The story of Lightly goes back to 2019 when Igor was researching computer vision at ETH Zurich. While developing deep learning models, he began to wonder whether he would need all the collected data. Having to label all his data manually sounded dreadful to him. Thus, he started looking for a smart way to filter and select his raw data. Unfortunately, he couldn't find a plug-and-play solution, which is why he started developing a solution himself.
During the same time, he joined forces with Matthias, and they decided to make the solution available to every engineer that is facing this problem.
What started with a simple solution to solve Igor's problem now grew to a plug-and-play data selection tool with a suite of parameters that filters almost every type of image data.
Ultimately, our goal is to become the data preparation dev-toolbox for machine learning – providing all the needed elements for data preparation, such as anonymization, augmentation, and filtering.
Igor Susmelj
Igor is responsible for the technical development of the product. He holds a BSc and MSc in Electrical Engineering from ETH Zurich and published numerous academic articles with a focus on deep learning. Igor has also gained valuable work experience as a software engineer, and in startups
Matthias Heller
Matthias is responsible for the strategy and growth of the company. He holds a BA from the University of St. Gallen and a MSc in Strategic Management from HEC Paris. Furthermore, Matthias was a visiting student at Harvard University and has gained valuable experience in consulting, VC, and IB
Igor and Matthias are now supported by a brilliant team, which has years of experience in accelerating research in artificial intelligence and incorporating this into business processes and core products.