Sighthound Acquires Boulder AI to Move Computer Vision to the Edge for Real-time Video Intelligence

Sighthound to provide the first Programmable Video Management System (VMS) powered by AI to push the industry towards flexible, cost-effective solutions that give customers actionable video analytics data. Link to the full release: https://www.pr.com/press-release/838951

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I sat down with RJ Burnham CEO and Darren Odom to dig into the release and what it means for the two companies, the industry and most importantly customers:

So RJ, what’s the news? 

We announced Sighthound will acquire Boulder AI. They provide Smart Cameras and Edge Computing solutions and we’re very excited to have all of the Boulder employees join us. The combination of their Hardware and our Sighthound Software will create the first Programmable VMS able to scale from the Cloud to Server or the Edge. Our goal is to ensure any video stream seamlessly becomes a network of sensors to provide what we call “actually useful data” to customers.

I encourage you to read the press release or set up a briefing, but here are some quick key points:

• Programmable - What we mean here is that no one has yet built a VMS that is flexible, adaptable and customizable

• Data first, video second - Sighthound will provide a single pane of glass view for powerful decision-making data

• Open - We are open and standards-based, we won’t lock anyone into a certain vendor and cameras won’t become bricks

• Privacy-by-design - Everything we do is built with privacy at its core, it’s fundamental to improve security vulnerabilities and protect privacy

• Customer-centric - Our goal is to provide technology that adapts to customers not the other way around

• Outcomes-focused:

  • We estimate that for an average 20 camera deployment, a 4U server rack is avoided. That’s huge when you think about storage, networking and power/cooling costs

  • We believe the new platform will have 10x the compute power, potentially reduce bandwidth by a factor of 10 and lower costs for customers by up to 50% for multi-camera installations. 

Thanks RJ. Over to you Darren, can customers buy cameras from Sighthound now?

Our goal is to minimize disruption for our customers and thus they can continue to place orders for cameras and virtual nodes through Boulder AI and this order fulfillment aspect will be transitioned to Sighthound over the next few months. If customers would like a complete turnkey solution with hardware and software from one vendor, Sighthound will be able to supply that as a single point of contact going forward.

Will Sighthound use only Boulder AI cameras now?

No. Sighthound will always work with multiple hardware and software partners to bring the best solution to market for the customer. We will ensure our software will work with any standards-based camera and our hardware will work with any software. That’s the point of open, programmable solutions, being hardware agnostic for easier integration.

Will Sighthound make its own body camera?

No. We are not entering the body camera manufacturing market, our focus is enabling these vendors as we do today working with 4 of the top 5 to deliver Redaction, ALPR and meta-VMS solutions to Law Enforcement and Border Protection agencies.

RJ, I’m curious, will you still provide solutions for the Smart Cities and Transportation markets? Will there be a change in the solutions provided and the markets served?

Sighthound with the addition of Boulder AI will continue to serve the same markets but with new and improved efficiencies and value. We will maintain our focus on markets core to our capabilities and where customers are screaming for real-time data for their operations, their end customers and their long-term growth.

Give us some details, was this a merger or acquisition? When will the transaction close? Will Sighthound acquire more companies this year?

Good question. This is an acquisition, the first of several Sighthound will do over the coming quarters to support our long-term growth and strategy. We have tremendous experience acquiring companies with innovative solutions that enhance our portfolio and our ability to service our customers. If you are a company or know of a company that we should be speaking to, please email us on info (at) sighthound.com.

The Boulder acquisition is expected to close in the next 30-60 days.

Lastly RJ, how will employees be impacted? 

Our policy when it comes to M&A is “do no harm”, we take a very careful and transparent approach to integrating new companies and welcoming employees. We listen, learn, observe and try to make the collaboration as painless as possible while optimizing all aspects of the team. With that, I’m excited to say all Boulder AI employees became Sighthound employees as part of the transaction