13 Startups that Google Funded Under its First AI Startup Cohort
The inaugural Google for Startups Accelerator: AI First cohort was announced yesterday. The tech-giant has shortlisted 13 startups from hundreds of applicants focusing on companies solving ‘pressing issues’ using AI. The chosen startups work on different domains in Europe, Israel and UK with a leaders hailing from diverse professional backgrounds. In a 10-week, equity-free program supporting them from Seed to Series A stages, the cohort offers a blend of in-person and virtual activities, 1:1 mentoring, and group learning. The program also includes guidance on product design, business growth, and leadership development, providing dedicated Google AI technical expertise and credits through the Google for Startups Cloud Program. Here are all the thirteen startups that are part of the Google cohort: Annea.Ai Annea Ai, a German company founded in 2019 by Maik Reder and Marcel Frenzel, provides predictive maintenance for renewable energy assets, such as wind turbines. They use AI and Digital Twin technology to forecast and prevent breakdowns in the renewable energy infrastructure. The company has raised $1 million in their seed round from Faber and Innoport. They reduce the operational expenditure of renewable energy companies while increasing their production using advanced AI, models of how things should normally work, and physical models to figure out if something is wrong with the way a vehicle’s engine operates. They alert the operators incase of failures up to 365 days in advance with a detailed analysis on the problem and its cause. Checktur.io Checktur.io was founded by Agnieszka Michalik and Dr Lusia Müller-Wittmann in 2022. It is an artificial intelligence system designed to automate and manage transportation and logistics processes. Chektur enables businesses to manage their commercial vehicle fleets efficiently via an end-to-end fleet asset management ecosystem while using AI models and data-driven insights. They offer instant damage reports, digital documentation and damage allocation so companies can track their vehicles. Exactly.ai Exactly.ai was founded by Tonia Samsonova in 2022. The company is an AI tool for artists that allows them to create images in their own unique style with a simple written description. Unlike their competitors, Exactly.ai does not create the images but offers artists a service to make their own AI algorithms trained on their artwork to generate images in their style. This also tackles the issue of copyright as not only the artwork but also the algorithm belongs to the artist who preserves the ownership of their work. Neurons Neurons is a Danish company founded by Thomas Ramsoy in 2013. They’ve received 8.4 million in funding so far and has developed a precise AI model that can measure human subconscious signals to predict marketing responses. Neurons operates as a consumer neuroscience company, employing neuroscience tools to enhance consumer understanding and experiences. Their toolkit comprises a brain scanning device and eye-tracking goggles, utilising AI-driven software for interpreting consumer responses—both conscious and unconscious. Use cases encompass neuromarketing, UXD, in-store environments, and consumer journeys. Notable customers involve IKEA, Estée Lauder, Facebook, and Visa. PACTA PACTA, a German company, was founded by Dominik Müller, Fabian Pohl, Ludwig Wolter, Marcel Horndasch, and Tim Adrian in 2018. PACTA addresses the problem of legal digitisation by offering user-friendly disruptive technologies. It automates legal processes and facilitates intelligent legal communication. PACTA also unites various stakeholders on a central platform, streamlining legal workflows and document handling. Users can efficiently create, negotiate, digitally sign, and analyse legal documents, reducing costs and risks while boosting productivity. They raised €1,700,000 in the seed round in 2021. Quantic Brains Quantic Brains, headquartered in Spain, was founded by Julio Covacho López, Manuel Lucania Fesser, and Roy Conan Alonso Rising in 2021. Quantic Brains Technologies develops an AI-powered platform for audiovisual content creation. Users can automate game and film creation by utilising AI tools that automate character behaviours. The platform allows users to create and publish animations and video games, selecting characters (e.g., musicians, children, warriors) and objects (e.g., cars, phones, balls, swords), as well as scenes. They raised €300,000 in the pre-seed from Castiventures. Sarus Sarus is a French company founded in 2022 by Maxime Agostini, Nicolas Grislain, and Vincent Lepage. Sarus helps handle personal data for analysis or machine learning. It’s integrated into data systems and allows working on data while keeping it private using differential privacy. Sarus replaces the need for lengthy anonymization processes, saving time and