Initiating Scanta as a venture wasn’t easy, especially after unsuccessfully floating 3D gaming engine, so this was a natural course correction for me in sync with the market trends. Scanta initially received rejections from about 120 investors, but the turning point arrived at the Shark Tank showcase in the United States where Scanta made its place among more than 30 startups at the global level and also became the first startup to win at the Shark Tank from India. After that day, Scanta got officially established on September 24, 2016 and has been able to continuously raise capital from US and Germany based investors.
“Now, Scanta is and has been amongst one of the top augmented reality companies in the world. We have dominated the augmented reality industry and are looking to expand the machine learning technology. By joining machine learning with augmented reality, we are introducing the world to the most modern and immersive form of communication. We want to provide users with an experience where artificial intelligence can learn to select and analyse keywords within voice commands and then generate a 3D augmented avatar accordingly that can be shared with others,” informs Chaitanya Hiremath, Founder, Scanta.
As a venture, Scanta wants to impact the way in which we live, learn and communicate, says Hiremath, adding, “The absolute need for launching this solution was to disrupt the way we communicate through the magic of machine learning and augmented reality. We are introducing the world to the most immersive and efficient form of communication to provide users with an experience where AI can learn to select and analyse keywords within voice commands and then generate sharable 3D avatars accordingly.”
The startup is currently in interaction with several colleges in the US by running campaigns across campuses, wherein Scanta provides its own unique AR mascot to be shared amongst students, faculty, and staff. Scanta looks forward to partnering with different social media and communication platforms to incorporate AR avatars within their services.
“The purpose of this solution was to be prepared for the next wave of communication. As we see a transition from text to voice memos, ‘intelligent’ AR avatars created by machine learning technology will be catered to this upcoming trend,” he says.
Business success
Starting from US$ 2,000 loan from friends and family to just being able to showcase Scanta’s business idea at the Shark Tank, the company has come a long way. Since inception, it has raised a total of US$ 600,000 in investments with Accent Capital as the primary investor. Coca-Cola, Dunkin’ Donuts, and Wendy’s invested US$ 40,000 for a partnered campaign. The campaign was executed in India and received acclaim from the leadership at Coca-Cola and provided for positive RoI and proved how upcoming technology platforms could provide tangible matrices and disrupt traditional marketing.
“Some of our key clients are Coca-Cola, Dunkin’ Donuts, and Wendy’s. We have successfully launched a campaign, raising awareness and sales for these brands and providing individuals with a uniquely immersive experience with AR avatars,” Hiremath adds..
Future roadmap
The startup is getting strong support from its investors. Hiremath adds, “This is because Scanta is the only augmented reality company that is currently implementing machine learning technology with augmented reality. This is our key advantage to competitors in that we are predicting the next wave of communication and will have a product ready to launch. We are looking to disrupt the communication space with our intelligent library of AR Avatars. We are focussed on building our SDK with the aim to create the ‘gold standard’ for AR communication.”