Invigilo Technologies: Safety Doesn’t Happen by Accident
Safety is something we take for granted and more often than not, is only taken into consideration as an afterthought when accidents occur at the workplace. Workplace safety is a crucial requirement for all employees to work in a safe and protected environment. Safety is even more essential in high-risk workplaces such as construction, manufacturing, and materials handling sites. When we think of safety, preventive measures such as ensuring the use of protective equipment and wear and observing safety procedures come to mind. But, when humans are added into the equation, there may be rooms of error leading to an increased potential of accidents happening. Many workplaces today still rely on on-site manual inspections by safety officers which can be time-consuming and prone to human error, potentially resulting in workplace hazards going undetected and putting workers at risk.
“To Watch Over”
Invigilo Technologies is a startup which aims to increase the effectiveness of safety implementation through real-time AI (Artificial Intelligence) video analytics. “Invigilo” in its root means to “watch after” in Latin, which is exactly what the startup aims to do. The upper part of its logo resembles a hawk that is “watching over” and the lower part resembles Singapore’s iconic Marina Bay Sands skyline, giving it a local touch to its identity. The startup provides video analytics safety solutions designed to automatically identify anomalous actions in real time in high-risk environments. In the blink of an eye, Invigilo’s SafeKey™ enables on-site cameras to autonomously identify potential dangers posed to workers before an accident occurs. Through their real-time alerts, it is able to notify and deploy safety officers to take action and improve safety dialogues overtime. What is unique about its technology is its open API (Application Programming Interface) integration with cameras, where its technology is able to integrate seamlessly with a business’ existing dashboards and software, making it easy for businesses to adopt. Each industry, whether it be construction, maritime, or industrial sites, has its own safety requirements and Invigilo aims to provide personalised safety detections catered to each business’ needs.
In June 2022, Madam President Hallimah Yacob visited Invigilo to learn more about the capabilities of Invigilo SafeKey™. She was impressed and commended Invigilo for improving safety with the aid of an innovative AI solution.
The Journey of Pursuing a Passion
The founder, Vishnu Saran, shared with us his vision for Invigilo as well as the journey of transforming his ideas into a functioning business. Vishnu previously studied at the National University of Singapore (NUS), majoring in Material Science in 2015. He joined the NUS Overseas Colleges (NOC) programme in 2018, where he had the opportunity to study at Stanford and work in Silicon Valley. During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, Vishnu made the bold decision to quit his full-time job to pursue his passion in safety analytics. The seeds for the idea behind Invigilo started when he was previously working with two other friends on a project which aimed to build IoT (Internet of Things) devices for the construction industry. It was then he became convinced that there was a greater potential in what they were doing. He recalled the challenges during the pandemic, especially after leaving his full-time job and even turning down a master’s offer from Berkeley. There was even a long period of time where he relied on his own savings to run Invigilo before the startup gained traction for funding.
“I would always make the tough decisions to pursue the less travelled path because I believe that at this age and stage, you have the ability to handle it no matter how difficult it is.” — Vishnu Saran (CEO and Founder of Invigilo Technologies)
Subsequently in 2021, Vishnu further refined Invigilo in Run 6 of NUS GRIP (Graduate Research Innovation Programme), a programme designed to cultivate deep tech entrepreneurs in transforming their research into scalable ventures. Vishnu was also the recipient of the Phillip Yeo Innovation Fellows award and NUS Alumni Catalyst grant. In 2021, Invigilo received pre-seed funding by GRIP and is now incubating at BLOCK71 Singapore.
“I would say the (construction) industry I am working in is very traditional and more often than not, you are faced with lots of skeptics on whether this technology can work. I think it’s important to educate the audience about the technology to ensure that it is adopted in the smoothest manner” says Vishnu.
Invigilo has achieved a 60% reduction in accidents, 40% cost savings, 8 times more safety coverage, and a greater than 90% safety hazard detection rate for its clients. Their technology is already being put into action by several organisations in the construction and manufacturing sector, including the Housing & Development Board (HDB), Land Transport Authority (LTA), Hyundai Engineering & Construction and many more.
Invigilo is striving to pursue its mission of transforming the future of safety through its technology to make safety a reality for all workplaces.
