New Delhi, March 12: VOGIC AI has received a $50,000 innovation grant from the Toyota Mobility Foundation to develop an AI-powered crowd management and public safety solution for Varanasi’s historic old city. Selected from over 110 global contenders, VOGIC AI’s solution aims to enhance safety and accessibility in densely populated urban spaces.

In the coming months, VOGIC AI will collaborate with the Varanasi Smart City Administration, law enforcement agencies, World Resources Institute, and city planners to customize its Vision-Language AI technology for real-world use in one of India’s busiest cultural and religious hubs.

Founded by Arijit Biswas, Nikhil Mehta, and Rahul Singh Thakur, VOGIC AI focuses on transforming CCTV and drone footage into actionable intelligence. Their platform addresses the challenge of unsearchable video data, enabling security teams to search footage using natural language commands such as “Show all instances of overcrowding near Dashashwamedh Ghat between 6-8 PM.” This eliminates manual review and offers real-time alerts to improve public safety.

“Our goal is to make video data as searchable and analyzable as text, empowering cities and security agencies to extract insights instantly,” said Rahul Thakur, CTO of VOGIC AI.

VOGIC AI’s India-centric Vision-Language models are designed to handle dense crowds, variable lighting, unstable internet connectivity, and regional compliance requirements.

In addition to its smart city initiatives, VOGIC AI is conducting pilots with the Indian Army’s Intelligence Systems Unit, testing its platform for military surveillance and reconnaissance. With India’s rising focus on defense and security advancements, VOGIC AI is poised to expand in the B2G sector, where real-time video analytics is gaining strategic importance.

“This recognition validates our technology,” said Nikhil Mehta, COO of VOGIC AI. “We are now focused on expanding deployments where AI-driven video intelligence can create significant impact.”

With the global video intelligence market projected to surpass $100 billion, VOGIC AI is pioneering innovation by combining Vision-Language AI with traditional Computer Vision to transform video footage into a powerful tool for security and public safety.