Deep-tech computer vision startup, Segmentive, today announced closing its €2 million seed round in a bid to deliver whole-body video segmentation, in real-time and on mobile.
Founded in 2019, Segmentive allows users to intelligently remove themselves from live backgrounds to be transported into a scene of their choice, enabling a broad range of AR/VR use cases. Segmentive’s cutting-edge approach combines deep learning techniques with the industry’s most advanced online learning neural network algorithms to replicate and scale human understanding of scene identification. The startup is actually a spin-off from parent company, Cinector, with years of special effect experience in movies.
To date, removing the background from a video of a moving person on a mobile device in real-time has been impossible. The technology is designed to be used by social media platforms looking for unique features to transport users to different worlds by changing their backgrounds. Segmentive has applications with mobile phone manufacturers and tech giants looking to push the boundaries of computer vision to create new commercial applications.
Lutz Roellig, Segmentive CEO commented: “[This] funding will accelerate the delivery of our multi-layer segmentation technology mobile prototype and allow us to make key hires to support execution. VR and AR use cases have been held back by an inability to display crisp edges on mobile devices as humans move around in virtual environments – Segmentive’s technology breaks through this barrier to deliver fine details in real-time video on modern mobile devices.”
Segmentive unlocks new computer vision capabilities, never seen before by pre-classifying each frame into background and foreground using a pre-trained, convolutional neural network. Using online learned classifiers, Segmentive can achieve super-sharp edges in real-time dynamic videos.
The €2 million seed round was led by Leipzig based Technologiegruenderfonds Sachsen (TGFS). TGFS is an early-stage VC fund targeting high tech startups with strong growth potential and has invested in over 120 companies in its 20-year history.
TGFS’s Investment Director, Friedemann Stier commented: “Segmentive has proven the technology works and TGFS is pleased to be able to fund the growing team of computer vision experts to deliver the first working prototype. Leadership, combined with the teams’ skill and ingenuity makes Segmentive stand out as a winning combination.”
