PointGrab Investment Supports Sensor Technology

PointGrab has announced a $7 million strategic investment to support its sensor technology for smart buildings. The investors include new partners – Philips Lighting and Mitsubishi UFJ Capital Co. Ltd (MUCAP), a venture capital arm of MUFG, in addition to existing investors ABB Technology Ventures (ATV) and others.

PointGrab’s edge-analytics smart sensing solution, CogniPoint, provides occupant activity analytics to enable effective building space management and enhance buildings’ operational efficiency. By embedding deep learning neural networks technology into connected optical sensing devices, PointGrab’s CogniPoint sensing solution provides analytics precision in the detection of occupants’ locations, count, and movements.  This technology improves energy efficiency, optimizes the use of space and improves safety and security.

“CogniPoint’s edge-analytics sensor technology will be a facilitator for capturing data for building operations optimization, energy savings improvement and business intelligence, “says Itamar Roth, chief business officer, PointGrab. “We welcome our new partners and value their contribution in fulfilling our strategy of enabling intelligent buildings.”

Jacques Letzelter, global segment leader, office & industry, Philips Lighting, says, “PointGrab has developed sensor technology. Being a strategic investor gives us a competitive edge at a time when our customers are demanding people counting for space optimization. Incorporating this functionality in our connected lighting systems will enable us to address a larger market.”

“PointGrab’s CogniPoint solution complements ABB’s technology as a pioneer in building automation solutions,” says Dr. Kurt Kaltenegger, group vice president, head of technology, ABB Technology Ventures. “We expect this collaboration to bolster development efforts and expedite new product introduction.”

“Edge-computing like the CogniPoint solution is a new trend in the cloud computing era,” says Muneki Handa, president of MUCAP. “With this investment, the synergistic effects between PointGrab’s smart analytics solution and MUCAP will benefit the Japanese market.”

PointGrab has installed CogniPoint smart sensors in numerous customer sites as part of ongoing collaboration projects. The CogniPoint solution will be available in early 2017.