Pointivo, an Atlanta-based startup that offers a unique artificial intelligence 3D analytics technology, has closed a Series A funding round of $7 million. The round was led by BIP Capital with participation from Blue Lagoon Capital and Thirteen Castles, among others.
The startup was founded in 2014 to commercialize technology developed by co-founder and CTO Dr. Habib Fathi while working on his PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering. When he saw the potential of what Fathi had created, serial entrepreneur Dan Ciprari stepped in to help him turn it into a business.
After raising just over $2 million in seed funding, their first few years was spent developing the technology, explains CEO Ciprari. “Then, the third year was identifying the markets where the technology fit, and the past year has really been applying it to those markets and seeing great traction.”
Pointivo’s SaaS platform, accessible through its API, can automatically extract and process images from just about any video source, including drones, manned aerial vehicles — even cell phone cameras. The 3D visualization technology then can identify and flag relevant physical features in the images, shortening previously manual inspection processes from days into hours.
For example, one of the first industries Pointivo tackled was roofing. A typical roof assessment requires inspectors to go up to the roof, walk around taking notes to identify issues, and then spend hours manually creating a report.
Pointivo can almost entirely automate that process. They have since expanded into the insurance, energy, telecom, and construction industries.
Since Pointivo provides its partners access to the platform via API, its go-to market strategy has largely been around channel partnerships with drone and manned aerial vehicle companies. Therefore, this funding round will go largely toward technology development, which is their real differentiator, according to Ciprari.
“I don’t see anybody else doing this — using AI around 3D objects and imaging,” Ciprari tells Hypepotamus. “That’s where we’re really filling a sweet spot, especially in the drone platform market where [our partners are] trying to differentiate themselves.”
“We’re excited to partner with Pointivo as artificial intelligence and computer vision continue to become significant business process drivers,” said Dan Drechsel, senior vice president at BIP Capital, in a statement.
The startup currently employs two dozen, which Ciprari expects to swell to about 35 by year-end.
