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Limerick start-up Provizio has secured €5.2m in seed investment to further develop AI tech for accident prevention on the road.
High-profile investors have taken a shine to Limerick start-up Provizio, which has closed $6.2m (€5.2m) in seed investment entirely over Zoom. The company has developed a five-dimensional sensory platform that uses AI to perceive, predict and prevent car accidents in real time and beyond the line of sight.
The round included investors such as Autonomous Stuff founder Bobby Hambrick and the founders of Movidius. There was also backing from the European Innovation Council and ACT Venture Capital.
The Irish start-up, which also has offices in Belfast and Pittsburgh, was founded in 2019 by former Arralis CEO Barry Lunn. The Provizio team is made up of experts in robotics, AI, computer vision and radar sensor development who are building an augmented, ‘guardian angel’ platform that could prevent road accidents.
‘An incredible team that is growing daily’
“We have put together an incredible team that is growing daily,” Lunn said. “AI is the future of automotive accident prevention and Provizio 5D radars with AI on-the-edge are the first step towards that goal.”
ACT Venture Capital backed Lunn in his previous Arralis venture. Debbie Rennick, partner at the venture capital firm, said: “Barry has assembled a world-class team with deep AI, computer vision and radar expertise who are developing a unique platform to solve the enormous challenge around accident prevention. We are delighted to back Barry, and look forward to another exciting journey with him.”
Provizio claims that today’s emergency braking systems can only measure approximately 40 metres ahead – equivalent to a one-second reaction time – at motorway speeds, but need to be 10 times more perceptive to protect those in a vehicle. It’s estimated that the advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) market size will grow from $27bn in 2020 to $83bn by 2030.
In June, Provizio was one of eight Irish SMES to receive Horizon 2020 funding to further develop their technologies and innovations. The company also took part in Intel’s Edge AI incubator this year, which aims to help businesses integrate computer vision into their tech solutions.
