Oosto CEO Avi Golan
Oosto, an Israeli startup that was once a rising star in the tech world known as AnyVision, has met an unexpectedly modest fate, selling for a mere $125 million to American parking lot operator Metropolis. In a twist that underscores the anticlimactic nature of the deal, much of the transaction was settled not in cash but in Metropolis shares. This marks a sobering conclusion for a company that once captured widespread attention and secured a staggering $352 million in funding, leaving its once-bright promise dimmed in hindsight.
Several factors likely contribute to Oosto’s current valuation, including past controversies surrounding its surveillance technology, increased geopolitical scrutiny of Israeli startups, and difficulties commercializing its products. The company, which offers AI-powered facial recognition for public safety applications such as real-time monitoring of security camera feeds, automated watchlist alerts, and contactless access control, has seen its workforce shrink from over 200 at its peak to a few dozen, according to Calcalistech.
Facial recognition as a technology is highly controversial. Governments love it because it makes law enforcement much easier. With closed caption video camera popping up everywhere these days, AI facial recognition tech can help police more easily identify the people caught in videos that are not all that clear. The technology is also used in major public places, like airports, where it scans faces in a crowd to spot possible wanted criminals or terrorists.
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But civil liberties groups hate it. They argue that the technology is ripe for abuse by governments who wish to spy on their own citizens. They see this is bringing the world one step closer to Big Brother, with hidden cameras monitoring every move that we make at all times.
Metropolis Technologies, Inc. is an artificial intelligence company whose computer vision platform enables checkout-free payment experiences for the real world. Its proprietary AI-driven technology reaches more than 50 million customers while reducing costs, increasing transparency and capturing additional revenue for real estate partners. Following its take-private acquisition of SP+, Metropolis is now the largest parking network in North America with more than 4,000 locations.
Founded in 2015 by Professors Shlomo Ben-Artzi and Neil Robertson, along with Eylon Etshtein, Oosto (AnyVision) is a visual AI platform company. The company boasts that tier-1 brands use their “cutting-edge technology to create trusted, seamless experiences for their customers and employees.” Oosto says that their solutions are built to function on any sensor, with any resolution and are “proven to operate with the highest accuracy in real-time and real-world scenarios.”
Oosto’s algorithms are fueled by proprietary neural networks, and are designed, developed, tested and commercially deployed with “leading organizations across the globe to ensure the highest accuracy possible for each customer’s challenging, real-world conditions.”
