The Entrepreneurs' Fund IV (TEF4) is a Silicon Valley based, early-stage venture fund focused on cloud-based business-to-business software and cognitive computing. It is the latest in a series of successful early stage funds which include The Entrepreneurs' Fund (TEF), The Entrepreneurs' Fund I (TEF1), The Entrepreneurs' Fund II (TEF2), The Entrepreneurs Growth Fund (TEGF), and The Entrepreneurs' Fund III.

The Entrepreneurs' Fund

Ulu Ventures is a leading seed-stage venture fund in Silicon Valley investing in diverse entrepreneurial teams as well as Enterprise IT, EdTech, FinTech, Healthcare, and Sustainability startups.  Ulu is the first Latina-led venture fund in Silicon Valley and is one of the largest in the country with over $200M in assets under management. As well, the firm has designed its investment process to reduce risk and produce better, more consistent returns. Ulu’s process structures intuition and applies it intelligently to investments, avoiding cognitive biases common in VC; systematically identifies key drivers of risk and uncertainty, streamlining due diligence; and calculates a probability-weighted multiple(PWM) on invested capital, ensuring consistent decision-making.

Ulu Ventures

super{set} is a startup studio. We found and build data-driven software companies.  Led by seasoned engineer-entrepreneurs, we build products that solve complex business problems rooted in data. We don't just critique, we partner with co-founders to craft and build.

super{set}

VentureStudio located at Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India, aims to nucleate an ecosystem of innovation that accelerates regional economic development and create a national and global impact. VentureStudio believes that practicing design-led approaches to business creation will foster an ecosystem of innovation.  VentureStudio offers a product and business creation opportunity at Ahmedabad University, Gujarat, India, through a full-time six-month fellowship program for entrepreneurs, engineers, innovators and designers to learn and practice designing their own companies. Fellows will work in teams to identify critical market needs, generate and prototype novel solutions and develop business models to launch scalable businesses to satisfy such needs.

VentureStudio

H. Barton Asset Management is a VC firm specializing in start-ups and early stage investments.

H. Barton Asset Management

K20 Fund offers flexible capital to various sectors through their diversified deployment strategy including debt, growth equity, PIPE.

K20 Fund

The Indy Fund

Kogniz

Kogniz leverages AI and computer vision to deliver the leading proactive safety platform for improving workplace safety and security.  Its flagship platform, Kogniz AssureAI, can be implemented in days and integrates with the existing infrastructure already in use.   More than three million employees rely on Kogniz for safer, smarter spaces with solutions for occupational hazards, workplace violence, evacuations, personnel accountability, anomalous behavior detection, and vaccine management.  Kogniz’ award-winning technology has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, NBC and Fox.  The company is headquartered in Berkeley, California with a development team in Montreal, Quebec.  Learn more at www.kogniz.com.

Kogniz provides security surveillance solutions based on real-time video analytics. The company’s product, AICam, is a camera embedded with advanced processing and cloud storage. The system can identify people of concern (such as criminals, ex-employees) and suspicious behavior, alerting relevant authorities. The system can also be used for access control to notify users when an unauthorized person is spotted. In May 2020, Kogniz introduced the Health Response Platform, which embeds temperature screening to accurately measure temperature from up to 16 feet away from the camera.

Facial recognition delivers incredible convenience to consumers, as well as serious risks.

Facial Recognition

Kogniz is an advanced AI-based computer vision company that specializes in developing cutting-edge technology to predict, detect, and resolve safety and operational problems across various industries. One of their key offerings is the Kogniz Gun Detection module, introduced in June 2022, designed to help organizations prepare for, proactively detect, and respond to active shooter events. This tool leverages computer vision and AI to identify firearms in real-time using the client's existing camera infrastructure. It boasts features like multi-pass AI with human verifiers to eliminate false alarms, real-time alerts via various channels, dynamic reporting, emergency response planning, and visual simulations for active shooter scenarios.

