Belfast lip-reading tech firm Liopa has secured significant investment.
The Belfast firm has been backed by QUBIS, the commercialisation arm of Queen’s University Belfast – the institution it spun out of – and Invest NI’s Access to Finance funds Techstart NI and Co-Fund II.
The firm will look to use the funding to bring its LipRead and SRAVI products to market.
LipRead aims to improve the accuracy of video and media transcriptions.
SRAVI is a communications aid for patients who cannot speak, such as those who have a tracheostomy. It provides automated lip reading in a mobile phone app, so people can communicate with healthcare workers, or their friends and family, while they cannot use their voice.
The product is being trialled in a pilot study with the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, led by Consultant in Critical Care and Anaesthesia, Shondipon Laha.
CEO Liam McQuillan said: “The award will help Liopa achieve global impact with our automated lip-reading technology and ensure our continued success as a sustainable high growth tech company in Northern Ireland.”
Liopa was ranked among Northern Ireland’s most innovative tech firms on BusinessCloud’s Northern Ireland Tech 50.
Brian McCaul, CEO of QUBIS, added: “We’re always excited to see how the companies we’ve worked with continue to grow and innovate producing cutting–edge research.
“Liopa is doing some critical work and using their research to provide solutions in a particularly challenging time. We’re pleased the team are getting the funding they deserve to continue this work.”
A fortnight ago the firm also secured funding from Innovate UK.
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