A behaviour AI company using modular, low-power computer vision technology to ethically understand and predict human behaviour has raised an £8 million Series A funding round.
It will enable Humanising Autonomy to deploy its computer vision-based tech in Asia, Europe and North America as well as into additional industries.
The company will also scale the use of its platform to inform business decision-making processes that use data captured from cameras.
The London-based company is set to launch products for advertisement effectiveness, smartphone applications, and construction and warehouse safety in 2022.
It will also expand its existing offerings within the automotive and dashcam industry, where its software can alert drivers in real-time of potential safety incidents and inform fleet management systems of risky driving situations.
The round was co-led by Beacon Capital LLP and Emellience Partners, the strategic investment arm of Nihon Unisys Group, and saw participation from Anthemis Group, Global Brain Corporation, Synapse Partners, Amplifier, Aken Capital and Guy Hands, founder and chairman of Terra Firma Capital Partners, one of Europe’s largest private-equity firms.
“People are interacting with machines more than ever before,” said Maya Pindeus, co-founder and CEO.
“Whether we’re walking, shopping, driving, looking at billboards or just being at work, our world is laden with automation that doesn’t understand how people behave.
“That lack of human context leads to inefficient decisions by the machine, uninformed operational strategies by the business responsible for them and, ultimately, a poor experience for us as people.
“Our technology is changing how machines understand people and how businesses evaluate and extract insight from their data.”
Since partnering with leading chip manufacturers such as Ambarella and launching new cloud-based products in 2020, Humanising Autonomy has rapidly expanded the value and application of its GDPR-compliant software.
Kazuo Nagai, CEO of Emellience Partners, said: “Humanising Autonomy’s breakthrough approach to artificial intelligence applies a fundamental level of understanding to computer vision that will propel the technology far beyond capabilities seen in the market today.
“We thoroughly believe their approach will make the world a safer and better place, and are thrilled to join as a lead investor alongside such a visionary team.”