Kogniz Introduces Computer Vision Platform for Gun Detection

Kogniz™ Unveils Next-Generation Computer Vision Platform to Predict and Prevent Safety and Operations Issues

Hardware, software, and wearable devices to help prevent and manage the next pandemic.

Infectious Disease Tech

Kogniz Lands $10M in Funding

<div>
 
 Founded in Spain, FacePhi offers a wide range of facial recognition identity authentication solutions for transaction approval and digital onboarding. FacePhi&rsquo;s Selphi software allows the user to conduct ID authentication by using a selfie. The selfie is encrypted and sent to the bank&rsquo;s database to be used in payee authentication. The encryptions ensure the user's privacy as the full image is not sent to the bank. The company&rsquo;s revenue increased by around 143% during the first half of 2020 (compared to the same period in 2019) on account of agreements with 10 new clients, compared to 13 new customers during 2019 (full year), indicating the growth potential of the company.
 
 
 In May 2021, FacePhi partnered with Revelock, a Spanish fraud detection company, to provide comprehensive identity verification and fraud prevention solutions for financial institutions. In February 2022, the company partnered with software company Oracle Cloud Marketplace, for the latter to work as a distributor for FacePhi's digital onboarding and facial recognition solutions. In November 2021, the company also partnered with airport operator Aena to offer identity verification for passengers and employees at a price of USD 1.7 million for four years. With the aim of expanding presence in the LATAM region, FacePhi established a regional office in Uruguay in March 2022, followed by an agreement with 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates?industryIds=16">
 Hites,
 </a>
 a Chilean department store, to use remote selfie onboarding technology to let Hites&rsquo; customers apply for credit cards online. In May 2022, FacePhi opened another
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/10796?industryIds=16">
 office in the UK
 </a>
 to serve Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) regions.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 During the fiscal year 2022, FacePhi recorded net revenues of EUR 2.2 million ( ~USD 2.3 million), growing 69% YoY, and an adjusted EBITDA of EUR 4.3 million ( ~USD 4.6 million), unchanged from the previous year.
 
 
 
</div>

FacePhi

Headquartered in the Netherlands, Sightcorp is an AI spin-off from the University of Amsterdam that develops patented proprietary AI Software solutions for mobile apps, including face detection (detect multiple faces in an image), emotion analysis, crowd demographics, and attention analytics. The main target markets of the company include retail, advertising, hospitality, and digital signage.In January 2022, Sightcorp was <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/7828?industryIds=16">acquired by Raydiant </a>, a provider of an in-location experience management platform, to jointly develop solutions for personalized on-screen, in-location experiences targeting retailers, restaurants, etc. Sightcorp expects to open offices in Lithuania and London in 2022 and to grow its European team from 20 to 100. Raydiant is also hiring across the US and internationally to accompany Sightcorp’s new offices.

Sightcorp

<div>
 
 Okaya offers a mobile app that aims to understand users&rsquo; wellbeing by using a combination of facial recognition technology, biometrics analysis (such as heart rate, weight, etc.), and machine learning. Okaya&rsquo;s facial recognition algorithm, developed in-house, analyses facial features obtained from a 15-second video recording where up to 30 frames are captured in a second. This data is evaluated along with other biometrics to determine a person&rsquo;s level of fatigue. The product claims to help create strong work teams and a robust work environment allowing the identification of areas where improvement is required.
 
