The funding, a mix of equity and debt, was led by Antler, 8i Ventures, and AU Small Finance Bank, with additional participation from Cautio’s early customers and prominent angel investors.
Cautio, a start-up in the visual telematics space, today announced a pre-seed raise of INR 6.5 crore led by Antler, 8i, and AU Bank. The funding, a mix of equity and debt, was led by Antler, 8i Ventures, and AU Small Finance Bank, with additional participation from Cautio’s early-believer customers and prominent angel investors.
Pranjal Nadhani, co-founder and CTO of Cautio, added: "With the support of our friends at Antler, 8i, and AU, we are primed to escalate our efforts in deploying cutting-edge safety solutions across the country."
Ankit Acharya, co-founder and CEO of Cautio, said, “Telematics in India has rapidly advanced from GPS, Bluetooth, and portable navigation to embedded connectivity. Initially focused on passive road safety measures, the emphasis is now shifting towards active, real-time responsiveness due to high accident rates."
Acharya added. "India, ranking first in global road fatalities, recorded 1,68,491 deaths in 2022, with overspeeding responsible for 70% of these fatalities, along with approximately 4.4 lakh injuries. Video telematics and dash cams, driven by demand from the commercial vehicle sector, will be crucial in eliminating hearsay and enhancing road safety."
Educational institutions, logistics and transportation firms, etc. are among the start-up's clientele. Also, it actively participates in several national pilot initiatives.
Nitin Sharma, Partner at Antler, said, “The Cautio model is not just about capturing telematics data but transforming it into actionable insights to enhance driver behavior, increase safety, and pave the way for autonomous vehicles.”
Cautio, founded by Ankit Acharya, previously a senior executive at Namma Yatri, Bounce & Bounce Infinity, and Pranjal Nadhani, formerly a senior engineer at Virtualness, Dream11, and Urban Company, focuses on enhancing safety in India's mobility and transportation sectors. The company provides affordable video telematics products tailored to address safety concerns, featuring customizable dash cam devices and an AI-driven operating system.