Investment

AI software company Vizgard has secured £1.5m to respond to a need for reliable automation in the defence sector.

The oversubscribed funding round was led by Sure Valley Ventures and will be used to scale Vizgard’s engineering and business development capabilities, as well as establishing international distribution.

The startup was founded in early 2021 by former Royal Navy submariner Alex Kehoe, who says operational demands in defence continue to outpace capabilities. 

A recently published report from the House of Commons Defence Committee highlighted a significant disconnect between the UK’s strategic vision for defence AI and its practical implementation – a gap that Vizgard is attempting to help close.

Vizgard’s FortifAI software platform controls low-power processors to enhance a broad range of systems, including security cameras, counter-drone technologies, and unmanned vehicles.

It says that it provides precise, real-time threat identification and automatic camera control, significantly reducing operator workload.

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The platform also includes Vizgard’s proprietary Behaviour Risk Index algorithm, which calculates a human-explainable danger probability score while automatically blurring faces to protect privacy.

The London-based firm is also part of a £12m Innovate UK consortium, led by Altitude Angel, developing a 165-mile drone superhighway. 

The UK Home Office recently awarded Vizgard a significant contract to develop a portable knife-detection solution powered by its previously mentioned software platform.

“The UK has all the ingredients to lead the world in defence AI, but the pace of transitioning from Proof of Concept to deployment is lagging,” said Kehoe.

“Whether on land, in the air, or at sea, this approach ensures systems can react faster, act independently if GPS or communication is lost, and even act collaboratively to provide more actionable feedback.”

Brian Kinane founding partner at Sure Valley Ventures, added: “Vizgard is tackling the growing need for time-critical visual intelligence and precision camera automation in security and defence solutions.

“With the rapidly growing demand for AI in defence and security, and the team’s deep domain expertise, we believe Vizgard has the potential to become a global leader in AI vision automation.”

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