</div>

Okaya

<div>
 
 Facetec offers a 3D face authentication software called ZoOm capable of high-performance liveness detection (verification of whether facial features captured are from a living subject). The software can work on smart mobile devices and webcams. The company also has patented technology to generate a 3D face map using a video selfie recorded even with a 2D camera. In September 2019, Facetec improved its product by embedding an age-estimation tool. Even though selfie-based authentication has become commonplace, many of them uses 2D facial mapping which makes it are vulnerable to spoofing attacks (trying to obtain access illegitimately by reproducing a person's face using images, masks, mannequins etc.) due to use of 2D mapping of facial features. FaceTec's technology is superior to others as it allows to create a 3D map of the face even with a normal 2D camera. While most other 3D face mapping requires designated hardware components, FaceTec's technology eliminates this requirement. Hence, it does not require app developers to rely on device manufacturers to incorporate additional hardware to use ZoOm. The company claims its product is one of the few companies to be certified in level 1 and 2 in iBeta Presentation Attack Detection (PAD) testing directed by an ISO standard. The software can detect digital and physical 'spoof artifacts' such as high-resolution photos and videos, masks and mannequins. FaceTec has over 100 customers across various verticals with an installed base of over 10 billion smart devices. ZoOm targets a wide range of markets ranging from banking, e-commerce, healthcare, insurance, e-voting, attendance, and government. Majority of FaceTec's customers are currently government and financial institutions.
 
</div>

FaceTec, Inc.

<div>
 
 FaceFirst offers facial recognition solutions mainly for access control as well as for identity authentication and real-time security. It focuses on retailers, airports, casinos, banks, as well as music and gaming events. The company also offers a mobile app (for iOS and Android) for facial recognition on the go. FaceFirst&rsquo;s facial recognition tool is mainly aimed at the retail segment, which accounts for around 50% of its business. FaceFirst&rsquo;s patented retail security platform can identify any known shoplifters or forbidden employees attempting to enter the store. Its products can be integrated with existing retail systems. 
 
 
 The company also introduced Mask-ID in November 2018, which instantly blurs identified faces without compromising accuracy. Additionally, the retail security platform allows its users to access the company&rsquo;s database of retail criminals, enabling them to include any individuals banned by the company itself. FaceFirst is one of the companies to work with lawmakers to help regulate the industry.
 
</div>

FaceFirst

Companies that are developing facial recognition technology to suggest tags for photos uploaded on the platform, typically social media.

Companies that provide facial recognition technology for contactless and fast-payment gateways.

Companies providing tools to identify VIP customers and repeat customers by using facial recognition.

Companies that provide technology to monitor physical access to offices, retail stores, and residences as well as access to electronic devices, such as mobile phones and laptops, using facial recognition.

Companies providing facial recognition technology to identify people from live and recorded videos.

Companies that provide facial recognition technology to police and government agencies to identify criminals, protestors, unauthorized overstayers in the country, and departing passengers.

Facial recognition is a type of biometrics used to verify individuals

Used in smart city applications for access control

Facial recognition technology is built on ML models for training data

Kogniz is an advanced AI-based computer vision company that specializes in developing cutting-edge technology to predict, detect, and resolve safety and operational problems across various industries. One of their key offerings is the Kogniz Gun Detection module, introduced in June 2022, designed to help organizations prepare for, proactively detect, and respond to active shooter events. This tool leverages computer vision and AI to identify firearms in real-time using the client's existing camera infrastructure. It boasts features like multi-pass AI with human verifiers to eliminate false alarms, real-time alerts via various channels, dynamic reporting, emergency response planning, and visual simulations for active shooter scenarios.
Furthermore, Kogniz offers a comprehensive Computer Vision Hub platform that seamlessly integrates with their clients' existing video camera infrastructure. This platform accurately detects unusual activities, potential hazards, and equipment failures round-the-clock, minimizing risks, saving time, and improving productivity. The company's solutions cater to diverse sectors, including industrial, commercial, retail, educational, governmental, and healthcare settings, addressing challenges such as employee safety, defect detection, perimeter intrusion detection, automated emergency evacuation management, and building/vehicle access control.
In June 2022, Kogniz secured a USD 10 million investment led by Ulu Ventures, with participation from super{set} Venture Studio, K20 Fund, The Indy Fund, and H. Barton Asset Management, among others. This funding aimed to expand the company's technology for gun detection, safety, and anomaly detection across various organizations.

