New jobs for aerial imaging firm thanks to funding deal
● Glasgow-based Bird.i set to add 14 ‘high value’ posts ● Firm planning to move into sectors including energy
A satellite and aerial imaging start-up has landed a sixfigure grant funding deal that should lead to the creation of 14 jobs.
Glasgow-based Bird.i, which was founded in 2016 by its chief executive Corentin Guillo, a French entrepreneur with a background in Earth observation satellite development, has secured £210,000 of regional selective assistance (RSA) funding from Scottish Enterprise.
In addition to creating 14 “high value” jobs, the support will allow the venture to scale up its operations, enhancing its product offering by providing intelligence on the images it takes. The company hopes that this expansion will help it enter new sectors such as energy and engineering.
Guillo said: “The establishment of Bird.i in Scotland followingthecompletionofafirst investment round was a bold decision which has been motivated by the access to local talents and the support from the Scottish Government.
“This RSA funding will help to establish further Bird.i’s presence in the Scottish ecosystem and become an employer of choice.”
The company collates the best satellite, airborne and drone imagery on a daily basis. It then applies proprietary artificial intelligence and computer vision techniques such as unsupervised learning or “similarity search” to its imagery and data.
Current case studies in the construction and infrastructure industries include detecting new construction sites or tracking the location and progress of ongoing building projects over a specific period of time.
Rhona Allison, interim managing director for company growth and innovation at Scottish Enterprise, said: “This expansion represents an exciting step forward in the evolution of Bird.i.
“Scottish Enterprise is delighted to have supported the company at each stage of its development from initial strategy and management planning though the High Growth Ventures team, to equity investment and ongoing account management support.
“We look forward to working with Bird.i as it continues to work towards achieving its ambitious growth plans.”
The funding was announced by the Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy, Paul Wheelhouse, on a visit to the firm’s Glasgow base.
He said: “SMES are the lifeblood of Scotland’s economy and businesses like Bird-i are helping to develop the digital skills talent we have here.” Publisher Bloomsbury yesterday upgraded its profit forecasts following the success of chef Tom Kerridge’s new cooking book. The company, best known for publishing the Harry Potter series of books, said that titles such as Kerridge’s Lose Weight For Good drove sales in January and February. The weight loss book sold more than 70,000 copies in one week, more than any book has ever sold in the UK in a week in January, according to the Nielsen Bookscan records.