Pi Labs’ investment in Route Konnect
Route Konnect announced their $1 million Seed round a few weeks ago, which felt like the perfect time for us to share why we are a part of it. We are pleased to announce that Pi Labs is investing alongside Development Bank of Wales’ Technology Seed Fund, SFC Capital and other private angel investors with the backing of Plug and Play, as well as early investors in Dropbox and PayPal.
Background of our investment
Traditionally in the video analytics industry, facial recognition would be used to connect the path of a person from one camera to the next. Route Konnect’s algorithm removes the need to use that technology, allowing for privacy to be preserved whilst still providing the full picture of how people are moving across a location. In addition, these algorithms provide additional robustness and accuracy in challenging situations — such as tracking people when they are sat down on a train and they are partially obstructed. Operators adopt alternative anonymous solutions, ranging from mobile and Wi-Fi data which is 10 times less accurate than camera-based solutions, to expensive pressure sensors at key points. These only provide basic counting at certain areas or are inaccurate in providing an idea of the big picture for how people are interacting in a space and using it.
How did the investment come about
Video analytics is not anything new and we’ve always felt it’s quite a crowded market with little differentiation. That was until we met Route Konnect, almost a year ago, in August 2021. We met the team almost a year ago, in August 2021 when the founders reached out to us directly.
🤝 Source of intro: Inbound application from founders
An overview of the company
Industry — Video Analytics/Transportation & Retail
Location — Cardiff, Wales
Founding year — 2018
Problem — Customers across road, public transport, construction and retail are not understanding how people are moving and using their spaces. This is resulting in lost revenue from not maximising their resources and assets. Furthermore in the rail sector, there are missed opportunities to reduce costs caused by delays, inefficiencies, and safety concerns.
Solution — Route Konnect is a real-time video processing to help organisations understand the movement of people and vehicles across large multi-camera locations whilst fully preserving anonymity.
Why we invested
As with every investment at Pi Labs, the team is one of the key considerations and that’s especially true when it come to the Growth Programme and teams are at a slightly earlier stage. The Route Konnect team has been an absolutely joy to work with during our 16th week programme and the team is very balanced — strong both technically but also having industry experience. Route Konnect are solving a complex problem that has not been solved before, and they’re well placed to achieve that.
What’s next
On the back of their round, Route Konnect are looking to double the team with a focus on increasing their tech capacity, as well as business operation and expand within their current industries, before expanding both across industries and geographies.
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