The Venture Codex

Participated · Series A · Oct 2019

Umbo Computer Vision builds AI-powered autonomous video security systems for businesses and public safety. Its product suite includes Umbo Light, a fast-learning AI that recognizes human behaviors critical to security (intrusion, tailgating, occupancy, wall scaling); Umbo TruePlatform, a cloud-based security management platform; and AiCameras that run Light AI on the edge or integrate with existing IP cameras via TruePlatform. The company plans to use new funding to accelerate global sales expansion and to improve its portfolio of AI-powered security products. Umbo is led by CEO Shawn Guan and maintains offices in San Francisco, London, and Taipei. The company has raised a total of $17.6M to date following the most recent round. Umbo Computer Vision is a San Francisco–based artificial intelligence company led by CEO Shawn Guan that provides autonomous video security products. Its core product, Light, is an autonomous vision intelligence platform accessible from desktops and mobile phones that understands events in real time. The company has processed over 2 billion live security images and recorded over 1.5 million user sessions to date. Umbo intends to use the new funding to continue development of Light, expand its product portfolio, advance computer vision R&D and recruit talent. Light recently added spatial-temporal information on top of scene-parsing to detect behavioral-related events and help identify suspicious activity before crimes occur. The platform can now detect and alert on unauthorized entry, physical violence, loitering, wall-scaling, and people and vehicle tally, with additional behavioral detections planned. Umbo CV develops AI-powered security cameras and a cloud-based management platform that identify suspicious activity and scan for anomalies across multiple cameras. The Taipei- and San Francisco-based startup has shipped its system to clients in Dubai, the United States, and Europe and plans to begin mass manufacturing next month. It has received $1.4 million in pre-orders and letters of intent from customers. The company raised a $2.8 million seed round and will use the funding for research and hiring. Founders include CEO Shawn Guan, CTO Ping-Lin Chang, and chief scientist Tingfan Wu, who have doctoral backgrounds in robotic vision. Umbo CV aims to differentiate from competitors like Huawei, Seagate, and AISight by combining images from multiple cameras to detect anomalies rather than relying solely on geometric models.

Participated · Series A · Aug 2018

UnaBiz is a Singapore-based IoT solutions operator that builds customizable, large-scale deployments using low-power wide-area network (LP-WAN) technology. Its core offerings target smart metering, facilities management, asset tracking, and asset management. The company operates an integrated solution ecosystem in Taiwan and maintains an innovation platform in Singapore. UnaBiz has made significant progress in water and gas metering, asset tracking, and facilities management. The company announced completion of a $25 million Pre-C financing. That financing was provided by KDDI Open Innovation Fund III (KOIF III) and Kyocera Communication Systems (KCCS). UnaBiz is a Singapore-based Massive Internet of Things (IoT) service provider and the owner of Sigfox's technology. The company provides low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) connectivity and 0G capabilities and plans to expand its product portfolio to include more LPWAN and satellite technology. After acquiring Sigfox's tech in April, UnaBiz doubled its office locations and tripled headcount to more than 240 employees, and it closed down Sigfox's loss-making entities while bringing in new executives including a chief customer officer, chief operating officer, and chief technology officer. UnaBiz plans to target four verticals—utilities, security, facilities management, and supply chain and logistics—across Latin America, APAC and EMEA. The company said it will use new capital to prepare for its next stage of growth, focus on driving commercial activities and delivery to customers in 2023, and invest in research and development for its 0G capabilities. UnaBiz has now raised $60 million in total. UnaBiz is a licensed IoT operator and the official Sigfox operator in Singapore and Taiwan. The company provides Sigfox connectivity and sells end-to-end IoT solutions enabled by its network, along with professional consultation services to startups and corporations. It serves industry verticals including aerospace, facilities management, food and beverage, logistics, security, supply chain and smart cities. In two years UnaBiz has rolled out two national networks, built an ecosystem of over 200 partners across Asia, signed deals in over 25 countries and is connecting devices across five continents. Led by CEO and founder Henri Bong, the company intends to use the new funds to develop IoT applications that combine connectivity, end-to-end solutions and engineering services. The article reports UnaBiz raised over USD10m in Series A funding.