RapidCanvas Aims to Democratize AI Adoption

In a world where artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming industries, one startup is on a mission to make AI accessible to businesses of all sizes.

RapidCanvas, a new AI platform, has emerged from stealth mode with a $7.5 million seed funding round led by Accel and Valley Capital Partners. Their goal? To empower business leaders and domain experts to create and implement AI solutions without needing a Ph.D. in computer science.

“RapidCanvas stands out as the first end-to-end platform that automates and guides business leaders and domain experts in creating AI solutions,” said Rahul Pangam, CEO and co-founder of RapidCanvas, in an interview with PYMNTS. “Its conversational interface and expert-verified methodology ensure transparent, explainable, and verifiable outcomes.”

While traditional AI platforms have primarily targeted highly skilled data scientists and engineers, RapidCanvas aims to bridge the gap by enabling business users to prototype and deploy AI solutions within days. 

“The platform allows business experts to prototype and deploy AI solutions within days without extensive coding knowledge,” Pangam explained. “Likewise, it guides the business users and enables them to be self-sufficient, leverage data to tackle business challenges, and do the same things a data scientist does, but in a context that the business user can understand.”

RapidCanvas simplifies AI model creation for businesses without deep tech knowledge through a three-step process. First, you input data and problems, and the platform advises on data needs and fixes issues. Then, it builds the model fast for easy testing. Finally, it shows how decisions are made for clear understanding. RapidCanvas also has ready-made solutions to speed things up.

RapidCanvas’s impact is already being felt across various industries, with Fortune 200 companies in manufacturing, direct-to-consumer, real estate, and financial services leveraging the platform to accelerate their AI adoption, Pangam said.

“With our end-to-end platform, customers have accelerated their time to value by 80% with a reduction in the time businesses need to implement a new AI solution — from nine months, the current standard, to around four weeks. Also, businesses have reduced costs by 80% compared to legacy approaches,” Pangam noted.

The new approach is part of a growing trend in which AI helps small businesses. For example, GoDaddy recently introduced GoDaddy Airo, a new tool that uses AI to help businesses improve their online appearance. It can suggest domain names, create logos, and help with setting up websites and emails, writing product descriptions, and managing social media, all by understanding simple language. 

Other companies are turning to AI for health solutions. Baracoda plans to introduce AI-driven mental health tools into the bathroom. CEO Thomas Serval told PYMNTS recently that he sees the bathroom as key to tackling mental health issues, especially morning depression exacerbated by COVID-19 lockdowns. Although AI isn’t the ultimate solution for loneliness, Serval believes it can help those with few alternatives to confront their mental health challenges.

One early success story comes from MTE-THOMSON, an automotive parts manufacturer that used RapidCanvas to integrate AI into their demand prediction and inventory management processes. 

“Transitioning from spreadsheet-based models to RapidCanvas’ AI model led to a 35% improvement in operational efficiency and a 50% reduction in time spent on manual adjustments, eliminating operational bottlenecks and streamlining processes,” Pangam shared.

With its new seed funding, RapidCanvas plans to accelerate product development, enhance existing capabilities, and improve the user experience. The RapidCanvas team includes former Google, PayPal, and Simility employees. 

“Since the day RapidCanvas was founded, my team and I have recognized the increasing importance of data science across various industries beyond finance,” Pangam said. “We’ve followed the evolution of data science from early adopters like Google to its pervasive necessity in diverse sectors like marketing, manufacturing and energy. We are on a mission to empower the domain expert and make AI accessible to a broader audience within organizations.” 

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