Emergent Ventures is a venture firm that invests in seed-stage software and AI startups. Emergent partners early with high-potential entrepreneurs and helps them find product-market fit and develop go-to-market. The firm focuses on the Intelligent Software space, which includes themes such as Enterprise Automation, Intelligent Voice and Video, Logistics-tech, DevOps/Developer Tools, Finance-tech, and Cloud Management

Emergent Ventures

Unusual Ventures is a seed-stage venture capital offering hands-on support and expertise to startups on their early-stage journey.  It was founded in 2018 and is based in Menlo Park, California.

Unusual Ventures

WestWave Capital is an early-stage Venture Capital firm that invests in Seed and Series A Enterprise companies building deep technology solutions. They focus on SaaS, security, cloud infrastructure, blockchain, analytics, and IoT companies.

WestWave Capital

Dell Technologies Capital is the investment arm for Dell Technologies.  We’ve invested in over 100 companies that push the envelope on digital technology for enterprises and consumers.  We are a team of world-class investors who help our companies succeed.  We focus on early-stage investments with passionate founders. Our companies gain unique access to the go-to-market capabilities of Dell Technologies. For more information visit www.delltechcapital.com

Dell Technologies Capital

Plug and Play is a seed and early-stage investor focused on great teams leading emerging growth companies.  Plug and Play runs 12 industry-specific accelerator programs twice a year, that acts as a platform for major corporations and high quality startups to connect and collaborate.  Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, Plug and Play participates in Seed, Angel and Series A funding where they often co-invest with their strategic partners. Through years of experience and as part of their network, Plug and Play has put together a world-class network of serial entrepreneurs, strategic investors, and industry leaders who actively assist the firm with its successful and growing investment portfolio.  SEED ROUND. Plug and Play participates in seed round investing through a program called Startup Camp. Startup Camp is a 10-week program based in Silicon Valley for top-notch entrepreneurs to work intensively on building out their business model. Select startups will refine their business models and prototypes with help from a combination of structured workshops, speaker series and mentorship sessions, as well as active coaching from their investment team. At the culmination of Startup Camp, founders will have crystalized their business plans and pitched their company to the venture capital community at EXPO Demo Day.''  ANGEL ROUND Plug and Play makes angel round investments throughout the year, sourced from their monthly Plug and Play Angels (PAPA) sessions. They are partnered with local angel investors in Silicon Valley who participate in PAPA to find the most promising startups and best new technologies.  SERIES A. Series A typical Series A round is in the range of $2 million to $10 million, and is intended to provide operating capital for the company for six months to two years. This round capitalizes the company as it develops its products, performs initial marketing and branding, acquires talent, and conducts other early-stage business operations. It is in this stage that Plug and Play will co-invest with over 180 venture capital partners.  Plug and Play has helped grow market leaders such as PayPal, Danger, Google, DropBox, LendingClub, Zoosk, SoundHound, CreditSesame, Skytree, and has over 400 more early-stage startups in its portfolio.

Plug and Play

Honeywell is a Fortune 100 company that invents and manufactures technologies to address tough challenges linked to global macrotrends such as safety, security, and energy. With approximately 129,000 employees worldwide, including more than 19,000 engineers and scientists, we have an unrelenting focus on quality, delivery, value, and technology in everything we make and do.

Honeywell Ventures

Okta Ventures, is the leading independent provider of identity for the enterprise, Okta is committed to being a catalyst for the industry. With Okta Ventures, Okta is playing a critical role in accelerating innovation throughout the identity ecosystem. We are investing in cutting edge technologies focusing on identity, security, and privacy.

Okta Ventures

Oloid

OLOID provides passwordless identity and access solutions, converging cyber and physical security. Physical identity factors such as access card, face, palm scan, etc. for frictionless login into devices and SSO systems. OLOID integrates digital identity seamlessly across HR, IT, and records systems creating a unified passwordless authentication platform for shared devices. With physical security and time clock integration, OLOID is able to provide seamless and secure authentication across the day of a deskless worker. The Sunnyvale, California-located company was established in 2019.

Oloid is a provider of software solutions offering secure privacy-forward tools for facial recognition at work. The company’s FaceVault platform provides contactless access control, especially targeting deskless workers in the healthcare and manufacturing industries. The technology can be integrated into existing access control infrastructure. Several Fortune 500 customers have used the FaceVault beta platform since 2018, and currently, Flex (a contract manufacturer) is using the platform at several sites in the US.

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

Facial Recognition

OLOID appoints Dhruv Markandey as Chief Commercial Officer

Oloid is a provider of software solutions offering secure privacy-forward tools for facial recognition at work. The company’s FaceVault platform provides contactless access control, especially targeting deskless workers in the healthcare and manufacturing industries. The technology can be integrated into existing access control infrastructure. Several Fortune 500 customers have used the FaceVault beta platform since 2018, and currently, Flex (a contract manufacturer) is using the platform at several sites in the US.In February 2022, the company raised USD 12 million in Series A funding bringing its total funding to USD 17 million. The funds were expected to be used to expand the company’s access control products portfolio and to expand sales and marketing operations nationwide. Oloid also planned to expand the team in Bengaluru and Silicon Valley to double the workforce.

<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

Oloid

About EDGE

Contact Us

Resources

Area of Focus

Technology Research Made Effortless