Meet Elio Assaf, CEO of Optiverse. The ICT startup offers a platform that centralizes and automates meeting data. In March, Elio will join nine other innovators on a business development and investor roadshow in Barcelona.
Name: Elio Assaf
Location: Zurich
Nationality: Lebanese
Graduated from: ETH & EPFL
Job title: CEO
Number of employees: 7
Money raised: CHF 500k
Can you tell us who your product or solution helps, and how?
Optiverse's AI-driven meeting assistance platform helps businesses that conduct virtual meetings by automating tedious tasks and providing automatic documentation. We improve workflow efficiency by offering automated note-taking, video summaries, transcriptions, and CRM integrations, saving time and enhancing productivity.
"The most important lesson
I've learned is the
value of adaptability."
What market are you addressing and what is the potential of your startup in that market?
We are currently primarily focused on the EU market, targeting teams focused on sales, marketing and engineering, but also executives and managers with an overload of meetings.
How and where did you come up with the idea for your startup?
Our journey began with the development of a Video Video Summarization tool. We pivoted to the meetings analysis market after observing that some of our users were utilizing our tool to summarize meetings and webinars in video format. This user-driven insight led us to develop our current meeting assistance platform, which has gained significant traction since its Beta launch.
What do you expect from the Venture Leaders roadshow, and how do you think it will help you achieve your vision?
We anticipate that the Venture Leaders roadshow will provide valuable opportunities to establish connections with potential customers and investors. This is particularly crucial as we expand our business and plan to raise a seed round in the first half of 2025.
"Always listen to
the end users."
What are your team’s key achievements to date?
To date, I believe the team has demonstrated remarkable perseverance and focus, leveraging every opportunity to better understand the market. This has resulted in launching the world's first AI-powered video-to-video summarization technology in November 2023, successfully pivoting to develop our meeting assistance platform based on user feedback, and securing over 20 ongoing B2B pilot projects.
Is there a key principle or value that guides you as you build your company?
Always listen to the end users. This user-centric approach has been instrumental in our product development and pivot, ensuring that we create solutions that truly address market needs and provide tangible value to our customers.
What is the most important lesson you have learned as a founder?
The most important lesson I've learned is the value of adaptability and how important it is to always be flexible while listening to the end users.
What is your favorite productivity hack or tool and why?
Using AI as much as possible, at every step of the way. We've experienced firsthand how AI can truly 10x our productivity, which is why we also believe that our product has the potential to be truly life-changing to the end users.
What was your dream job when you were a child?
I wanted to be an astronaut and go to space.
