ZAITRA

Less than 5%. This is the chance of the companies applying to succeed in the EIC Accelerator. And the Brno-based startup Zaitra, which has been through several JIC programs, has succeeded. It has received a €2.5 million grant to further develop its AI models for satellites – and it is also negotiating an investment from the EIC Fund.

Participants must successfully complete three rounds:

• Submit a short application.
• Submission of a complete application.
• Interview with a panel of experts.

In the current year, 923 companies made it to the second round out of more than a thousand applicants. ” I have heard that this is the most competitive grant in Europe. We managed to get through each round smoothly and I think even with full points,” says Marek Marušin , one of the founders of Zaitra and its CEO.

Success on the first try

According to Mark Marushin , Zaitro’s advantage was good timing. Thanks to it, the company managed to succeed the first time – even though other companies repeatedly stumble.

The startup joined the EIC Accelerator when it was preparing for a new investment round. It had prepared materials that it used in its application for the EIC grant and investment. “It was very positively received. The committee looked at the materials as a real investor,” explains Marek Marušin.

JIC also helped him and his colleagues to prepare for the presentation before the committee. “They took us on and tried to show us how it works and what to expect. As a result, we went into the presentation with a lot more confidence,” sums up the Zaitra co-founder.

In orbit thanks to JIC

Zaitra has been using JIC’s services for a long time. In its early days , it participated in the ESA BIC business incubator, which is sponsored by the European Space Agency.

Subsequently, it also joined the Prototype and Verify programme. It received a grant of CZK 700,000. “Thanks to it, we got our software into orbit for the first time,” emphasises Marek Marušin.

This allowed the company to test its models directly in space.

Goal: Real-time communication with satellites

Zaitra was originally engaged in software consulting for other space projects. However, its founders gradually noticed that most of their clients were dealing with the same problem – long delays in data coming from satellites. So they decided to address it.

In the early days, Zaitra’s AI models focused on filtering images on Earth-sensing satellites. They were able to filter out those images that were cloud-free – and thus provided the data they needed. The satellite could then send them to recipients on Earth as a priority.

This significantly reduced the latency associated with the transmission of satellite data. From the hours and days that are common with satellites, transmission delays have been reduced to seconds. And transmit images virtually in real time.

Assistance in fires and detection of poachers

The current solution from Zaitra offers much wider possibilities of use than the original one. It acts as the “AI brain” of the satellite. It can think about what the client wants to see on Earth. And send it only the appropriate images.

In addition, it can automatically react to movement in a given space. “We are keeping an eye on the dynamically changing environment and want to become the company that can deliver insight the fastest in the world. We call it real time actionable insights,” explains Marek Marušin.

Thanks to this, Zaitra’s solution has a great potential to be applied in the commercial sector, as well as in the state sector and local government. It can be used for example by:

• mining companies that need to monitor the area around the mining towers;
• the coast guard, which will use Zaitro’s data to detect illegal fishing;
• and there are also applications in the defence industry.

In addition, flash data transmission can significantly reduce property damage and loss of life in natural disasters such as floods or forest fires. “The problem with forest fires is that they spread really quickly. And the earlier we detect them, the faster we can intervene,” says CEO Zaitra.

From component to end-to-end product

Zaitra is to be assisted with further development by an investment round that is currently underway. The company plans to use it to further scale its product.

Until now, it has supplied its AI models and hardware as components to companies that build satellites. It now wants to deploy its solutions on satellites that it will control itself. “We will generate data and create insights tailored to the customer,” says Marek Marušin.

Further investment – including from the EIC Fund – will help her to do this. And it will allow her to expand her portfolio of European and US customers.

ZAITRA was supported by JIC thanks to its membership in the Enterprise Europe Network.

Source: JIC

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