AI startup Hotify partners software maker for enterprise tech

Bengaluru-based artificial intelligence (AI) startup Hotify Technologies Pvt. Ltd has partnered Chennai-headquartered enterprise software firm KriyaTec IT Systems Pvt. Ltd over fintech, healthcare, logistics and industrial solutions, a company statement said. 

“Our partnership will … be win-win for our SME (small and medium enterprise) clients from across the globe,” said Baskaran KT, founder and chief executive, KriyaTec, an IT company with offices in Chennai and San Francisco and a track record of more than 40 enterprise projects, according to a statement by the firm. The company offers enterprise software for Internet of Things, AI, blockchain, and others. 

Its AI partner Hotify, on the other hand, offers backend solutions. In an interview to VCCircle in January, one of the founders said the firm differentiates itself from tech giants IBM, Google and Microsoft by offering multiple open-source algorithms and customised solutions for its clients. “What an IBM would do is train its algorithm for a specific purpose and provide a direct solution. Our advantage is that we can combine multiple APIs (application programming interfaces) to achieve superior results,” said K Ramesh Kumar, co-founder of Hotify.

In a significant pivot, Hotify stopped its news-based operations in July 2016 and began focusing on AI from November 2016.The firm is working towards becoming a billion-dollar company in the next three to five years, Kumar said. In the past 14 months, Hotify has worked with Fortune 100 companies in retail, retail analytics, e-commerce, banking and financial services, insurance, digital marketing, manufacturing and technology. It is soon expected to open offices in North America.

Hotify was founded in January 2015 by Ankur Dinesh Garg (chief executive), Kumar (chief operating officer), Abhinav Dinesh, Li Jian, and Alok Gautam, the last three no longer associated with Hotify, according to their profiles on professional networking site LinkedIn. Garg and Dinesh had previously founded digital news website iamwire, where Garg was briefly the chief executive. The venture is now headed by Dinesh. Gautam, an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, had earlier founded education and corporate training venture Travelocon. Jian, who invested in iamwire, founded DraPhant Consultants Pvt. Ltd.

An electrical and computer engineer, Kumar has over 20 years of experience in global technology product delivery, while Garg, who has a master’s degree in tech from Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, has over 12 years of experience in technology, supply chain, digital marketing, banking, e-commerce and retail tech.

In December 2015, Hotify had raised $150,000 (Rs 1 crore) in seed investment from Mahavir Pratap Sharma, the co-founder of Rajasthan Angel Innovators Network, a group of angel investors in Jaipur.