Intema, the AI accelerator and venture fund launched by mobile operator MTS this past September, is set to acquire biometrics firm VisionLabs for 7 billion rubles ($95 million at the current exchange rate).
Founded in Russia in 2012, this developer of AI-powered computer vision solutions quickly drew the attention of top global digital players. Sber (at that time ‘Sberbank’) invested in the company in 2017 as part of a plan to develop an in-house biometrics platform. The company is now headquartered in the Netherlands.
Interna is committed to acquire a 100% equity stake in VisionLabs from existing shareholders as follows:
- A 25.07% is being acquired from Sber, the Russian state-controlled banking and digital giant;
- A 23.16% stake was held by Sistema_VC, an affiliate of the Sistema group which also controls MTS;
- The founders’s shares (51.77%) in VisionLabs will be converted into equity interest in MTS AI.
Explaining the disvestment, Lev Khasis, first deputy chairman of Sber’s Executive Board, said: “Sber currently has its own world-class biometrics competencies, which we develop leveraging VisionLabs’ technology expertise and through other solutions.”
Sber and VisionLabs will “remain partners, helping the bank develop this track further,” Khasis added, citing a facial recognition platform and a face and gesture recognition system.
“A variety of technological solutions that seemed unthinkable just a few years back have become familiar to our clients and employees: access control in the bank offices and branches, biometrics-driven services at ATMs, branches, and in the mobile application,” the Sber top executive noted.
By acquiring VisionLabs, MTS AI aims to strengthen its product portfolio in the field of video analytics. Such technologies will “unleash the potential of the MTS digital services ecosystem and in the interests of MTS’s corporate clients in Russia and internationally,” stated Alexander Khanin, CEO at MTS AI.
Intema’s mission is to “search for promising AI products and ideas, facilitate their development and implementation on the market through investment tools and expert support.” It has plans to invest some $100 million in startups from late seed up to Series B.
