AlgoFace, a Carefree, Arizona-based computer vision and face AI startup, is launching new software and is among a cohort of companies selected for the upcoming 2023 Fuel AI/ML Accelerator program.
The 12-week accelerator program matches seed and growth-stage companies with enterprise partners to accelerate adoption of their technologies. The program kicks off in August in Bentonville, Arkansas.
Companies in the cohort will participate in workshops and gain access to venture capital firms, universities, Fortune 500 companies as well as Walmart and its executives.
“The point of the program is to come out with pilots or commercial deals, revenue deals with Walmart as well as the representatives from different brands in the region because of Walmart," Andrew Bart, co-founder and CEO of AlgoFace, said.
The accelerator program is sponsored by the Walton Family Foundation, Arkansas Economic Development Commission, RevUnit and Startup Junkie Foundation.
AlgoFace created what it describes as an ethical face AI enablement engine that can be used to develop 2D and 3D face AI applications for mobile devices, computers, the Metaverse and augmented and virtual reality. The company's face AI technology is capable of detecting unique attributes of human faces, but does not store data or determine the identity of a person.
AlgoFace planned to unveil its “freemium” version of its 2D Facial Landmark Tracker at the SDxAI Hackathon, on July 15-16 in San Diego. The 2D Facial Landmark Tracker allows engineers to use the company’s face AI technology in their applications.
AlgoFace's enablement engine provides 2D and 3D facial modeling that detects and tracks facial landmarks to determine a person’s expressions, eye gaze, head pose and mouth-to-eye ratio, among other things. AlgoFace's technology could be potentially used by other companies to personalize experiences based on facial expressions. For example, smart TVs could adjust volume or suggest content based on a viewer's reaction.
“We make it easier for enterprise level and upper mid-market companies to build and deploy face AI solutions," Bart said. “We are that foundational element, that infrastructural element companies can use to build across different verticals and channels."
AlgoFace: The back story
Bart, an angel investor, technology industry veteran and growth strategy consultant focused on incubating startups, co-founded AlgoFace in 2021 with Taleb Alashkar, the company’s chief technology officer.
AlgoFace was born out of a conversation with Scottie Wardell, co-founder and former managing partner at Los Angeles-based private equity firm Integrity Growth Partners, Bart said.
Wardell mentioned to Bart the firm had invested more than $30 million in Algo, a supply chain analytics company based in Detroit.
At the time, AlgoFace was a division of Algo, which had 14 employees, including Alashkar, who conceptualized the company's facial AI technology.
“I really felt that I could be helpful to what they were trying to accomplish by putting together a deal and making an offer to acquire all the assets of the company clean and clear," Bart said. "So I ended up consummating a deal in February of 2021 to acquire the intellectual property and all of the assets."
From there, the company's virtual try-on technology garnered interest among the cosmetics industry.
“We started to find that we were being approached by companies. For example, one of our customers is Beauty Industry Group, an enterprise-level company that has 85% market share in North America for hair extensions," Bart said. "They saw what we had built with virtual try-on for cosmetics and they said, 'Can you work with us to build a virtual hair extension try-on system?’ We completed a contract with them and we’ve been a partner with them since February of 2021.”
In addition to licensing its virtual hair extension try-on technology to Beauty Industry Group, AlgoFace has also developed virtual hair color matching technology, Bart said.
“Once we once we proved we could secure about 10 plus customers in the beauty segment, we took our enablement technologies and started essentially opening it up for sale in other markets,” Bart said.
Getting ready to go commercial
AlgoFace saw an opportunity to enter the digital avatar market and inked a deal with Samsung in 2021 to license the company’s facial AI technology for Samsung's Neon project to create digital avatars that mimic human appearance and emotions and interact in real-time.
AlgoFace has generated more than $1 million in contracted revenue since its inception in 2021, Bart said.
AlgoFace, a finalist in the software category for AZ Inno’s 2023 Fire Awards, recently completed a Small Business Innovation Research grant submission for its face AI technology.
It’s also preparing to launch the commercial version of its 3D face AI technology next month, Bart said.
The company is currently raising a $4.5 million seed round. To date, it has secured about half of that amount from investors including Rebellion Ventures, Band of Angels, Arizona Technology Investors and Canyon Angels.
“I can't speak highly enough about what ATI and Canyon Angels, in particular, have done for us,” Bart said. “It goes way beyond investments. They've been so supportive with introducing different people and potential opportunities for us. It has been really awesome.”
