Tyco International, the Bermuda-based conglomerate focused on safety and security technologies, said today that it has acquired Intellivid, a venture-backed startup in Cambridge, MA, that makes software for analyzing digital video from in-store security cameras. As a result of the acquisition, the terms of which were not disclosed, Intellivid will be folded into Tyco’s American Dynamics video security brand.
Don Lyman, vice president and general manager of Tyco International’s access control and video systems business unit, said in a statement that Intellivid’s technology would “significantly improve our offering to key markets, including retail.”
Intellivid, founded in 2003, has raised two rounds of venture capital totaling $18 million, with backers such as DFJ New England, Egan Managed Capital, Flagship Ventures, and Intel Capital. One of the company’s products, called Video Investigator, can help reduce what retailers euphemistically called “shrink” (i.e., shoplifting) by automatically alerting security staff when customers enter sensitive areas of a store—for example, the shaving/skin care aisle in a drug store, typically home to high-value items such as razors. (In fact, Woonsocket, RI-based CVS Caremark is one of Intellivid’s major customers.)
But in-store video also has less Draconian applications: “Used as a sales and marketing tool, the video can also capture pertinent consumer shopping patterns and behaviors providing retailers with information to analyze for strategic planning,” Intellivid says. The company is one of several Boston-area companies with a focus on security video analytics; others we’ve profiled recently include Bedford, MA-based VideoIQ and Brighton’s Salient Stills.
