Israeli IoT startup PointGrab Inc. has closed a $5 million financing round from from ABB Technology Ventures (Zurich, Switzerland), EcoMachines Ventures (London, UK), and Flex Lab IX (Milpitas, California, USA). Saar Wilf, PointGrab's chairman and first investor, is also participating in this funding round.
With the proceeds, PointGrab plans expanding into the rapidly growing $30 billion home and building-automation market. By embedding deep learning technology into optical sensing IoT devices, PointGrab products provide detailed information about activity within buildings to effectively support energy-saving, facility management, occupant comfort and safety, as well as business intelligence.
Based in Hod Hasharon, the company was founded by chairman Saar Wilf, CEO Haim Perski, and VP technology Amir Kaplan.
PointGrab chief business officer Itamar Roth said, “PointGrab integrates its well-established deep learning and object-tracking IP into remote building-automation devices, addressing rapidly growing markets such as HVAC and lighting control, security and access control, and intelligent real-life video analytics. The most aggressive demand for such products comes from energy savings and analytics, and the company’s value proposition attracts the interest of leading lighting, building-automation, and energy services vendors in Europe, the US, Japan and China."
ABB Technology Ventures (ATV) Group VP Dr. Kurt Kaltenegger said, “PointGrab stands apart on the leading edge of game-changing breakthroughs in making the use of energy, engineering and automation of buildings far more intelligent. ABB’s focus is on the next level strategy for the Internet of Things, Services, and People (IoTSP), and PointGrab’s technology opens brand new opportunities in the area of commercial and residential building automation leveraging an advanced IoTSP platform.”
EcoMachines Ventures CEO Dr. Ilian Iliev said, “With an installed base of more than 27 million consumer electronic devices, PointGrab’s ability to scale up speaks volumes to me as an investor. The company provides a leading example of successful and scalable hardware/software integration in the growing IoT market, with a hugely scalable business model.”
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 15, 2015
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