Four years ago, Canon took the video surveillance market by surprise when it acquired Milestone Systems, one of the industry’s leading providers of video management software, and then quickly followed that up by purchasing IP video surveillance pioneer Axis Communications less than eight months later. On Wednesday, Canon once again raised eyebrows across the industry as the company announced that it has acquired BriefCam, an Israeli-based provider of video content analysis software.
Since it first appeared on the market in 2007, BriefCam’s Video Synopsis technology, which enables users to condense searches of hours of surveillance footage into only a few minutes, has become popular among many end-users in both public and private sectors. With the burgeoning market for video solutions driven by deep learning and artificial intelligence (AI) technology, the company is also well positioned to take advantage of this growing trend as well.
According to BriefCam President and CEO Trevor Matz, the acquisition will drive accelerated innovation for their video analytics technology as well as open the door for “co-innovation” opportunities with other companies in the Canon portfolio.
“Few companies have the opportunity to be acquired by the perfect business partner and in such an optimal way,” said Matz. “The acquisition enables the research and development of new and exciting solutions, expansion to new markets, stronger vertical solutions, and the ability for BriefCam to serve customers and partners even more effectively.”
When asked how their technology might be used for applications beyond security, Matz said those conversations are ongoing.
With regards to how the acquisition will impact their industry partners and customers, Matz said BriefCam, which will operate as a standalone company with the Canon Group, will remain dedicated to working seamlessly with third-party products thereby continuing to provide customers with freedom of choice in hardware partners. IndigoVision, for example, which began a technology partnership with BriefCam in early 2017, recently announced that their new artificial intelligence offering will be powered by BriefCam’s v5 platform.
Matz added that BriefCam would also pursue synergies with Milestone and Axis moving forward in a variety of areas such as technology, production, intellectual property and sales.
In a statement, Canon said that under Phase V of its “Excellent Global Corporation Plan” - a five-year initiative launched in 2016 - it aims to achieve new growth through a “grand strategic transformation” which includes reinforcing existing businesses as well as strengthening and expanding new businesses. The company has subsequently designated its network video solutions business as one that will drive this future growth.
“With BriefCam, we can deliver an even broader range of leading-edge technology and solutions in the fields of network cameras, video management software and video content analysis software to customers and partners across the globe. We are very excited to work with such an innovative organization and we welcome BriefCam into the Canon Group,” said Masanori Yamada, Canon Inc. Managing Executive Officer and Group Executive, Network Visual Solution Business Promotion Headquarters.
Canon also said that it would continue to strengthen its network video solutions business with the goal of becoming the global industry leader.
The deal is subject to customary closing conditions.
Industry Impact
Jim McHale, director of UK-based market research firm Memoori, characterized the acquisition as an “astute” move on the part of Canon and said that their timing couldn’t be better given the strong demand that is expected for video analytics moving forward.
“Video analytics is poised to deliver in 2018 and new startups that have yet to deliver a product are receiving (venture capital) funding of anything up to $100 million,” said McHale. “Our report on video analytics, which will be published next month, identifies some 120 companies that now operate in this market. BriefCam is one of the few that has established a foothold to gain a share of the current business and its growing market potential.”
Adds IHS Markit analyst Oliver Philippou: "BriefCam will bring a host of analytics capabilities that will sit alongside Canon’s current offering—and compliment algorithms offered by Citilog and Cognimatics, under the Axis brand—including city surveillance, traffic analysis, crowd monitoring and business intelligence analytics. In addition, BriefCam’s Video Synopsis analytics offering provides video search and summary capabilities that have been in development for a number years. However, and perhaps more important, the acquisition of BriefCam will give Canon a foothold within the much talked about “deep learning” market. Deep learning is a technology in which the Canon group appeared to be lagging when compared to other equipment vendors such as Hikvision, Dahua and Avigilon."
About the Author:
Joel Griffin is the Editor-in-Chief of SecurityInfoWatch.com and a veteran security journalist. You can reach him at [email protected].
