Joe Janson, founder and CEO of Night Vision Technology Solutions (NVTS) in North Kingstown, said before he started the business in 2010, he owned a company focused on bringing marine technology to the commercial market in the U.S. and Canada. But things changed drastically when a night-vision camera company they had been courting went out of business.
Over the last 11 years, thanks to Janson's vision to develop their own camera system in order to meet Navy requirements, NVTS has developed cameras for the U.S. Navy, Army, allied nations and commercial maritime industry. NVTS has experienced a boom in business over the last two years thanks to electro-optical infrared camera systems for military, autonomous and manned-surface vessels and vehicles.
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Janson said the company recently partnered with Veteran’s Venture Capital, which took a minority position in NVTS, in order to meet a surge in sales and take the company to the next level.
"VVC’s focus is investing in veteran-owned companies that meet a set of metrics, including significant growth potential," he said. "VVC’s partners are mostly made up of senior ex-military and have abundant experience in the defense sector. They are a perfect fit for NVTS, and we are very excited about our explosive growth opportunities ahead.”
Cameras for offshore wind
NVTS has been busy over the last years, not only filling orders but also creating new cameras for the offshore wind industry, including a new marine mammal surveillance system inspired by the call to protect the North American right whale during offshore construction.
Additionally, in response to the pandemic, NVTS worked on a “Fever Spotter” camera, drawing on the company’s expertise in thermal-sensor technology.
Back in 2020, Janson said, NVTS was approached by Lockheed Martin and other firms to provide camera systems that would detect elevated body temperatures at distances up to 30 feet for workforce’s going into the office. The solution was a smart sensor with a combination visible and thermal camera that did not need an external computer to operate.
"Demand for these units fell off sharply prior to us going into production, and we returned to designing and building camera systems for armored tanks and maritime," he said.
Those cameras have proved to be popular in numerous foreign markets. In 2020, the company won exporter of the year by the Small Business Administration of RI and New England. Janson said exporting night-vision cameras, coupled with the growing demand for machine learning, has created new business opportunities, enabling NVTS to hire additional engineers to expand the product line.
"Clearly there are much bigger exporters operating in the region, however we engage regularly with the U.S. commerce department to expand our reach," he said. "In turn, these informed contacts provide business matchmaking services.”
Janson also credited Rhode Island's local innovation community for NVTS' development, including URI Ventures, 401TechBridge, the Rhode Island Procurement and Technical Assistance Program (RI PTAC), the state's commerce department, the local Small Business Association and the Chafee Center for International Business at Bryant University.
"We are on track to have a banner year in 2023. Our continued success will be from allied nations and U.S. military, with a growing demand for thermal cameras equipping armored vehicles," Janson said. "Night vision is a universal need in securing borders, search and rescue, disaster resilience and situational awareness. We are also working on our next generation, dual-use maritime camera system for both the military, offshore wind and port security."
A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the headquarters of NVTS and conflated NVTS with Joe Janson's first company, which brought marine technology to the commercial market.
