Internet and telecommunications group SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 and investment holding company Eldridge Industries co-led a $235m funding round for Israel-based image recognition technology provider AnyVision today.
Undisclosed existing investors also backed the round. Amit Lubovsky, director at SoftBank Investment Advisers, which manages Vision Fund 2, has been appointed to AnyVision’s board of directors.
AnyVision produces image recognition systems which leverage artificial intelligence to identify people through video footage. Its technology can be used for purposes such as video surveillance, or to identify employees and grant them access to restricted areas.
Avi Golan, chief executive of AnyVision, said: “AnyVision’s innovations in recognition AI helped transform passive cameras into proactive security systems and empowered organisations [to] take a more holistic view to advanced security threats.”
The company will use the funding to enter new markets and support its corporate partnerships. It will also integrate software development kits and software into edge devices such as smart cameras, bodycams and computer chips.
AnyVision’s last capital injection was a $43m funding round backed by undisclosed investors in September 2020.
Software provider Microsoft’s investment arm, M12, was an investor in AnyVision before it divested its shareholding in April 2020 following concerns about the potential use of its technology in the mass surveillance of Palestinians in the West Bank territory.
M12 contributed to a $74m series A round for the company that closed in June 2019, alongside Qualcomm Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of semiconductor technology producer Qualcomm, as well as industrial group Robert Bosch and holding company Ofer Group’s OG Technology Partners vehicle.
The series A funding was raised across three separate tranches and the round included Eldridge Industries, DFJ Growth and Lightspeed Venture Partners in addition to a pair of undisclosed private equity firms.