The Driving Idea Behind Cautio
Throughout his seven-year tenure in India's dynamic mobility sector, Ankit has witnessed the complexities of safety and accountability first-hand. Starting as an intern at the CEO’s office in Bounce and moving on to leading marketing at Namma Yatri, Ankit has had first-hand experience with the challenges that mobility at scale brings. As the number of rides increased in the summer of 2023, there was a growing need for a larger call center to handle customer queries. Upon further investigation, the team realized that safety is a top priority for everyone involved in the ecosystem. During this time, Ankit collaborated with Namma Yatri's leaders and drivers, exploring various safety solutions. This led to two pivotal insights that spurred the creation of Cautio.
The first was recognizing the necessity for a secure stand-alone device for real-time monitoring, as relying on drivers' personal devices proved inadequate. The second insight broadened Ankit’s perspective of the challenge, revealing a significant market opportunity beyond Namma Yatri. He realized that secure ride monitoring in the new age of network mobility will be a necessity for every participant in the network with the segment value of passenger vehicle telematics set to reach 145 Mn USD in 2025.
Ankit teamed up with his school friend Pranjal Nadhani to develop a standalone dashcam designed specifically for this emerging market. After months of reverse engineering, discussions with hundreds of drivers, and extensive prototyping, Ankit and Prajnal crafted their first device.
The Cautio Approach
The device and the business model around it are based on the philosophy of monetization based on how drivers earn. While competitors' solutions typically involve an upfront cost of a few hundred dollars and a monthly usage fee of around 10 USD, Cautio engineered a more accessible solution. Their model requires zero upfront cost, with a nominal monthly fee that is a fraction of the existing options. By aligning costs with drivers' earnings, Cautio significantly lowers barriers to adoption.
This pricing strategy quickly attracted Namma Yatri and Vozi Cabs as one of Cautio's first clients, but Ankit and Pranjal soon realized they needed additional support to scale their vision. This realization led them to the Antler Residency.
Partnering with Cautio
Over the course of the Residency, Ankit and Pranjal reframed their worldview of Cautio from a hardware-first dashcam brand to an AI-powered data platform focused on revolutionizing road safety and smart mobility.
As Ankit recounts “The Residency helped us slow down and understand our problem statement better. Insightful and sometimes tough conversations with the team helped us expand our perspectives around data-driven business models, intelligent video analytics, and autonomous sensing. They also helped us sort our financial discipline too, which is something I’m thankful for every day as we scale.”
Emerging from the Residency, Ankit and Pranjal pivoted towards a B2B enterprise model, significantly expanding their market reach. As the Residency drew to a close we were convinced by the immense potential in Cautio’s innovative approach and the founders' profound industry insight.
Our investment thesis for Cautio rests on these pillars:
- The burgeoning demand for smarter, safer vehicle technologies, with “Video being the new GPS”, and centerpiece to cater to this demand.
- Cautio’s unique ability to capitalize on this trend by making advanced video telematics accessible at a disruptive price point.
- The vast potential for data monetization as connected and autonomous vehicles gain traction.
The Road Ahead for Cautio
Today, Cautio is at the forefront of an incredibly exciting future with an extensive initial order book of vehicle cameras for nationwide fleet operators, 80% of which is driven by word-of-mouth referrals. Cautio plans to initially roll out half of these cameras within the next year.
Their unique approach to making advanced video telematics affordable for everyone presents a transformative opportunity. By utilizing intelligent data from each vehicle, they aim to reduce accidents through better driver coaching and improved accountability and compliance. Ultimately, their goal is to enable autonomous mobility by collecting large-scale, valuable training datasets.
Rajiv, Partner at Antler in India, adds: “As investors, it is incredibly motivating to back founders like Ankit and Pranjal. Their ability to integrate cutting-edge technology into accessible and cost-effective solutions positions them uniquely to redefine road safety. The Cautio model is not just about capturing data but transforming it into actionable insights to enhance driver behavior, increase safety, and pave the way for autonomous vehicles.”
With Cautio, we’re excited to see a young and innovative team pioneering a revolutionary video data platform for mobility's future. India's roads are in desperate need of the kind of affordable but cutting-edge intelligent monitoring solutions they are delivering. And we’re confident this is merely the beginning of an incredibly inspiring journey towards smarter, safer, and more autonomous transportation for all.
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