Kinsa is a health technology company that manufactures smart, digital thermometers designed for seamless temperature monitoring and illness tracking. Their flagship products include the Kinsa QuickScan thermometer, a no-contact infrared device that delivers readings within seconds, and the Kinsa Smart Ear and QuickCare thermometers, which connect to a user-friendly mobile app via Bluetooth.
The Kinsa thermometers are accurate, reliable, and easy to use, providing precise temperature readings for individuals of all ages, from infants to adults. The accompanying Kinsa app offers personalized guidance based on the temperature reading, symptoms, and age, helping users determine whether medical attention is necessary and providing recommendations for at-home care.
One of Kinsa's standout features is its ability to track fever patterns and integrate with other health data, such as Apple Health. Users can log symptoms, medications, and other relevant information, creating a comprehensive overview of their health. The app also allows for temperature history tracking and medication reminders for multiple family members.
Kinsa's thermometers have received FDA clearance for both accuracy and safety, and the company's products have been widely praised for their innovative technology, user-friendly design, and seamless integration with mobile devices.
In addition to their consumer-focused products, Kinsa has emerged as a valuable tool for public health monitoring. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Kinsa's network of connected thermometers detected anomalous fever patterns weeks before official case numbers surged, demonstrating the potential of crowdsourced data for early outbreak detection and response.

Kinsa

Juganu is a technology company that provides an innovative platform for smart cities and smart retail spaces. The company's core offering is a wireless computer vision platform and advanced services that leverage existing lighting infrastructure. Juganu's smart fixtures integrate sensors, cameras, and AI capabilities, transforming physical spaces into digital ecosystems that enhance safety, efficiency, and connectivity.
The platform combines advanced LED lighting technology with computer vision AI applications, IoT connectivity, and integrated analytics. Juganu's solution enables a wide range of capabilities, including public Wi-Fi and 5G networks, environmental sensors, traffic optimization, restricted area monitoring, people density mapping, abnormal noise detection, and integration with third-party applications.
Juganu's smart lighting fixtures reduce energy consumption by up to 80% compared to traditional options, contributing to sustainability goals and lower operational costs. The company's patented planar light technology mimics natural sunlight, providing exceptional illumination quality.
Juganu's platform can be rapidly deployed, going live within days, and requires minimal installation effort, resulting in low capital and operational expenditures for clients. The company's technology has been implemented in various smart city projects across multiple countries, including the US, Brazil, Mexico, Guatemala, Greece, and Israel.
In the retail sector, Juganu's platform automates routine tasks, enhances customer experiences, improves security, and optimizes operations through capabilities like customer journey management, shelf monitoring, queue management, and real-time messaging.

Juganu

Sickweather is a technology company that provides a real-time map of illnesses and a crowdsourcing community for tracking the spread of diseases. It analyzes social media mentions of symptoms and plots them on an interactive map, allowing users to view reports of various illnesses in their area. The company's technology processes millions of illness reports each month and has been recognized for accurately forecasting outbreaks up to 15 weeks in advance.
Sickweather's core offering is an app that displays illness maps for a range of conditions, including respiratory, gastrointestinal, environmental, and childhood illnesses. Users can search for specific symptoms or view grouped illness categories. The app also sends notifications when users enter areas with a high concentration of reported illnesses, dubbed "sick zones."
One of the key differentiators of Sickweather's technology is its ability to filter out irrelevant social media mentions and accurately identify genuine reports of illnesses. The company has developed semantic analysis techniques to disqualify phrases like "Bieber fever" and focus on mentions of actual symptoms.
Sickweather's business model involves partnering with healthcare organizations, employers, and government agencies to provide insights into illness trends and support proactive planning for outbreaks. In 2019, the company piloted a program with Unum Group to help predict employee absenteeism due to sickness, potentially reducing overtime costs and service disruptions.
In April 2020, Sickweather introduced a Covid-19 Score to track and predict the risk factors associated with the Coronavirus pandemic. This feature allowed users to monitor the spread of Covid-19 in their area and served as a leading indicator compared to official reports.

