Real-Time Video Intel Startup Viisights Raises $10M

Israeli startup Viisights, a developer of behavioral understanding systems for real-time video intelligence, announced a $10M Series A fundraising round on Monday led by Canadian VC firm Awz Ventures.

Founded in 2014, Tel Aviv-based Viiisights develops video surveillance and intelligence systems for smart cities, smart enterprises, banking and financial institutes, critical infrastructure sites, transportation hubs, and ride-sharing vehicles, the company says.

Its flagship product, Viisights Wise, offers a range of applications, including violence and weapon recognition, context-related suspicious activity recognition, crowd management, vehicle and traffic surveillance, indoor and outdoor safety (including fire and smoke detection), and resource optimization, Viisights says. Using proprietary, AI-powered video understanding technology, Viisights says its system can “extract actions, events, and scenes from real-time video feeds,” unlike other applications that process a single image to recognize objects, offering limited data.

“Viisights Wise is capable of understanding complex dynamic situations. For example: people fighting, people acting suspiciously, or an automobile collision. These events cannot be detected via traditional object classification technology,” the startup says.

The company indicated in a statement that it will use the funds to expand its sales organization, establish a global presence, continue to enhance its current products, and develop new solutions.

Viisights CEO and co-founder Asaf Birenzvieg said in a statement that the company was looking forward to “providing our customers with a safer, more secure, and resource-efficient environment leading to a higher quality of life.”

“Awz is a believer in Viisights’ technology and management team,” said Yaron Ashkenazi, founder and managing partner of Awz Ventures. “We view Viisights’ behavioral recognition solution as a unique offering within the video analytics market, which has great commercial potential and will make the world a safer place.”

Awz is backed by former Canadian Pm Stephen Harper who serves as Awz’s advisory committee president. Ed Sonshine, the CEO of one of Canada’s largest real estate investment trusts, RioCan, serves as chairman of the board. Awz’s management and advisors also include former senior executives from Israeli and Canadian security agencies such as the Mossad, the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, and the Canadian Armed Forces, the firm says.