Scanning through numerous documents looking for specific data can be a painful exercise. Especially for lawyers, sifting through long case studies and judgments to find relevant information could take days. As an answer to this problem, Bengaluru-based start-up Vaultedge has developed an AI software that retrieves the required data in minutes, saving a lot of time for its customers. Just like a lawyer, it can identify over 200 clauses and data points but in a matter of a few minutes.

Vaultedge’s software scans 50 pages in less than a minute. Started by Sajeev Aravindan in 2015, he was later joined by Murali Krishna Tirupati in 2016. Aravindan first felt the need to create such a tool in 2014 while he was working with NetApp. His job involved creating product presentations for engineers. One particular client got back to them after a span of two months and asked for a copy of the presentation. To Aravindan’s horror, he couldn’t retrieve the file. So he had to spend another couple of days redoing the same presentation from scratch.

He met Tirupati at a start-up event and shared his concept with him. Tirupati, an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad and an engineer from NIT Trichy was hooked and signed up immediately. The first prototype — an enterprise cloud-based search product for easy access to data within organisations was launched in late 2016. While the beta version saw a good response, the duo realised that monetising that version would be a difficult task. “We then started working on developing the product further and by the end of 2017 were ready with two advanced versions and specified use cases such as quick scanning and extracting information,” says Tirupati.

The first version helps banks and NBFCs in automating loan processing. “Going through all the paperwork for requisite loan approvals can take at least a week or two. We want to help speed up the process ensuring efficient and reliable data extraction through AI and machine learning,” says Tirupati. According to him, the solution can come in handy for the Government while sanctioning loans to SMEs as the software can scan all the documents sourced from GST and Income Tax portals as well as from scanned financial statements for accuracy in real-time. The second version helps BPOs and large enterprise automate extraction of relevant information from legal contracts. Some of its major clients include Accenture, Star TV and PwC.

At present, Vaultedge’s client-base includes both big enterprises and individuals. Users can avail of per page pricing or a customised monthly plan for bulk scanning. The start-up was accelerated by NetApp Excellerator in 2017, which helped them get their initial clients. It also raised an undisclosed amount as funding from GSF Accelerator earlier in 2018. The start-up believes their offering has an edge over the competition. Tirupati explains, “Perfios is the nearest competitor. But they use manual experts at the backend, thus taking more time to deliver the reports.”