AI reduces processes that take days or weeks to minutes
Bringing a car into a garage for repair is a frustrating process, but the Israeli company says it has allowed drivers to analyze the condition of their vehicles themselves using their smartphones. Just open the camera and start scanning your car. The AI, which Ravin AI says has been trained on hundreds of millions of samples of car damage, can identify whether a car has dents or scratches and the extent of damage to the exterior and interior. It then inspects the vehicle and generates a condition report.
“Every time you go to get a car fixed, make a claim against an insurance policy, try to sell a used car, or buy a used car, there are a lot of ambiguities,” says Eliron. . Eckstein, CEO and co-founder. “There is not much clarity about the actual condition of the vehicle. This has been a consistent problem in the industry over the years. It comes from the fact that they don't really understand the value of the damage." Before founding the company in 2018, Eckstein was a 10-year automotive and energy entrepreneur, using machine learning to help taxi and Uber drivers find their next rider by predicting local demand patterns. was the CEO of a startup that helped
He came up with the idea for Ravin when he joined Shell as head of new business development. Because he helps oil giants diversify from oil and move into services that benefit fleets and drivers. “We analyze the condition of the vehicle and both sides understand what is at stake and what damage or problems the vehicle has. You can understand it more clearly." Ravin's AI is a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform in the form of a mobile web app. Rental and used cars, auto dealers, and insurance companies in the US and Europe sign up for its services and pay based on usage. The services are used thousands of times each month by employees in these industries and their customers can access the services through them. Create a model of the vehicle you are scanning on the spot using a number of patented technologies. Understand what parts the driver sees as they move around the car and map it to the generated model.
It notifies the user in real time if any part of the vehicle could not be scanned or if it was moving too fast. AI also suggests to drivers whether to file an insurance claim or repair the car themselves. The AI was trained with the help of industry knowledge, especially Ravin's Chief Automobile, a former Chief Vehicle Inspector at Mercedes Israel. That's how the company says it can provide recommendations similar to those of a professional car inspector. However, this has limitations. Ekstein says he struggles with evaluating the reflective part. Also, in poor lighting conditions or in bad weather such as snow or heavy rain, damage to the car cannot be assessed.
The company's partners include Toyota North America and American car rental company Hertz.
Ekstein says more than a billion vehicle inspections are performed each year in the rental car, used car and insurance industries alone. "Think of a rental car company that can't drive because someone dented the door and returned it," he says. "Because it's awaiting appraisal, it can't be rented out, it's really just lying there. “We were working with a rental car company like Avis at Newark Airport (NJ, USA) and saw dozens of cars parked beside them. was perfectly fine but had some markings and was waiting for an inspector.
“These are idle cars, which means the industry is producing more cars than it needs, which means more resources are being wasted. means that you are paying too much for Plus, many of these tests are subjective, he says. His company claims to have tested this on damaged vehicles that were evaluated by three different experts, each with different results. “There is a lot of subjectivity in the assessment that we think we can eliminate.” But that doesn't completely eliminate the need for vehicle inspections, Eckstein explains. “The AI in our solution handles the long tail of simple cases. If we need to assess the impact on the environment, we leave it to experts with years of experience.”
As for the competition, Ekstein said there are multiple players, but he created an app that allows drivers to take pictures of damaged cars. Carscan is an example of such an app. And his Deloitte, which provides consulting, tax and advisory services to some clients, has also launched its own AI-based app. Compared to its competitors, Ravin's equipment is 10 times cheaper and more scalable, he says. “As far as the technology itself goes, no one has the same technology in the sense that it can do a completely free-flow scan and the intelligence detects and analyzes the damage itself.”
The company is now improving its AI to provide adaptive condition reports on electric vehicle battery and external conditions. This is a market we haven't entered yet.
Ravin AI is based in Tel Aviv and has approximately 70 employees. To date, he has raised $30 million from investors such as Shell Ventures and FM Capital, as well as individuals such as former General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner.