The Golden Lightbulb award celebrates innovative and unique ideas from young startups, with last year’s winner focusing on a glass packaging return system. This year’s winner is Eindhoven-based company Starnus Technology, and we interviewed founder and CEO Khashayar Mansourizadeh to learn about the company’s journey and goals.
Origins
The company was founded in 2021 with the goal of creating a special modular robot technology that could adjust and tailor to the specific requirements of customers. However, approximately one year ago, they began to notice that the market was not embracing this robotic solution as quickly as anticipated. This realization led to the creation of Starnus AI Suite, which ultimately won the Golden Lightbulb award for filling a gap in the industry.
Rerouting
Starnus noticed that 90% of the market was not able to adopt automation and digitalization solutions due to various reasons such as lack of infrastructure, resources for analysis, non-data driven processes, or outdated IT infrastructure. As a result, they shifted their focus to addressing these obstacles instead of continuing with their robotics mission, choosing to concentrate on enhancing intelligence operations within the company.
Same industry, different product
Using artificial intelligence and generative artificial intelligence, this suite consists of five separate products created to enhance data generation, collection, and analysis for businesses in the manufacturing and logistics sector. The ultimate objective is to identify bottlenecks within companies and industries and recommend optimal practices to enhance business efficiency and competitiveness in the market.
The main argument here is that manufacturers and logistics play a crucial role in the industry, as everything we use is produced and delivered through a supply chain. To stay competitive on a global scale, it is essential to support industries at the beginning of the supply chain.
The software has recently finished a trial project with Rhenus Solutions, a company it has a significant partnership with. “If nobody else is doing it, then it’s up to us. As engineers, we enjoy creating robots but were disheartened to see that the industry wasn’t prepared for it.”
Rewarding results
Due to the different direction they chose for the company, some may say they are still in the initial phase of gaining momentum. However, they have been facing ongoing challenges.
The Golden Pear is a rewarding recognition for the startup’s brave choice to change their focus and tackle a new challenge. “It motivates the team to see that our hard work is paying off.”
Building a fully scalable platform
The primary objective of the company is to create a fully scalable platform in the short term, which is a significant project that presents a challenge in terms of proper execution.
The Starnus AI Suite is equipped with more than 20 different machine learning and AI algorithms, making it very adaptable. This allows users to operate it independently without much outside assistance, as the majority of the work is handled by the AI algorithms embedded in the software.
Certainly, the company has grand ambitions beyond that. Their goal is to expand into other European countries after leaving the Netherlands, with the ultimate objective being to break into the US market.
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A gut feeling
The company has recently begun working on this project, but there are significant opportunities for Starnus to succeed. The founder also has a strong intuition about the potential of the project, believing that it could be very useful in an untapped market. They also believe that if they enter the US market, the project could reach unicorn status.
Selecting a legendary figure for a business concept was not done randomly. Introduced by American investor Aileen Lee in 2013, ‘Unicorn’ companies are startups worth more than 1 billion dollars, a rarity similar to the mythical unicorn.
Starnus Technology’s Gouden Peertje award recognizes their innovative drive and resilience. Designed to support up-and-coming startups, this accolade motivates their ambitious expansion goals, no matter the outcome. “I believe winning this award shows perseverance, of not giving in. We will stay dedicated and continue moving forward.”
