Griffin AI: Mentor-Led Pilot That Reframed the Market
Connected a deep tech startup with the right mentor network to run a pilot that shifted their entire market thesis
Vishva V
Investment Associate at AIC - Anna Incubator
From their time as
Investment Associate
AIC - Anna Incubator • 2025
Overview
Vishva was managing Griffin AI, a portfolio startup building radio-based monitoring products for elderly people in their homes. The founders were technically strong, having studied at NUS, and had already run a pilot at an old-age home in Singapore. The problem: no fall or emergency event had occurred during the pilot, so they had no materialized data to prove their product worked.
The Story
Vishva was managing Griffin AI, a portfolio startup building radio-based monitoring products for elderly people in their homes. The founders were technically strong, having studied at NUS, and had already run a pilot at an old-age home in Singapore. The problem: no fall or emergency event had occurred during the pilot, so they had no materialized data to prove their product worked.
When they came to AIC, they couldn't substantiate their claims. Vishva identified that the gap wasn't technical, it was evidential, and that the right move was to expand the pilot into environments where the product could actually be tested under real conditions.
He matched Griffin AI with a mentor who had established connections with prominent old-age homes in Chennai and in the US, including a network called Prayojana. The startup installed their product across these homes and ran a four-month pilot.
What the pilot surfaced was unexpected. In a managed care setting, caretakers are always present, which made the monitoring product redundant. The real need wasn't in old-age homes at all. The market question had shifted entirely: where does the actual unmet need live, and who is the right buyer?
This finding saved Griffin AI from entering the market with the wrong product-market fit. Instead of a failed launch, they came out of the pilot with a clear mandate to redefine their target segment. The research work Vishva coordinated also contributed to Griffin AI receiving an offer to pilot at Mitsubishi homes.