Industrial AI startup Avathon, formerly known as SparkCognition, rebrands and plans to expand its workforce in India, making the country its largest research and development hub in the next 24 months.
Avathon, which is backed by the likes of Temasek Holdings, Verizon Ventures, and Boeing, will triple its headcount in India from approximately 140 to 400 people over the next two years, CEO Pervinder Johar told The Economic Times.
Founded in 2013, Avathon’s mission is to integrate AI into legacy infrastructure, transforming traditional frameworks into autonomous industrial systems. The AI startup serves across industries such as aerospace, defense, oil and gas, and counts tech giants Nvidia and Qualcomm as its clients among others.
Headquartered in California, the company had entered the Indian market in 2022 with the acquisition of Integration Wizards, a visual AI player.
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Johar, who was appointed as Avathon’s CEO at the beginning of this year, was handed over the baton by founder and former CEO Amir Hussain who assumed a seat on the board of directors as a member.
The industrial AI startup has facilities in Austin, Texas and Bengaluru, India and plans to convert them into “centers of excellence” for AI across all of its product areas.
“India is at the heart of Avathon’s roadmap, with AI projected to contribute over 50% of the Asia-Pacific region’s growth in traditional industries by 2028. India will play a pivotal role in our expansion, serving as a hub for product engineering, delivery, support and R&D,” Johar said.
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Avathon’s AI technology has been contracted to provide safety monitoring for leading oil and gas companies in India, spanning 17,000 retail outlets, 83 terminals, and 15 airport fueling stations.
The rebranding marks a pivotal step in Avathon’s journey to becoming a global leader in applied AI, leveraging its expertise to solve critical challenges for industries worldwide, the company said in a press release.