Stockholm and Berlin-based software startup Buddywise has raised €1.2 million in pre-seed round from Aligned Ventures and Hans-Olov Blom (CEO at Ramudden) and Antler while bringing in a group of high profile investors including Hans Stråberg (Chair of Atlas Copco & SKF). The AI platform enables real-time safety monitoring through computer vision and provide users with the insights and analytics they need to reach safety excellence. The funding will be helping hand for the startup to accelerate its commercial expansion, product development, and recruitment of top talents in sales and engineering.
Buddywise was founded in 2020 by Lamin Faye and Yiğit Can Arin to improve and automate industrial safety monitoring and risk mitigation by utilizing computer vision and machine learning. The two are experts in safety and computer science. Lamin spent eleven years in top leadership roles within the utility Vattenfall and has been leading health & safety teams and innovation teams launching new digital products. Yiğit has spent over ten years developing software used by millions of people, both as a software engineer and a product manager, the latest at Spotify. They use computer vision and AI to proactively monitor workplace safety and mitigate risks and accidents, in real-time.
Buddywise solves one of the biggest problems for billions of deskless workers, which accounts for 80% of the global workforce – namely workplace safety. Every day over 6,000 people die in workplace accidents or work-related illness, and every year 340 million serious workplace accidents occur. The UN agency International Labor Organization estimates the annual global cost at 3 trillion dollars for injuries and death caused in the workplace.
Companies are given many early indicators before a serious accident or fatality occurs. However, today many companies have significant challenges in collecting and making use of this information for two reasons: too low quality and quantity of risk observations due to manual reporting and too infrequent inspections due to cost and time consumption
There is a massive opportunity to identify and address early indicators of safety risks more effectively. Via CCTV cameras and AI analysis of the video stream, Buddywise can continuously detect and report workplace risks 24/7. The system is compatible with 90% of cameras on the market, and the customer can easily use the existing camera infrastructure. The product enables proactive safety management through analysis of trends, reporting, and follow-up measures. As the data collection takes place in real-time, they are also able to automate emergency measures such as SMS and siren alarms if, for example, a person is injured.
“As an employer, you have a legal responsibility for worker safety. In my experience, everyone from operational managers to board members takes this very seriously. More importantly, no worker thinks their job is worth being seriously injured or risking their lives for. But very few advances in digital technology benefit deskless workers as many existing solutions require a screen or sensor for each person.
The great thing with our solution is that customers can quickly introduce our risk monitoring with a few cameras as the only sensor, making it easy and economical in industrial environments. Giving you a 24/7 safety manager that’s providing you with automated insights and analytics and real-time alerts,” said Lamin Faye, CEO and co-founder of Buddywise.
“Almost all workplace accidents could have been prevented if only someone saw, said, and did something. Our product gives customers a real chance at achieving a zero vision for accidents . We want this to become as natural as wearing a seat belt.”
“Safety is the highest priority for all industrial companies, and significant investments are made in this area. I believe that the Buddywise team and product have a unique opportunity to change our ability to effectively prevent accidents with the help of their AI-based safety system,” said Hans Stråberg.
Since inception, the company has been focusing on building its AI system and have worked closely with a few selected partners. It is finalizing an extensive pilot with one of the biggest industrial players in the Nordics (€10 billion annual turnover), and are planning to roll-out in more factories. They have received excessive inbounds from companies from different industries requesting to pilot their product.
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