Welcome to Who Are These Startups?

podcast shorts featuring founder interviews of Canadian startups.

It's a startup coach here and I'm back down at Collision talking to startups and I'm here with the founder of Solentek, Iskender.

How are you doing?

Pretty good.

How are you?

Thanks for having me.

It's great to have you.

Could you introduce yourself and tell us about...

Sure.

So my name is Iskender.

I'm the co-founder and CEO of Solentek.

We're helping companies in construction, manufacturing and energy reduce the risks for their workers and their assets using AI and by converting their existing security cameras into smart-enabled devices that proactively detect risk in the workplace.

And who is your target audience?

So we're trying to work with companies that have high risks in their operations.

As I said, like in energy manufacturing and construction and specifically with safety managers because they're in the front line when it comes to safety in the workplace.

So we're trying to make sure that their work is easier but also we try to save workers and the processes in the process.

And what inspired you to start Solentek?

So it was like a tragic story actually.

So my background is in oiling gas.

I was working on a project and unfortunately there was someone who lost their life during an accident that could have been prevented.

Cameras were near the scene but nothing was done proactively to stop that from happening.

So I came with my co-founder to try to find a solution to this problem.

And how do you compare to your competitors or other people in the market?

So compared to our competitors, our solution is like uses different data sources such as cameras, uses sensors and also safety documentation of the company.

And this allows us to have a more holistic approach to safety because we can understand what's going on in terms of risk and act upon it because we can activate alarms and other things that our competitors do not have those capabilities.

And what's the most significant challenge you face so far?

So far I think the sales cycle is a little long for us because we're dealing with big companies.

So we're trying to hone in on the ideal ICP or ideal customer profile to shorten the cycle and also to create a niche where we are sure that the sales cycle will go as smooth as possible.

And what's your funding situation?

So far we have received a safe investment like pre-seed for $50,000.

We also got some grants and we're looking to raise about a million dollars for the next 24 months to help us and commercialization and also improve our product.

And what brings you to Collision this year?

So we're here in Collision to first to find partners to talk with the media such as you yourself to share our story but also to find investors as well.

And have you had any memorable experiences or met any interesting people?

So yeah, I met a lot of people from different countries, especially a lot of people from Japan.

I think they seem to have keen interest in our technology and I think we have some very promising leads with that part of the world.

And if people want to find out more, where do they go?

So they can reach us on our website, it's solintech.com, but also on our LinkedIn page.

Fantastic, thank you for taking the time out at Collision today to speak to us.

Yeah, of course, thank you so much.

This has been Who Are These Startups?

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