Dutch Security TechFund Invests in Oddity.ai

26 Mar 2020
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Author: HSD Foundation

On 25 March, the Dutch Security Techfund of TIIN Capital announced the investment in the promising startup Oddity.ai. The Utrecht-based startup has pioneered an algorithm platform with advanced machines and deep learning techniques.

 

The first application on the platform is violence recognition. By performing real-time analysis on live video images, incidents can be recognized using the latest artificial intelligence techniques. Municipalities, police and private security organisations have also discovered the platform. These parties are now working with the algorithm by integrating it into camera observation centers. Among other things, the many movements in the Stratumseind entertainment area in Eindhoven are successfully monitored and analysed by the company's software.

 

Oddity.ai was founded by Thomas Alflen, Gerwin van der Lugt and Nick Mulder, at that time Business Informatics students at Utrecht University. The founders state that they are very pleased with the investment of the Dutch Security TechFund.

 

“It now enables us to scale up quickly in the Netherlands and to develop a plan for internationalisation. With the TIIN Capital team, we expect to be able to do this with good support and impulses.”

The Dutch Security TechFund is established last year by TIIN Capital in close collaboration with InnovationQuarter, KPN Ventures and HSD Office. It is also present at the HSD Campus in The Hague to be close to upscaling security companies and to have knowledge and talent within reach. Being close to the security community proved to be succesful: Mark Ruijsendaal from HSD Office introduced Oddity.ai to TIIN Capital. Resulting in this investment.

 

The fund was initially financed by a group of "informal investors", but the regional investment company InnovationQuarter, the Municipality of The Hague and KPN Ventures are also involved as investors. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate also co-invests through the Seed facility of RVO.

 

Michael Lucassen, managing partner at TIIN Capital: “The Oddity.ai software offers a solution for an important challenge in society, recognizing and preventing violence. Within our fund strategy, this is seen as a wonderful proposition, which has a promising future with this young team.”

 

Read the official press realease in Dutch.

Read the article in FD and Computable.

 

Watch the video for more information about the Dutch Security TechFund.

 

HSD Partners involved