The SLINGSHOT Startup Spotlight series is a collection of stories featuring SLINGSHOT alumni who continue to blaze the trail post-SLINGSHOT. In each instalment, the founders and teams from the alumni share their experience in building and growing their companies. To apply for SLINGSHOT 2022, please click here.

NextBillion.ai

This startup wants to use their spatial data and AI expertise to help enterprises build high performance and configurable maps to create more operational saving and time efficiencies.

_{(Caption: NextBillion.ai awarded Grand Winner at SLINGSHOT 2020)}

Headquartered in Singapore with offices in San Francisco, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Beijing, Nextbillion.ai believes centralised mapping technology is a thing of the past. By providing enterprises with location tools and API’s that help them adopt an AI-first approach to solve all their client’s map-related business issues, their solution can be customized to be hyper-local and provide pinpoint accuracy for extremely complex mapping and analysis cases.

In this week’s edition we sat down with SLINGSHOT’s 2020 Grand Winner, Nextbillion.ai, who has also recently received funding from M12 as part of their extended Series A round. When they joined SLINGSHOT last year, the startup was less than a year old. Since then, the startup has grown their business, technology and company at an incredible rate.

In this interview, we find out from Co-Founder, Ajay Bulusu, about what makes the company tick, and how the SLINGSHOT experience made a difference in their journey.

Q: Can you tell us about Nexbillion.ai and the motivation for starting the company?

A: NextBillion.ai builds enterprise maps that are like having a decentralised spatial data cloud for your company, completely based on AI-powered engines that manage your map data. It sounds complicated, but simply put, we build enterprise-grade maps that are equal to the usability of the consumer-grade maps that many of us use. We use technology and AI to help enterprises own their own mapping stack to suit their very customised business purposes.

My co-founder, Shaolin, and I met as colleagues at a technology company where we worked on some mapping problem statements together. We quickly understood the unsolved problems in this space, and realised that this was a very large space with very few players working in it.

Today, a ride-hailing mobile application can know where you are, and it will be able to compute a car to pick you up in the shortest amount of time possible, and even account for surge pricing. With these requirements come very sophisticated systems, but the maps that power them are still very old.

Essentially, we are trying to create a new era of mapping that allows enterprises to power a new era of services. For example, food delivery in Singapore happens mostly on e-scooters not on cars. Whereas, in the US, it is the opposite. When we have these nuances, e-scooters can’t go on main roads, they need foot paths. Is there a foot path map of the world? It’s still not there. This is the sort of sophisticated problem statements that NextBillion.ai is trying to tackle.

_{(Caption: NextBillion.ai pitching to a hybrid audience at SLINGSHOT 2020)}

Q: How was your experience participating in SLINGSHOT 2020?

A: It was a fascinating and beneficial experience for us. It helped us package the ideas and technology that our company offers in a way that more customers can understand, and communicate in a more engaging way to the audience and judges. It is a very exciting competition especially if you are in the deep space and want to go global. It was a great for us to meet many people.

Q: For SLINGSHOT, how do you think it shaped your startup the way it is today?

A: SLINGSHOT helped us craft our thought, vision and elevator-style pitch. Before this, we always had long technical pitches. SLINGSHOT pushed us to think about how to make a very large audience understand what we do, and that really helped us as we move into sales pitches. In fact, our current tagline–“one map doesn’t fit all”–is something that I came up with when we were doing the SLINGSHOT pitch. We still use that tagline in all our materials today because that is the best way to explain that you cannot use the same map for everyone! Overall, we benefitted greatly from several aspects–funding opportunities, customer connections, exposure to a wide range of judges, and helping us sharpen our pitch to investors and customers.

Q: Did you make any meaningful connections, in terms of your mentor, collaborators overall?

A: Absolutely. We did meet a few large companies who we had been intending to meet for a while. We met some great VCs who were a part of the judging panel or were a part of the wider community. This allowed us to build very connections with the VC networks in Singapore, as well as potential partners and customers. We also met some interesting startups who we could buy some software as well.

Many times, when you are in the technology sector, you are mostly obsessed with other tech companies and technologies in your field of interest. But SLINGSHOT opened our eyes to an array of companies because the verticals were so interesting. There was a prosthetic arm company, an eggs company and many more at the finals. These are startups and innovations that you would never have access to if you did not attend SLINGSHOT. I would say the experience is definitely worth it.

_{(Caption: NextBillion.ai pitching to a hybrid audience at SLINGSHOT 2020)}

Q: Do you find that being in Singapore helps you with your international expansion?

A: Absolutely. It had helped us since day one. I feel that the ease of doing business in Singapore is unparalleled. I have worked in six countries before I moved to Singapore, and [I] feel [that] Singapore is one of the best places to run your business and do your business. The government is very friendly – there’s Enterprise Singapore, Infocomm Media Development Authority, Economic Development Board, and Singapore Land Authority, all who are invested in your growth. The ecosystem around startups is also very friendly. I feel that it is one of the best places in the world to do business.

Q: After your experience at SLINGSHOT last year, do you have any words of advice or tips for startups who are thinking about applying this year?

A: I think SLINGSHOT is a lot of fun and is also a good challenge. It is an opportunity to have fun on the journey and learn a lot along the way.

The advice I would give is this: Make the most of your three months in SLINGSHOT. The platform is fantastic. Participate in the different tracks. Do not just think of it as just a competition, but that it provides so many more opportunities than just prizes. Make the most of it! If you are invested, the rewards will show.

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This article was brought to you by SLINGSHOT 2022. Like NextBillion.ai, your startup journey could lead you to meeting countless corporate and investment opportunities, as well as pitching to the global innovation community.

Ready to make the pitch of a lifetime?

Applications for this year’s cohort is from 25 Apr–24 Jul 2022. Click here to visit the challenge page to learn more and apply.