The academic eye-tracking spin-off aims to enter the international markets, thanks to new investments amounting to nearly half a million euros.
SeeTrue Technologies, an eye-tracking technology company with solid roots in research, aims for the international markets and growth, thanks to new investments amounting to nearly half a million euros. The Start Up Fund Joensuu and the North Karelia Growth Fund have both invested 100,000 euros in the company. In addition, SeeTrue’s current owners and employees invest a total of 150,000 euros, and Business Finland is involved in supporting the business with 110,000 euros in development and research funding.
Founded in Joensuu in 2018, SeeTrue develops the world’s most advanced and stable eye-tracking sensors and applications, backed by decades of research and experience in computational optics, machine vision and applied eye tracking.
According to Associate Professor Roman Bednarik at the University of Eastern Finland, a co-founder of SeeTrue, the company has been piloting its technology for four years and, thanks to the new investments, it can now aim for the international markets and growth. SeeTrue employs seven employees, but actively recruits new skills to the team and seeks growth.
“International markets, such as the United States and Asia, are important to us because they are the main manufacturing countries for VR and AR equipment. Typical clients for this type of technology are international electronic giants: that’s who we are aiming for now and in the future”, Bednarik says.
Growth from health technology and wearable devices
SeeTrue’s eye tracking technology has multiple applications. According to Bednarik, one of the key sectors is health care, where the company’s technology can be used in, e.g., diagnostic applications and surgical devices. Indeed, medical applications are where the company started in the first place.
“We have developed solutions for, for example, operating rooms: health care is a critical sector of application as it cannot afford mistakes. We are already particularly good at the stability and practicality of eye tracking,” Bednarik says.
Besides health, also wearable devices have great growth potential, and SeeTrue’s technology is particularly well suited for them.
“We want to be a leading player in eye tracking technology, and as VR and AR applications become more common, we are already involved in market development, because the features of our technology also work perfectly on consumer devices. It just requires little adaptation to specific customer needs,” Bednarik explains.
Eye tracking technology can help optimise the displays of augmented reality devices, help to understand the user better and use eyes to control the devices. SeeTrue believes its technology has great potential also in Finnish industry, for example in the forest sector.
“In the cab of a forest harvester, the operator’s hands are occupied at the controls of the machine – but what if we can use smart eye tracking sensors? We would get a better idea of when the driver wants to do something, when they are ready to act, if they are tired, and so on. This increases both machine and operator productivity,” Bednarik says.
Funds have confidence in the company’s potential
SeeTrue fund investors have strong confidence in the company’s potential. Kaj Hagros, Managing Director of Redstone Nordics, which administers the North Karelia Growth Fund, emphasises that this type of university-oriented deep-tech projects are an interesting investment target for the fund.
“Photonics is one of the strengths of Joensuu’s scientific community, and SeeTrue Technologies is an excellent example of this. We believe that SeeTrue’s software and hardware expertise will generate promising global product partnerships”, Hagros states.
Kari Pulkkinen, the growth coach of Business Joensuu and the Start Up Fund Joensuu, is also excited to participate in the development of SeeTrue’s business.
“SeeTrue has a top performing team and technology that has a lot of applications and markets around the world. We believe that the company has the opportunity to reach its goal and become a globally significant player in its field.”
Business Finland Senior Advisor, Jani Jokitalo, regards SeeTue as a good example of the Finnish deep tech start-up, whose product development is based on decades of research.
“The company’s solutions are top-of-the-line in their field, and potential customers are large international companies, which means that turnover can develop exponentially if sales succeed,” Jokitalo points out.
Press release source: Business Joensuu’s story on SeeTrue.
For further information, please contact:
Roman Bednarik, co-founder and CEO, SeeTrue Technologies Ltd., roman@seetruetechnologies.com, +358 41 4306116
Kari Pulkkinen, Fund Manager & Growth Coach, Business Joensuu, kari.pulkkinen@businessjoensuu.fi, +358 50 4068716
Kaj Hagros, Managing Partner, CEO, Redstone Nordics, kaj.hagros@redstone.vc, +358 40 849 1749
