Buffalo startup Strayos is growing strategically, thanks to distribution partnerships and a new product.
The business, started in late 2016, uses a camera vision artificial intelligence system to map underlying geological conditions for mining operators. From 2020 to 2022, the startup went from 150 mining sites using its technology to more than 600. Currently, its customers span more than 1,000 sites in 25 countries.
CEO Ravi Sahu expects to reach 2,000 sites by the end of this year.
“We’re seeing this rapid shift in the industry itself that they are looking for digitalization, a more optimal way of doing things,” he said.
The business won a $1 million 43North contest prize in 2019 and moved its headquarters to Buffalo.
About a year ago, Strayos started focusing on growing through distribution partnerships, which allows it to expand more aggressively through an existing network with distributors that already have people in the field there. Those partnerships have led to the company's breaking into new international markets such as Africa, Australia and Indonesia.
The mining industry is also increasingly focused on sustainability. That has prompted Strayos to launch a new product, which can monitor and measure the energy used during different parts of the mining process in order to operate more effectively.
The startup developed the solution last year, selectively rolled it out with a few existing customers and plans to publicly launch it by the end of June.
“The strategy is really addressing these sustainability challenges that mines are going through … and AI is a big push that we’re bringing to market,” he said.
The business employs 15, with seven based in Buffalo. The startup expects to hire six to eight more people focused on engineering and customer success in the next two business quarters.
Strayos will continue to house its research and development team here, but remote workers allow the business to be closer to the region’s the startup serves. Those staff spend time with customers and distributors to get insights into the mining industry’s challenges.
“We deploy and build solutions that are relevant to their problems,” Sahu said.
