Huddly to Cooperate with the Global Tech Giant NEC on a new product
Huddly camera is a part of NEC’s new interactive meeting room solution called the “InfinityBoard”.
Original interview by Shifter
On Thursday, NEC announced a new display solution: the InfinityBoard. The InfinityBoard is based on a flat UHD touch display with InGlassTM touch technology and Windows OS. It comes in either 65- or 84-inch size. The screen is designed to serve as a digital whiteboard to allow for a creative and collaborative workspace. According to the press releasefrom NEC, the InfinityBoard solution will provide a seamless, paper-like touch performance using a passive precision pen. And of course, the collaborative solution would not have been complete without video conferencing, and this is where Huddly comes in.
Huddly is a Norwegian startup with offices in Oslo, Palo Alto, Austin, and London. Previously called Kubicam, the company attracted massive international attention with its small intelligent camera. It is Huddly’s software-powered high-resolution camera with 120 ° degrees viewing angle that will be integrated in the NEC’s “InfinityBoard”.
Access to new markets
“The cooperation with NEC means a lot to Huddly,” says VP Sales and Marketing Heidi Frost Eriksen. “We are a young company preparing to launch globally. To be selected as a partner of a renowned global company with a strong brand that known for quality helps validate Huddly.”
Heidi says that working with NEC also gives Huddly access to established distribution networks and a large customer base. NEC is also highly enthusiastic about the cooperation with the highly innovative Norwegian startup.
“We are really excited about the innovative joint collaboration between NEC Display Solutions Europe and Huddly to deliver the InfinityBoard solution, and we see this a true win-win opportunity,” says Daniela Dexheimer, Product Manager Solutions at NEC Display Solutions Europe.
“We believe in the power of new innovative projects like this one, working closely together with selective eco-partners to create a sophisticated solution like the InfinityBoard. Startups like Huddly are vital to technology innovation, as they constantly challenge the status quo and find new creative solutions. To engage with Huddly was an easy choice, since we really liked their compact software-powered wide-angle camera. Overall they contribute greatly to find new ideas and to encourage an innovative mindset to the whole project and future rollout phase.”
Success Factor: Don’t make a project too big
Shifter: How Did you come in contact with NEC?
Heidi Frost Eriksen: NEC contacted Huddly last spring. They picked up rumors in the market that a new company had developed a flexible software-based and platform-agnostic camera.
[Note: Huddly has previously received massive attention because of collaboration with Google, so they are no strangers to working with big players.]
Shifter: How has it been working with such a large company at the forefront of producing this product?
Heidi Frost Eriksen: It has been a surprisingly positive experience! It can certainly be a challenge for a small, easy-legged company to work with large global corporations, but we have been to NEC’s European headquarters in Munich, and we have noticed that they operate in a very agile way, what helps driving forward new concepts. One of the success factors of our partnership with NEC has been that we didn’t turn this project into a very big one from day one, but rather narrowed it down to one product: the InfinityBoard, which is the first step in our collaboration.
Will build a global brand
Shifter: How much money can this potentially mean for you?
Heidi Frost Eriksen: We don’t know specific amounts at the moment. But companies that would want to invest in the “InfinityBoard” will also need Huddly cameras for those employees who have ad hoc team meetings. Beyond pure product sales, Heidi Frost Eriksen believes that cooperation with NEC will brings a great value for Huddly in terms of building a global brand.
Launching soon
Shifter: What other plans do you currently have?
Heidi Frost Eriksen: With Regard to the partnership with NEC, the InfinityBoard is our first project together, and we are looking forward to continuing our cooperation in other areas on the road ahead.We are launching this year, and we have defined the UK and US as our core markets. In the past 6 months of us running our prelaunch program, we have sold prototype cameras to customers on every continent. We learned a lot from this program while preparing for the global launch.
Note: Huddly completed its series-A investment round in June, and picked up a total of the 21 million, valuing the company at 130 million.
Huddly was established by Stein Ove Eriksen and Anders Eikenes.
Originally published in English at www.huddly.com.
Original interview published in Norwegian by Shifter
