A Story Of Perseverance

Despoina Ioannidou is the CTO and Cofounder of Trayvisor an AI powered payment software that uses computer vision and deep learning for food recognition and self-service checkout based out of France. She believes in using AI to help improve the lives of people every day. In order to eliminate small redundant tasks, she built Travisor to ensure that long lines that employees are subjected to during their lunch break are avoided. The aim was to ensure that individuals have quality time to spend for themselves and truly enjoy their meal without rushing with it.

Despoina hails from Greece with a specialization in applied math for machine learning and computer vision and later went on to pursue an industrial PhD in applied math for environmental engineering. This foundational knowledge helped her apply the concept of machine learning and computer vision in building a product. She has been passionate about solving real life problems and worked as a team lead of engineering in the R&D team of the Meero start-up where the primary focus was using ML and computer vision to improve the product offerings. Despoina was also one of the top 5 finalists for Women in AI Awards Europe 2020.

“ Not everything will be a success but it also can not be a loss because the experience and the teachings that failures bring to you are immense. So, just take the leap.”

Eureka Moment

With the recent advances in technology, it’s not just the product that is being improved but also the way people use the product. This helps individuals save time on menial tasks and have a more enjoyable experience. Having worked with various startups on Machine learning and computer vision projects, Despoina saw an exciting opportunity in automating payments made in restaurants. Having a background in applied math and the transverse nature of the domain enabled her on her journey with Trayvisor. Trayvisor allows users to make payments through a single photo that analyzes their meal, allowing them to use their time spent waiting in long queues for something that’s much more valuable.

The Highs and the Lows

A major hurdle that she had to undergo while building her company was trying to convince clients about the potential value her product brought to the table. Being a female entrepreneur in the tech industry raised quite a few eyebrows. Both Despoina and Camille, co-founder of Trayvisor, had to prove themselves multiple times for a seat at the table. Being a B2B business, Trayvisor’s target market was restaurants. However, it was very crucial to ensure that consumers saw value in the product because after all, they were the end users. Only if the consumer was convinced and felt the need for the product would restaurants invest in the business.

In order for them to do so, they had to depict to their business clients that this product would help provide a higher value to their business’ consumers than the conventional system. COVID 19 didn’t make it any easier for them. In fact, it made the marketing and selling process even more difficult, but what success story does not have hurdles? Trayvisor continued to persevere and push forward through the crisis, working twice as hard to sail through uncharted waters.

Despoina’s proudest moment has been Trayvisor. Watching the company grow from proof of concept to industrialization and then finally to the joy on the face of the end user is truly ‘a very gratifying experience’ she says.

Driving factors to Success

• Mentors and Coaches — A lot of people influenced her ways but special mention goes to two people: Her first manager who made her believe that she could translate her dream to action. Their business angel investor really trusted her in giving life to this business idea and always backed up their decisions and ensured that they are not met with doubt.
• Fail forward — Research shows a 90% failure rate in startups. However the experience that comes with failure is invaluable and can not be learnt from elsewhere. Failure is indeed the greatest teacher of all. “Sure, all ideas don’t make it to the top, but there’s no harm in giving it your best shot because the experience and the teachings that failures bring to you are immense. So just take the leap.” said Despoina
• Take the leap — Many women have brilliant ideas but unfortunately many give in to self-doubt and fear failure. Despoina also went through such times when she thought that her idea was a mere fantasy, but she found a way to get out of it and destroy self-doubt. Despoina’s one message to such women is this: Take the leap, just take the leap.
• Community of women — “Women lead with more empathy, prioritize the team and help people grow through their leadership rather than utilizing them as instruments for execution of tasks. Leadership isn’t about being loud and overpowering others but rather inspiring people and making them feel valued.” In her experience, finding a community of women, who helped her take the leap has been of utmost value.

A story of perseverance

“ My story is a story of perseverance. At 18, I would not have imagined to be where I am at now. It’s not because I did not dare to dream but because I didn’t know it was an option. Through a lot of perseverance and of course, failure I was able to create something that is impactful and brings value to the end users. It allowed me to dream forward”

About

Thousand Voices — Amplifying voices through stories

Thousand Voices, hosted by Thousand Eyes On Me, is a podcast platform to amplify all voices, especially those that are not heard.

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Women in AI Awards aims to inspire women to take part in AI-related career paths, providing a platform to talents who have launched startups whose products are based on these technologies.

Author : Divya Maria Sunil is a member of WAI India and the Podcast Director for Thousand Voices.