The co-founder of £50m automation software company Robiquity has announced details of his latest AI venture.
Tom Gardner exited the Manchester-based robotic process automation experts soon after the 2022 investment by Growth Capital Partners, although he remains a minority shareholder.
The 33-year-old has spent much of the last year working on his new company – generative AI-based Fireflai – which he believes has the potential to be a global name.
He said: “The initial vision is to have 100 customers within 36 months on a subscription model rather than charge huge up-front fees.”
Fireflai is a B2B SaaS platform and Gardner co-founded the business with CTO Craig Sumner, who previously worked for Deloitte and Rubix.
Laura Malins, formally VP of product at Manchester-based unicorn Matillion, and James Clarry, ex-chief operating officer at the private bank Coutts, have been appointed non-executive directors.
The startup uses generative AI to allow companies to make better use of their data and is already working with a range of businesses.
Gardner said: “Generative AI can validate 40 million lines of data within 48 hours. The potential is limitless.
“It combines the best of traditional machine learning and data science with a sprinkle of generative AI to solve complex product data issues.”
He describes Fireflai as a ‘data cleanser’ that makes data usable to drive better decision-making.
The startup is already working across multiple sectors, including construction; distribution; manufacturing; and eCommerce.
Gardner explained: “Imagine a fast-moving consumer goods business with two distinct databases, each with 20 million products in each.
“When you combine the two databases together you realise you have 650,000 duplicated products. The product description could be in different languages and the products might not match the descriptions.
“Some products may not appear on the website at all so customers are ordering goods that don’t exist. The issue is companies just don’t have the manpower to process the data accurately or the capacity to hire an expensive data engineering / machine learning function.
“That’s where we come in. Fireflai works by pulling in the data from the customer. It then passes that through a machine learning and data science model. Finally generative AI looks at it like a human would to identify gaps but in a fraction of the time and at a fraction of the cost. It’s a game-changer.
“We want to make generative AI and machine learning AI as assessable as possible and quick to deploy without the up-front commitment that you’d spend with a big consultancy. You experience the results before you pay us. We run the data and give the results back to the customer.”
Fireflai is one of 12 companies selected by Praetura Ventures to take part in its PraeSeed programme, a new initiative designed to identify the most promising startups in the North of England and support them with equity funding.
Fireflai has been completely bootstrapped to date but is currently looking to raise between £500k-£700k.
Gardner founded Robiquity in 2016 with Chris Wright and Jack Rimmer to meet the growing demand for robotic process automation.
In 2020 they appointed Tom Davies as CEO and helped grow Robiquity to around £10m turnover and 100 staff, with operations across North America and the Middle East, building an impressive list of clients including Virgin Media, Finastra and Jaguar Land Rover.
In 2022 Growth Capital Partners announced an investment in Robiquity Group to support its ambitious plans to become a clear independent leader in the automation space.