Sickweather

MachineSense is a technology company specializing in internet of Things (IoT) and sensor systems for predictive maintenance in the public safety and manufacturing sectors. Their core offering revolves around SignaGuard, a patented vibration and power quality monitoring solution that leverages analytics to enable predictive maintenance for industrial machinery, components, and systems.
MachineSense's approach involves utilizing flexible models, proven diagnostic instruments, sophisticated software, and analytical expertise to deliver sustainable, scalable, and cost-effective condition-based maintenance and monitoring programs. These programs aim to ensure the availability of industrial assets, maximize runtime productivity, and reduce overall maintenance expenses.
MachineSense offers services for 24/7 machine component vibration signature analysis and energy-saving and optimization solutions for industrial applications.

MachineSense

Orbita is a provider of intelligent virtual assistants and workflow automation solutions for the healthcare industry. The company offers a conversational AI platform that enables healthcare organizations to build and deploy virtual assistants across various channels such as web, mobile apps, voice assistants, and interactive voice response (IVR) systems. These virtual assistants are designed to enhance patient engagement, streamline clinical workflows, and improve operational efficiency.
Orbita's platform integrates with electronic medical records (EMRs), customer relationship management (CRM) systems, practice management software, call centers, and other critical healthcare systems. This integration ensures secure data flow and enables personalized experiences for patients while providing valuable insights to healthcare staff.
The company's product offerings include:
1. Orbita Engage: A virtual concierge for healthcare organizations' digital front doors, providing patients with access to healthcare information and services through familiar technologies like chatbots and voice assistants.
2. Orbita Assist: A virtual bedside assistant that facilitates hands-free patient-provider communication. It uses AI to prioritize requests and route them to the appropriate resource based on the patient's needs. This solution aims to improve response times, reduce unnecessary trips for healthcare workers, and enhance the overall patient experience.
3. Orbita Connect: A virtual assistant that provides pre and post-visit continuity for patients at home. It ensures patients are prepared, informed, and empowered through personalized patient education, guidance, and support.
4. Orbita Blaze: Launched in January 2023, Blaze is a next-generation digital front door solution that transforms healthcare website search functionality. It understands and responds to patient queries using natural language processing and conversational AI, guiding them to the most appropriate provider and facility based on their specific circumstances.
Orbita's solutions are designed to meet critical privacy and security standards, such as HIPAA compliance, ensuring the protection of sensitive patient data.
In March 2021, Orbita announced a partnership with Philips, a global leader in health technology, to co-develop next-generation conversational virtual assistants for Philips' consumer health and patient support applications. The partnership aimed to enhance the patient experience and increase efficiency throughout the health continuum.

Orbita

Smart devices (smart tags, bands, watches and rings) that alert users to high body temperature or social distancing measures. These devices would also record the person’s location for contact tracing purposes. 

Analytical platforms linked to a hardware device that records data, provides related information (i.e. personal information, history medical records etc.), links to  remote services (emergency contact, consultations), and provides contact tracing information.  

Thermal or infrared imaging products used to measure body or skin temperatures used in devices including scanners, cameras, and handheld devices.  

AI-powered autonomous robots that assist in disinfecting offices (air and/or surfaces) from harmful pathogens, most often using ultraviolet (UV) light.     

Some companies offer software integrable with existing technology to prevent disease spread within offices

Offers digital solutions that help manage the spread of infectious diseases

Companies rely heavily on IoT-based technology for sensors, wearables, scanners, and other handheld devices

Companies offer technology to maintain population health (used in offices, etc.); expandable to wider settings

Companies in the space are known to offer AI-powered autonomous robots to disinfect commercial spaces

Most software and some hardware solutions rely on AI/ML to interpret device and scanner results

Kogniz

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