The AI Start-up Making India’s Industrial Giants Safer, Smarter — and Future-Ready
Two young visionaries are quietly leading a revolution in the thriving industrial sector. Rishi Kant Rajpoot and Kalash Nibjiya, co-founders of Bidaal, saw a persistent and dangerous problem—traditional safety practices in heavy industries were stuck in the past. In the heart of India’s booming industrial sector, where the roar of heavy machinery echoes across steel plants and mining sites the past safety audits were still done with clipboards, cameras captured video but no insights, and incidents often went unnoticed until it was too late.
Determined to change this, the duo created Bidaal—an AI-powered surveillance and productivity platform designed specifically for the rugged and risky world of heavy industry. Today, Bidaal is not only backed by a leading B2B SaaS venture capital firm, but also holds two patents and has earned the trust of industry giants like Tata Steel, SAIL, Adani, and JSW.
From college classroom Code to Deep-Tech Disruption
The story of Bidaal begins not in a boardroom but in a college class room, where Rishi and Kalash began building their first AI model for vehicle detections. Their vision was simple yet bold: to convert industrial cameras into intelligent observers—capable not just of seeing, but understanding and alerting. They named their startup Bidaal, which in Hindi means a lynx—an animal known for its sharp vision and stealth. Their efforts quickly caught attention. Bidaal won the “Best Innovation in Industry Tech” award at MGMI and secured patents for two of their most innovative products. But perhaps more importantly, they had touched a nerve in India’s industrial ecosystem—a pressing need for smarter, safer, and more efficient workplaces.
Three Products, One Unified Mission
Rather than develop one oversized solution, Bidaal took a modular approach. The company created three specialized yet interlinked products, each addressing a critical need in industrial safety and operations.
First, there’s LENS, an AI-powered safety and productivity monitoring system. Designed to plug directly into existing camera networks, LENS uses advanced computer vision to detect unsafe behaviour in real time—whether it’s a worker entering a danger zone, someone not wearing protective equipment, or machinery operating in a hazardous way. Alerts are generated instantly, and managers get access to dashboards that provide heatmaps and detailed reports on safety incidents and risk-prone zones. The result? Companies that use LENS have reported over a 20% reduction in lost-time incidents within just a few months.
Next is WISE, short for Web-enabled Illumination Surveying Equipment. Lighting is a silent risk in many industrial operations—poor visibility can lead to fatal accidents or huge energy bills due to inefficient setups. Traditionally, audits are manual, time-consuming, and often inaccurate. WISE automates this entire process using sensors, GPS, and data analytics, offering highly accurate light surveys in hours instead of days. One client saved over ₹1.6 crore annually just by optimizing their lighting after using WISE. It’s no surprise that this product earned a patent for its innovation.
Finally, there’s SMILE, Bidaal’s smart traffic management system. In mining and heavy transport sites where massive trucks and vehicles operate under poor visibility, accidents can be catastrophic. SMILE installs smart roadside units that communicate with vehicles and analyze traffic flow in real time. It helps prioritize pedestrian crossings, optimize traffic signals, and reduce unnecessary vehicle idling—leading to safer sites and up to 15% savings in fuel consumption, which in turn lowers carbon emissions significantly. Early deployments reported zero pedestrian-vehicle collisions for over 18 months, a life-saving outcome.
Each of these products—LENS, WISE, and SMILE—feeds into a common data platform, allowing industries to scale and adapt their safety systems based on their specific needs. Start with one, and grow into a full ecosystem.
Why the Timing Is Perfect
India’s industrial growth is reaching a critical point. With rapid urbanization, massive infrastructure projects, and increased global attention on workplace safety, the demand for advanced monitoring systems is on the rise. There are three key trends working in Bidaal’s favour.
First, there’s the regulatory angle.
The new Labour Code of 2020 makes top executives personally accountable for industrial fatalities. This has made corporate India more willing than ever to invest in serious safety tech.
Second, many factories and plants already have infrastructure in place—
CCTV cameras, networks, and basic control rooms. Bidaal doesn’t ask them to rip and replace. Its solutions are plug-andplay, integrating seamlessly into existing setups and offering measurable ROI in less than a year.
Third, Safety, Operations risk reduction, and increasing productivity.
Bidaal’s tools generate clean, verifiable data that helps companies shine in their ESG reports—whether it’s lower fuel use, safer work environments, or smarter lighting. What makes Bidaal even more unique is its India-first approach. While global players like Honeywell and Hikvision offer similar technologies, they often miss the local context. Bidaal’s AI models are trained on Indian conditions—dusty mines, monsoon glare, local clothing patterns—making them far more accurate and reliable on Indian soil.
A Business Model Built for Scale
Bidaal has opted for a smart business model. A SaaS model, easy to integrate with client systems (plug & play) for easy adoption, with added on reporting and analytics for data-based decision making. The response has been overwhelming. From steel and power plants to ports and cement factories, the company has already secured proof-of-concepts. Clients like JSW, Vedanta, Thriveni Sainik, and Adani have deployed Bidaal’s systems across their operations, and new inquiries continue to roll in.
Looking Ahead: Going Global with an Indian Core
With a solid foundation in India, Bidaal is now setting its sights on international markets. The company recently raised a preSeries A round and plans to open a sales office in Singapore to tap into Middle East and Australia—regions rich in mining activity. The startup is also investing in R&D to take its platform to the next level. One exciting development is a predictive risk scoring system, which combines real-time video analysis with historical safety data and sensor inputs to give every zone in a factory a “safety credit score.” This could eventually be used by insurance companies to price premiums more accurately, opening up a new revenue stream for Bidaal through risk partnerships.
Of course, challenges lie ahead. Working in remote, bandwidthstarved locations requires rugged hardware and fallback systems. Competing with global giants abroad will mean defending patents and building local trust. But Bidaal’s agility, local expertise, and obsession with real-world deployment give it a strong edge.
Final Thoughts: The Future Is Watching
Bidaal’s journey is more than just a startup story—it’s a reflecAI for industrial safetytion of how deep-tech innovation, when applied with purpose, can solve very real and very urgent problems. In a country striving to become a global manufacturing powerhouse, safety and sustainability can no longer be afterthoughts. They must be built into the system. With its AI-powered eyes, Bidaal isn’t just watching for danger—it’s helping build a future where India’s industries grow without sacrificing the well-being of their workers or the planet.
As CEO Rishi Kant Rajpoot puts it, “Our mission is simple: let AI handle routine risks so people can focus on growth, innovation, and the work that truly counts.”
And in the years to come, that quiet, watchful presence—like the lynx it’s named after—might just be what keeps India’s industrial dreams alive and thriving.
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