preserving data value. Users can start projects faster and use the entire data securely. It minimises risks in collaboration projects across different areas. Releva Releva, founded by Georgi Georgiev and Yavor Stoychev, is a Bulgarian company founded in 2020. They provide an all-in-one AI automation solution for  E-commerce marketing. Releva focuses on real-time revenue operations globally. It’s an AI-driven growth platform, enhancing customer experiences by understanding individual needs. It’s a comprehensive solution for e-commerce marketing as it integrates various tools on a single dashboard for measuring, attributing, experimenting, analysing, predicting, and automating growth in real-time. The company has raised $870K in their seed round in March 2022. Semantic Hub This is a Swiss company founded by Efimenko Irina, Khoroshevskiy Vladimir, and Vitaly Nedelskiy in 2015. They help partners navigate challenging patient segments, focusing on rare diseases and various minorities. They use AI and deep NLP technologies, along with Patient Voice – which is anonymous feedback from patients and caregivers on social networks and forums. Their platform can handle almost any language, and they have worked in 54 countries, dealing with 40+ languages and 80+ indications. They transform patient language into a clinical format, offering valuable insights into their experience and journey, including unmet needs, barriers, treatment success factors, access issues, and more. They’ve raised $2.7 million in funding in 2021. Vazy Data Vazy Data is a French company founded by Lazare Masset, Sarah Kerriche and Jean Beuselinck in 2023. Vazy enables individuals without any technical expertise to analyse data. The platform integrates with various company databases and communication tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Google Chat. Vazy allows users to ask questions like they would to a data analyst. The AI ensures clarity and removes ambiguity in inquiries to mitigate biases. The platform then autonomously manages data retrieval, aggregation, and processing and the results are presented visually with clear data origins and interpretations. Visionary.AI Visionary.ai is an Israeli company founded by Oren Debbi and Yoav Taieb in 2020. The company specialises in optics, computer vision engineering, and professional photography. Visionary AI enables cameras to reach the next level of image quality, utilising a software-based Image Signal Processor (ISP) infused with AI. Additional product features encompass gaze correction, bokeh, and generating depth maps on any sensor. Operating as a software-based ISP allows for real-time deployment of updates, ensuring that cameras can keep pace with the latest advancements in computer vision, maintaining the highest quality imaging capabilities available in the market. Zenpulsar Zenpulsar founded by Julien Artero and Pavel Dudko in 2021 is a UK-based company. The company provides financial fraud solutions that operate through Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). They help businesses figure out what’s true and not on social media. These tools provide clarity and trust in a chaotic world of social media. By using them, organisations can reduce the risk of misinformation. They can also respond quickly to any problems and protect their reputation, customers, investors, and business. The company has raised €1 million in their pre seed from 8X Ventures and Maydan Capital. Zaya AI Zaya AI is a Belgian company founded in 2022 by Christian Mogodici, Mihai Trascau and Sabina Zurac. They use machine learning to better understand and diagnose diseases, assisting healthcare professionals to make timely and informed medical decisions. They use scans of tissue and cell samples on their platform which provide the diagnoses after image analysis. Zaya provides powerful AI and cloud technology to help pathologists and scientists in labs analyse medical images faster and more accurately, improving consistency in their work. They haven’t been funded yet.
Google’s inaugural AI Startup Cohort features thirteen diverse startups that address important issues with AI. The 10-week program offers tailored support, mentoring, and technical expertise
Google's inaugural AI Startup Cohort features thirteen diverse startups that address important issues with AI. The 10-week program offers tailored support, mentoring, and technical expertise
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["Go", "machine learning", "artificial intelligence", "AI", "ML", "computer vision", "NLP", "differential privacy", "Rust", "R", "AI Startups"]
["AI", "artificial intelligence", "machine learning", "ML", "NLP", "computer vision", "differential privacy", "R", "Go", "Rust"]
K L Krithika is a tech journalist at AIM. Apart from writing tech news, she enjoys reading sci-fi and pondering the impossible technologies, trying not to confuse it with reality.