The Venture Leader Technology that shapes the future of airside operations – Venturelab

The Venture Leaders Technology expert jury had their work cut out for them this year: They had to look through 180 applications to choose the 10 members of the Swiss National Startup team that will travel to Silicon Valley in April. Before the 10 entrepreneurs meet with international investors and industry leaders to strengthen their business network and advance their globalization, we want to introduce you to each of the 10 Venture Leaders Technology 2022: Meet Max Diez, the co-founder and CEO of Assaia International.

Assaia digitizes airside operations: Assaia ApronAI uses computer vision to generate insights from video streams and leverages untapped operational data to optimize apron operations in real time. By generating data-driven predictions, the Zurich-based startup helps airport operators make better decisions, reduce accidents on the tarmac, improve sustainability, and increase turnaround efficiency.

Name: Max Diez 

Location: Zurich

Nationality: Swiss, German 

Graduated from: University of St.Gallen, master’s degree in strategy and international management, 2015 

Job title: CEO of Assaia International 

Number of employees: 38 

Money raised: CHF 5.5 million 

First touchpoint with Venturelab: 2021, TOP 100 Swiss Startups 

 

Max, could you summarize what Assaia International does? 

We use AI to optimize airport ground processes to reduce artificial delays in air travel. These delays occur because of bad planning or not properly monitoring the turnaround process at the airport. Not only do these delays waste passengers’ time, but they also generate unnecessary CO2 emissions of approximately 30 kg per turnaround.

 

How and where did you come up with the idea for your startup? 

When the three of us [Assaia co-founders Dmitry Chugreev, Nikolay Kobyshev, and Max Diez] met, we tested different use cases for computer vision AI in an industrial context—from food processing to document verification to retail checkout processes. Having launched a number of other startups before, we had a pretty good idea of how much initial interest in the market we wanted to see and how close our ultimate product should be to the customer’s core processes. The inbound interest for the turnaround tracking was off the charts: Within hours of launching a primitive LinkedIn ad, we had received almost a dozen emails, many of them from VPs in airlines and ground handling, requesting more information about the solution. That’s how we knew we’d found our niche. 

 

What do you expect from the Venture Leaders Technology roadshow, and how will it help you achieve your vision? 

We sell into a conservative industry, and we require them to change their core operational processes. This makes us more a B2G [business to government] than an enterprise software company. Our growth path does not look like a classic hockey stick. However, our cash flow’s terminal value is very high. 

I’ve learned that finding investors who understand this unusual profile is difficult. My expectation is that the roadshow will enable me to meet smart investors who see the opportunity and can support us with advice and relationships to navigate the political landscape with our prospective customers’ organizations. 

 

What was your dream job when you were a child?  

Manager in a big corporation (haha). 

 

What is the one talent you wish you had? 

Being more musically gifted. 

 

What is always in your fridge?  

Vegetables, soy yogurt, apples, and flaxseed. (I’m vegan when eating at home.)

 

What are you most proud of? 

Having started nine startups, four of which were total failures. The other five now employ more than 300 people in total. 

 

How and where do you clear your mind?  

In the mountains: skiing or snowshoe hiking in the winter; roadbike riding or hiking in summer. 

 

What is the most rewarding aspect of being a founder?  

Getting to work with passionate people who want to change the world. Not being forced to work with unmotivated, incompetent, or overly political people.

 

What is your greatest professional failure, and what did you learn from it?  

Being fired as a co-founder from my startup, which eventually became a unicorn. It taught me to become aware of deficiencies in my personality and unconscious beliefs holding me back. 

For more information and updates on Assaia and the Venture Leaders Technology 2022, follow #VLeadersTech on social media and on www.venture-leaders.ch/technology.

The Venture Leaders Technology 2022 program is organized by Venturelab and supported by dpd Switzerland, EPF Lausanne, ETH Zurich, Kellerhals Carrard, Rothschild & Co, and the Canton of Vaud.

We provide an AI-based software suite that manages and optimizes airside processes for airports, airlines and ground handlers.
Our solutions make aircraft turnarounds shorter and predictable, drastic… Read more