure it met the specific needs of each region. Additionally, we made concerted efforts to localize our platform, addressing differences in measurement units, language, and terminologies to make our services as accessible and relevant as possible to users in new markets.

This comprehensive and adaptable approach has not only facilitated our global expansion but also solidified our ability to offer customized solutions that cater to the varied demands of the markets we serve.

How do you plan to sustain and scale in the next two years?

In our pursuit of sustained growth and scalability over the coming two years, we have set ambitious yet achievable goals. Our strategy revolves around maintaining an annual growth rate of over 100%, a benchmark that aligns with our historical performance and sets the stage for future expansion. Our roadmap includes penetrating developed economies, with a keen focus on sectors that are on the cusp of digital transformation, thereby unlocking new opportunities for our advanced solutions.

Our growth plan is underpinned by the rollout of cutting-edge products, notably our advanced video telematics systems and the next iteration of our AI-driven predictive analytics tools. These innovations are designed to extend our capabilities in managing a broader spectrum of heavy assets, harnessing the power of data for unparalleled efficiency and predictive maintenance insights.

To fuel these ambitious endeavours, securing additional capital is a critical component of our strategy. We are currently engaged in a new funding round, aiming to gather the necessary resources to break into new markets and strengthen our foothold in existing ones. Our track record of successful funding rounds provides a solid foundation for our future plans, enabling us to forge ahead with confidence in product development and market expansion.

This strategic framework, encompassing aggressive growth targets, product innovation, and funding initiatives, outlines our comprehensive approach for the next two years. It is designed to position us at the forefront of technological advancements and market opportunities, driving significant growth and reinforcing our market leadership.