#movingpeople meets Ravin.ai

#movingpeople-meets is a new series, highlighting innovation in mobility. I speak to mobility scale-up founders, typically around Series A and already working with customers, to understand their solution and the road they've taken to get there.

Hi Eliron Ekstein. How did it all start? 

The Ravin.ai concept started in 2018, when car-sharing looked like the next big thing. I was at Shell Ventures at the time, exploring how Shell could benefit from the trend, from the real-estate perspective. At that time we looked at using cameras at fuel stations to inspect car-share vehicles for damage or faults. It worked as a proof-of-concept, but car-sharing didn’t scale like people expected. So we pivoted into car-rental. Around that time, May 2019, we also spun out of Shell and raised an $8 million Seed. 

You’ve pivoted more than once. What came next?

The first pivot was into car rental. We partnered with Avis, but soon after Covid hit and the rental industry was put on hold. 

The second pivot was to used car sales. We built tech to support condition reports for listings. But again, timing wasn’t on our side. Chip shortages led to low inventory and disrupted the whole value chain.

Third pivot, and where we are now: insurance. It’s an immense, complex market with multiple frictions that create opportunity for disruption, with trillions of dollars insured and billions paid out in claims. Today we work in Australia and New Zealand with the ”Australia insurance group” and in the US with a number of insurance companies. 

Tell me about Ravin.ai, the insurance offering. 

We help insurers get immediate visibility into vehicle damage. Right now, when there's an accident, the insurer is blind until the car gets to the repair shop. That delay costs time and money - tow trucks, storage, replacement vehicles. Ravin saves up to $1,000 per accident, by shortening cycle time from 20 to 7 days. 

On the ground, the process starts with a simple link sent to the policyholder. They use their smartphone to take guided photos. Ravin’s tech ensures the images are complete, accurate, and usable. Within minutes the system identifies the damage and classifies the outcome: total loss - or repairable. This enables insurers to make faster decisions, whether to approve repairs or send to salvage. 

And you’re expanding that offering - with Repair IQ. 

Yes. In the past we’ve helped determine total loss OR repair, and now we’re focused on the repair itself - how much damage was actually caused in the accident. To do so, we use years of damage data we’ve collected, and partnered with telematic companies, to be able to give a more nuanced estimate. The uniqueness from Ravin comes from pairing this intelligence with our advanced inspection capabilities that guide the user in real time to create high quality and reliable images. That’s been missing in the industry. 

The benefit to clients: being able to track damage and detect fraud. For example, in a case where the ‘other’ insurance company quoted a repair of over $17k, we showed that the real cost was $1,080. Based on the photos taken at the site of the accident.

I’m based in London; interested in your take on Europe, from an entrepreneur / expansion point-of-view. 

Europe is regulation heavy, and that’s challenging. There are privacy issues and issues concerning AI decision making. AI doesn't hold in Court today. I’m referring to the example I used, on how we found fraud from the repair-supply-chain. In addition, it is not only EU regulation - then there is local regulation, and those two layers make it sometimes even more challenging. 

Yes, known challenges. I too think that European regulation is too heavy, and that EU regulators need to step up and promote more innovation. Maybe they are reading us right now. 

Any final thoughts, a message to other founders?

Enjoy the ride. It’s not just about the exit or the finish line. It’s about building something that works, something that matters. If you make an impact - you’ve already won.

#movingpeople is a part of Mobility Business  - a consultancy dedicated to "All Things Mobility", focused on growth. Get in touch to see how we can support your growth.