Every week we feature a new startup at Fundsup that forces a radical breakthrough. This time we chat with Joris Jeelof, Chief Commercial Officer at RoadEO.
Hi Joris, what exactly are you doing?
RoadEO offers real-time road quality insights and predictive maintenance for any type of pavement anywhere in the world at any time. These insights allow asset managers and construction companies to realize huge savings on their physical road inspections, and more importantly, the costs of maintenance and repairs by boosting their efficiency.
Our algorithm provides a clear and accurate prediction for the road’s future maintenance needs. We combine satellite data, smartphone data and smart vehicle sensor data. We then merge these datasets into one very accurate dataset. In turn, we combine this with additional datasets, such as the road’s historical deterioration data, meteorological and of course traffic intensity. Our approach will disrupt the entire industry of road asset management.
Where do you see its main application?
Typically we have two customer groups: on one side there’s the asset manager, public or private. Think of municipalities, provinces and national highway authorities, but also private toll road owners. On the other side, practically every organization downstream in their supply chain, so basically any organization that is involved in road maintenance or inspection.
“Because of Covid 19, many of our projects were immediately stopped or postponed, some even indefinitely. This situation has forced us to radically rethink our strategy”
Where do you stand right now?
We are rapidly converting our business model from a consultancy into a platform service. I joined RoadEO as their CCO in February this year. Two weeks before Covid19 hit. We had designed a roadmap leading RoadEO towards international expansion with global services. Because of Covid19, many of our projects were immediately stopped or postponed, some even indefinitely. This situation has forced us to radically rethink our strategy. We decided to use this situation to fully focus on the transition of our business model.
So in a way, Covid19 actually accelerated our transition process. I guess this is the essence of not wasting a good crisis… This is of course easier said than done, with revenues plummeting and burn rate moving in the opposite direction. You quickly find yourself strapped for cash, so we had to start raising funds to make the transition possible. Fundraising during Covid has been a hell of a ride, but things look to be turning for the better now.
At the same time, we also applied for two accelerator programs, one being ESA/SBIC’s Copernicus and the other the internationally renowned Techstars Heritage Group Accelerator. Much to our surprise, we won both within little over a week from each other! So you can imagine how proud I am of our team.
When you are a scaleup in tech, or in deeptech like RoadEO, getting accepted into such programs is considered a recognition and a validation of your work; it’s truly motivating. I suspect that this moment will later turn out to be one of those defining moments that shaped our future as a company. Sort of a turning point, because since it happened we have been approached by some serious investors.
When are you planning to go to market?
We are on the market for a few years already with our consultancy, but we plan to go-to-market with our platform in 12-18 months. Then it will be fully operational, well-tested and with all features available.
“We have long passed the proof of concept phase, we have lots of traction in the industry, we know the market and frankly, the market already knows us too in many respects.”
Who has invested in you and what kind of investors are you looking for?
So far, RoadEO has always managed on it’s own resources, revenue and the occasional grant or subsidy. Now with this transition in progress, the need for funding has changed. We are looking for the larger tickets and for a solid funding partner who will be in it for the long run. This may sound a bit atypical, but I guess RoadEO is also an atypical company.
We have long passed the proof of concept phase, we have lots of traction in the industry, we know the market and frankly, the market already knows us too in many respects. The current funding round is our series A, we are raising 4 million euros, with a 500K minimum ticket.
What would be the ideal match?
Ideally, we’re looking for “smart capital”, investors with for instance a B2B SaaS background or experience and a strong network in civil engineering tech, people who really add value. We’d like our investors to have both an international scope, and a long term view as well. That means we prefer not to be talking exit points from day one, like unfortunately, many VC’s tend to do these days.
We feel that this is going to be a long term relationship, much like a marriage. So of course you set up the prenup, but you don’t go and plan your divorce before the wedding even took place.
This is going to be a journey or better yet an adventure. We have ambitious goals, a unique proposition and we have already formed the winning team, so now we’re looking for that winning investor.
Good luck with everything!
Thanks, check out our pitch deck on Fundsup: https://api.fundsup.co/go/RUzNZorQAy