It’s been said that we are currently in the Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0 where technological advancements are fundamentally changing the way we live, work, and interact with one another. As we enter a new era of automation, organizations are adopting new safety and health measures to keep industrial workforces, powered by emerging technologies. Intenseye is a workplace safety platform that leverages compute vision to provide near real-time insights into hazards. Integrating with a company’s existing camera systems, the platform offers a seamless solution to minimize workplace incidents, which account for 3M+ yearly fatalities. Intenseye offers 50 pre-built AI-powered modules to address common safety issues that immediately complement existing safety protocols used by environmental and health and safety teams. All data and insights generated are captured and can be leveraged for compliance, incident reporting, and assessments. In 2023, Intenseye delivered over 36M alerts for its customer base, not only avoiding immediate catastrophe but also driving lasting change in workplace safety.
AlleyWatch caught up with Intenseye CEO Sercan Esen to learn more about the business, the company’s strategic plans, latest round of funding, which brings the company’s total funding raised to $93.1M. and much, much more…
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
We raised $64M, our Series B, which was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners with participation from existing investors Insight Partners, Air Street Capital, and Point Nine.
Tell us about the product or service that Intenseye offers.
Intenseye offers an AI-powered workplace safety platform that provides 24/7 visibility into unseen hazards, automates ergonomic assessments, and streamlines incident management, reporting, and other environmental health and safety (EHS) workflows. These capabilities empower EHS leaders to drive proactive changes that reduce work-related injury and illness rates, improve compliance, and save lives.
What inspired the start of Intenseye?
My cofounder and our CTO of Intenseye, Serhat Cillidag, and I have had the privilege of supporting and witnessing the transformative power of AI firsthand ever since we were coworkers at Sony years ago. The idea for Intenseye emerged in 2017 when we were both working as AI consultants. Our numerous visits to clients’ manufacturing sites exposed us to what we quickly realized was a massive gap between how Fortune 500 companies operate in production and supply chain with high-tech adoption versus their pen-and-paper approach to safety processes. Once we recognized the serious implications of this gap — for example, that nearly 3 million people per year die due to workplace incidents — we felt compelled to work towards tackling it. Thus, Intenseye was born.
How is Intenseye different?
Intenseye stands out in several key ways. First, we’re able to have a sizable and near-immediate impact on workplace safety for our customers. This is largely thanks to our scalable deployment options that seamlessly integrate with existing camera infrastructure, ensuring rapid implementation and time-to-value. Second, since our platform offers over 50 pre-built safety AI modules, we’re able to empower customers with proactive visibility into the broadest possible range of hazards facing their frontline teams.
However, what truly distinguishes us is our focus on psychological safety. By ensuring worker privacy while facilitating communication between frontline workers and EHS teams, we cultivate a culture of safety from the ground up. This commitment to making a tangible difference in the lives of our customers and their employees underscores our ethos of responsible innovation and ethical AI.
What market does Intenseye target and how big is it?
Intenseye’s target market primarily comprises large (i.e. Fortune 1000+) enterprises in high-risk industrial and critical infrastructure sectors such as food & beverage, consumer goods, heavy machinery, automotive, life sciences, utilities, logistics & warehousing, metals, and more. Our current and ever-expanding customer base spans 26+ countries on six continents.
What’s your business model?
Intenseye is a SaaS business with subscription-based pricing that mirrors the flexibility of our platform, which integrates into customers’ existing infrastructure and easily scales across the often-dozens of sites within the purview of our buyers – most of whom are EHS, IT, or operations executives.
How are you preparing for a potential economic slowdown?
We are continuing to invest in people, partnerships, and product enhancements that further amplify the immediate and long-term value we deliver to our customers.
What was the funding process like?
It was exciting and encouraging. We were pleasantly surprised by the short duration in which we managed to secure the funding, and the scale of interest from investors eager to support our mission was heartwarming. Workplace safety has long been far behind the curve in terms of technological advancements – after all, it’s rarely perceived as a revenue-generating function – but the tides are finally changing.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
It was a privilege to meet – and share Intenseye’s story and mission – with so many incredible people during the fundraising process. However, the pace and volume of back-to-back meetings this required was inherently repetitive, which made it a bit challenging at times.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
Our investors share our conviction and deep commitment to transforming workplace safety. These factors are what impressed us the most about Lightspeed and are largely why we’re proud to have had them lead our Series B.
Our investors share our conviction and deep commitment to transforming workplace safety. These factors are what impressed us the most about Lightspeed and are largely why we’re proud to have had them lead our Series B.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
We’re focused on continuing (and accelerating) the momentum we’ve built up in recent years, particularly with respect to earning the trust of the many leading organizations that we’re proud to call our customers. Over the next six months, we’ll be prioritizing product, partnerships, and growth milestones that build upon this trust and the value our platform delivers. We’re also looking forward to expanding our global footprint within existing and underserved regions and, ultimately, standardizing a new way of working for safety teams.
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
Ignore the seemingly never-ending rhetoric and pressure on companies to drive “explosive growth”. It is far more important to drive sustainable growth. Efficiency will not only support longevity – but it is also far more likely to make the business appealing to potential investors during future fundraising opportunities.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
Aside from remaining laser-focused on supporting and providing value to our customers, we are also very excited to soon be relocating – and significantly upgrading – our NYC headquarters to better suit our growing team. We couldn’t be more thrilled about the new space and can’t wait for move-in day!
What’s your favorite winter destination in and around the city?
My wife and I love to visit many of the city’s parks year-round – but in the winter, Central Park and Fort Tryon Park are our favorites.
