Explore the list of companies that raised funding in computer vision space in 2020

Computer vision is an artificially intelligent technology that is rapidly growing in popularity. As this tech deals with how computers can reap high-level understanding from digital images or videos, it is becoming a part of people's everyday life. Besides having a significant impact on business transformation and consumers' lives, computer vision is starting to disrupt the global industry. The explosion in visual data, enhanced neural networks, and low-cost chips are some of the growth factors of computer vision. As a fast-evolving technology space, computer vision has attracted a lot of exposure and a great amount of investment.

Here's a look at the top 10 computer vision funding and investments of 2020.

CloudWalk Technology

Amount Raised: CN¥1.8 Billion (US$253.6 million)

Transaction Type: Venture Round

Key Investor(s): China Internet Investment Fund and Others

CloudWalk Technology is a Beijing, China-based AI platform that provides facial recognition services for the financial, public security, and aviation sectors. In May, the company raised US$253.6 million in a venture round led by Chinese state-owned investment institutions including China Internet Investment Fund, Shanghai State-owned Enterprise Reform and Development Equity Investment Fund, Guangzhou Nansha Financial Holding, and the Yangtze River Delta Industrial Innovation Fund, along with ICBC, Haier Capital and other strategic investors. CloudWalk Technology has a large product line including facial recognition terminals, facial scanning door entry and infrared binoculars scanning machines

Acesso Digital

Amount Raised: US$108 Million

Transaction Type: Series B

Key Investor(s): General Atlantic and SOFTBANK Latin America Ventures

Acesso Digital is a Brazil-based facial recognition and identification technology developer for solving document and process management. In September, the company secured US$108 million (R$580 million) from General Atlantic, a leading global growth equity firm, and the SoftBank Latin America Fund. The financing round represents the largest Series B investment received to date by a LatAm SaaS company, and follows IDTech's first equity raise of US$7.4 million in January 2020, led by e.Bricks Ventures, according to the report.

Percepto

Amount Raised: US$45 Million

Transaction Type: Series B

Key Investor(s): Koch Disruptive Technologies

Percepto is a developer of autonomous drone technology for surveillance and inspections. In November, the company raised US$45 million in a Series B funding round. The round was led by U.S. Venture Partners (USVP), with participation from existing investors NHN, Spider Capital and Emerge. The funds come as Percepto pivots from drone-based products to general robotics-driven inspections incorporating third-party platforms like Boston Dynamics' Spot.

AnyVision

Amount Raised: US$43 Million

Transaction Type: Series B

Key Investor(s): Undisclosed

AnyVision, an AI-enabled visual intelligence software provider, in September bagged US$43 million in Series B funding from undisclosed backers. The company is the world's leading developer of facial, body and object recognition platforms. Its solutions are built to function on any sensor, with any resolution and are proven to operate in real-time and real-world scenarios. AnyVision plans to use the funds to scale its Touchless Access Control and Remote Authentication products.

Sensel

Amount Raised: US$28 Million

Transaction Type: Series A

Key Investor(s): Susquehanna International Group (SIG), Morningside Group and others

Sensel is a California-based next-generation touch technologies development company that empowers users and revolutionizes interaction with the digital world. In March, the company received US$28 million in a Series A financing round to continue to expand production, customer support, and supply chain capabilities. The round was led by backers Susquehanna International Group (SIG), Morningside Group, SMiT, Palm Commerce Holdings Co. Ltd, Chariot Gold Limited, SV Tech Ventures, and Innolinks Ventures.

Streamlit

Amount Raised: US$21 Million

Transaction Type: Series A

Key Investor(s): GGV Capital and Gradient Ventures

Streamlit is an open-source app framework that includes artificial intelligence and machine learning to build predictive models. In June, the company snagged US$21 million in a Series A round. The financing was led by GGV Capital and Gradient Ventures, with additional participation from Bloomberg Beta, Elad Gil, Daniel Gross and others. This investment speeds up the development of Streamlit's software which has been used to build over 200,000 applications at the world's biggest companies since being open-sourced just eight months ago.

Chooch.ai

Amount Raised: US$20 Million

Transaction Type: Series A

Key Investor(s): Vickers Venture Partners

Chooch.ai, a computer visions Al platform, in November closes US$20 million in a Series A financing round. The round was led by venture capital firm Vickers Venture Partners with additional institutional funding from 212, Streamlined Ventures, Alumni Ventures Group, Waterman Ventures and others. Chooch.ai imitates human visual tasks and processes using a complete computer vision deployment process across a wide variety of industries.

Evolv Technology

Amount Raised: US$30 Million

Transaction Type: Series C

Key Investor(s): Finback Investment Partners and others

Evolv Technology, a producer of a touchless security screening system that uses digital sensors and artificial intelligence to detect threats, in January raised US$30 million in a Series C round. Investors Finback Investment Partners, along with existing backers Bill Gates, DCVC (Data Collective), General Catalyst Partners, Lux Capital, SineWave Ventures and others participated in the financing round. Evolv technology plans to use the funds to expand sales, marketing, customer support, channel programs and product development following a year of record growth.

Parallel Domain

Amount Raised: US$11 Million

Transaction Type: Series A

Key Investor(s): Foundry Group

Parallel Domain is a synthetic data platform designed to facilitate autonomous vehicle simulation. The company in December closed a Series A funding round of US$11 million led by Foundry Group, with participation from Calibrate Ventures and existing investors Costanoa Ventures, Ubiquity Ventures, and Toyota AI Ventures. Parallel Domain intends to use this fund to expand the footprint of its synthetic data generation platform.

Drishti

Amount Raised: US$25 Million

Transaction Type: Series B

Key Investor(s): Sozo Ventures

Drishti is a California-based AI-powered video analytics technology provider that gives visibility and insights for manual assembly line improvement. In June, the company sealed an investment of US$25 million in a Series B financing round. The round was led by Sozo Ventures, along with Alpha Intelligence Capital, Toyota AI Ventures, Micron Ventures, Presidio Ventures, HELLA Ventures, as well as current investors Emergence Capital, Benhamou Global Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz. This financing will fuel Drishti's expansion into plants across North America and around the globe, including Japan.