Avrio Analytics’ passion isn’t just analyzing data; it’s putting it to work inside your business.
Alicia Caputo, Co-Founder & CEO
Name: Avrio Analytics, LLC
Location: Knoxville, TN
Website: www.avrioanalytics.com
Product / Service Offering: AI Machine-learning solutions for companies. Packaged product: Sibyl (www.MeetSibyl.com)
Co-founder Interviewed: Alicia Caputo, CEO
Other Key Management Team Members: Mik Bertolli, CSO (Chief Science Officer)
This article is part of our Women Entrepreneurs Spotlight Series featuring female entrepreneurs and their companies. We hope these founders’ interviews will inspire and motivate you as you undertake your own entrepreneurial journey.
Tell us a little about yourself with a focus on what motivates you?
I’m the CEO and co-founder of Avrio Analytics. I bring business insights to a tech focused and AI driven technology. I have over a decade in sales and business development in very large, data oriented industries such as finance and health insurance.
When did you establish your company and where did the idea originate?
We incorporated in 2016. Our passion isn’t just analyzing data; it’s putting it to work inside your business. From science to management, we’ve joined the best of both worlds – business and analytics together in one place. I provide business insight from working in data oriented industries such as finance and health insurance. Mik, the CSO, has his PhD in Theoretical Physics. His more than a decade of work experience includes being a research scientist for various national labs and heading international data teams. He is a leading expert in data science having worked for Government agencies and on Congressional advisories. Mik is highly published, and a lecturer at Universities in US and Europe.
What need or needs does your company seek to fill for its customers?
Whether reaching the right customers more effectively through predictive marketing (e.g. predictive content placement), or increasing sales (e.g. predictive sales development), we increase ROI by boosting efficiency through sales-on-demand. We provide fully automated solutions with an over 95% confidence rating.
What is the one thing that sets your company apart from its competitors?
Our competitive advantage is in our AI engine, which allows us to provide scalable solutions across marketing data sources rather than being siloed within a particular platform. The robust predictions we produce can be based on data ingested from across a company or industry, providing a broader contextual perspective and increased value than currently available in the individual solutions.
Understanding Your Competitive Environment
What was the biggest challenge you faced while getting your company up and running, and how did you overcome it?
Our biggest challenge is being in an industry that doesn’t have set terms. It’s the hype of things like ‘big data’ or ‘machine-learning’ that we must overcome for many people we meet. Many of the products on the market that claim to have these capabilities aren’t using machine-learning but they are heavily funded. Working through the hype and sticking to our values and actual insights has brought us those customers unhappy with the under-performing products.
Are there resources you have utilized that other women founders might find compelling or useful?
There are many resources in our own community that were very helpful. The best resource was The Knoxville Entrepreneurship Center providing local mentors in the community through one of their accelerator programs, CodeWorks. Though we weren’t originally paired with our current mentor, we saw their immense value and made the steps to continue communication after the program was complete.
Learn more about the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem of Knoxville.
What steps have you taken to secure funding for your company and what, if anything, would you do differently if you had to start over?
Avrio Analytics has a strong focus on research since our roots are in academics. We have been able to bootstrap the company with our consulting services and have recently partnered with a sales team to help bring more packaged products to the market. If I were to start over I would have partnered with an expert sales team sooner since finding the right market fit is the more difficult problem we solve.
Have there been any questions you have had as an entrepreneur of a fledgling startup that you had a particularly hard time finding the answers to?
I believe most companies in our tech space have the same struggle on customer acquisition costs. Bringing down these initial costs are always important to our company and we hope to bring them down considerably as we develop new stand-alone products that use our machine’s technology.
What challenges, if any, are you grappling with?
Not every client is ready for our technology. Finding those that are ready and developing better products for ideal customers is a key challenge for our industry.
What is the most helpful tip or “hack” you’ve ever learned, stumbled across, or been given?
Find people who are not only passionate about what you do but experts in their own field. I’m not a fan of sales or pitching. Going to the right people for help and knowing when to ask will not only make your life a little easier, it will make you feel not so alone in the startup life.
Is there anything else you would like to share about your company?
Our first stand-alone product will be released in March. Sibyl helps to protect your brand and currently works seamlessly with your Twitter. If you’re interested in seeing how it works and the benefits please go to MeetSibyl.com .
Advice to women entrepreneurs…
My advice to entrepreneurs is if you have an idea and have tested market fit with something like “the mom test” make the jump and go for it. I’m a sports fan so this quote always resonates with me “You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take;” Wayne Gretzky.
Are you familiar with other Women led startups? If so, we would like to hear from you. Tell us about them, sharing your comments below!
Liz Bennett
Liz is the Assistant Director of the ETSU Innovation Lab, adjunct faculty for the College of Business and Technology at ETSU, Kelley School of Business MBA graduate and former intern at Plug & Play Tech Center in Silicon Valley. A lifelong learner, she is interested in all aspects of entrepreneurship and enjoys helping startups explore the possibilities. She currently sits on the TurboFunder Product / Market Advisory Board.
