Startup Story: TraynMe X Tehnopol Startup Incubator

At the beginning of this year, 11 startups with great potential were accepted to Tehnopol Startup Incubator’s accelerator. Let’s get to know them better – here’s TraynMe!

TraynMe empowers 3D modelers and animators by harnessing the power of cutting-edge cloud infrastructure to significantly accelerate rendering workflows. Their cloud-based SaaS eliminates the burden of long and tedious rendering tasks, freeing artists to focus on what they do best: unleashing their creativity.

TraynMe is driven by a passionate international team of four founders. Argo Käsper and Kristjan Kolbre bring expertise in software engineering and experience from the startup world, hailing from Estonia. Joining them are Mal Kubati from Kosovo and Carlo Francesco Porcelli from Italy, both ambitious business students with prior startup experience who bring a fresh perspective to the team.

Argo Käsper, the CEO, introduced their plans a bit further.

How did you come up with the idea to create a startup?

“In the summer of 2023, me and Kristjan identified a growing need for easy access to rentable GPUs. We saw this at our workplace, where we had just started experimenting with training our own ML models and it was difficult to scale the necessary compute for training and serving the model. Thus initially, we envisioned catering to the machine learning (ML) segment. However, we quickly pivoted our focus towards 3D modelers and animators, recognizing it as a more promising market for validating our business model. To be clear, we didn’t turn away ML and the AI segment completely, the same technology can be successfully applied there as well. Later that same year, with the arrival of our international co-founders, we solidified a shared mission: to empower 3D artists by streamlining their rendering workflows and freeing them to focus on their creative endeavours.”

What have been the biggest challenges/failures and the biggest wins so far?

“The biggest challenges for us have been dealing with the day-to-day organizational tasks. We have two software engineers who want to write code and see the product come alive and two young and highly motivated business developers who want our product to reach as many 3D modelers as possible.

Our biggest win has been putting together the team we have right now – it’s just a perfect fit. With this team, we won the STARTERTallinn accelerator program and the Sustain-a-thon hackathon at the end of 2023. I also see a win in having had the opportunity to talk to many industry experts and leaders, such as the CEO of Blender Foundation, Ton Roosendaal.”

What sets your startup apart from competitors?

“Unlike many competitors who manage their own server infrastructure, TraynMe leverages the power of the cloud. This strategic decision allows us to:

– Focus on our core strength: We excel in developing innovative software, and by offloading hardware management, we dedicate all our resources to bringing the most valuable software solutions to our users.
– Embrace scalability: Cloud computing offers unmatched scalability. This allows us to seamlessly adapt to user demand and provide access to the latest, most powerful cloud resources.
– Stay at the forefront: The cloud computing landscape is constantly evolving, and by being embedded within it, we can leverage the latest advancements in both cloud and AI technologies.

Ultimately, this translates into a clear benefit for our users: Easy access to top-tier cloud resources, readily available through user-friendly TraynMe products.”

Why did you choose Tehnopol Startup Incubator?

“Tehnopol Startup Incubator came to us at the perfect timing. We were looking for a program to help boost our go-to-market and build our MVP. Tehnopol has valuable resources to assist us with this, ranging from access to various expert mentors to getting benefits from several vendors.”

Where do you see your startup in 1 year? And where in 5 years?

“Within the next year, our primary focus is achieving a successful launch of TraynMe’s first stable version. Witnessing a steady growth in our registered customer base will be a strong indicator of our initial success. Looking five years down the line, TraynMe aspires to become a leader in the field of remote computation. We envision ourselves facilitating a revolutionary shift towards mobile workloads, empowering users with a fast, scalable, and user-friendly cloud-based compute infrastructure.”

Who is the next (Estonian) unicorn?

“Of course, deep down, we believe TraynMe has the potential to be a major player. However, predicting the future, especially in the rapidly evolving AI landscape with countless innovative solutions emerging, is a challenging task. The path to immense success requires constant improvement, even when metrics are already impressive. Dedication and perseverance are the hallmarks of companies that achieve unicorn status.”

Which books/podcasts/publications and influencers in your field do you follow and would recommend to other aspiring entrepreneurs? 

“My ambition is to start reading more books, but the one I have read and recommend to other founders, is “The Lean Startup” by Eric Ries. From podcasts I listen to local and others: “Ettemõte”, “Algorütm”, “Rööprähklejad”, “The Startup Podcast”, “Maintenance Phase”.

Media outlets I follow are mostly whatever Google Discover offers me. It has gotten really good for me last year. I primarily get and read news about other startups in the world, new tech innovations (AI) and investments.”

If you’d get a chance to meet with Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos, what would you ask them?

“I would ask them if they could go back in time to their younger version of self. Would they do it and what would they say?”

Startup Story series introduces the up-and-coming startups that are part of Tehnopol Startup Incubator’s accelerator programmes and whose journey is worth keeping an eye on. Startup Stories can be found here.