AnyVision, a US-based image recognition technology developer backed by mobile chipmaker Qualcomm and industrial group Robert Bosch, has secured $43m in funding from undisclosed investors.
Founded in 2015, AnyVision has created artificial intelligence-driven image recognition technology that can identify people in physical spaces and authenticate users on mobile devices.
Applications for the technology include granting a person access to a locked room by confirming their identity from up to three metres away, thereby facilitating touchless, secure entry to restricted areas.
The need for contactless interfaces has increased during the coronavirus pandemic, and the funding will drive technology development.
AnyVision claims its technology works even when people wear masks, and it only stores mathematical vectors of faces rather than photographs, boosting user privacy.
However, software producer Microsoft’s investment arm, M12, divested its stake in April this year following concerns it was being used for mass surveillance of Palestinians in the West Bank territory.
Microsoft’s investigation only found proof the technology was used at border crossings, but M12 decided to no longer invest in facial recognition companies as it could not, as a minority shareholder, guarantee such technologies would not be abused.
M12 had backed a $74m series A round closed by AnyVision in June 2019 together with Qualcomm’s corporate venture capital subsidiary, Qualcomm Ventures, and Robert Bosch, as well as OG Technology Partners, an investment vehicle for holding firm Ofer Group.
Eldridge Industries, DFJ Growth and Lightspeed Venture Partners also took part in the three-tranche round, which included two unnamed private equity firms.
Image courtesy of AnyVision.
