Cortica

Cortica In Every Image

Headquartered in Tel Aviv[1] with R&D and executive offices in Israel and New York City,[2] Cortica utilizes unsupervised learning methods to improve recognition and analysis of digital images.[3][4] The algorithm developed by the Cortica team was based on research of the function of the human brain.[5]

Company Founding

Cortica was founded in 2007 by Igal Raichelgauz, Karina Odinaev and Yehoshua Zeevi.[6] Together, the founders developed the company’s core technology while at the The Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. By combining discoveries in neuroscience with developments in computer programming, the team created technology that possesses the ability to interpret large amounts of visual data with increased accuracy.[7] This technology is based on the founders’ work in digitally replicating cortical neural networks’ ability to identify complex patterns within massive quantities of ambiguous and noisy data.[8]

Cortica’s offerings have application in the search industry as well as for publishers and advertisers who want to display content or ads related to on-screen images.[9] Marketing industry leaders have predicted that visual search will be a major driver of consumer marketing efforts in coming years.[10]

Research and Technology

In 2006, Founders Raichelgauz, Odinaev, and Zeevi shared their findings with the 28th IEEE EMBS Annual International Conference in New York in a paper titled, “Natural Signal Classification by Neural Cliques and Phase-Locked Attractors”.[11]

That same year, the team also published “Cliques in Neural Ensembles as Perception Carriers"[12]

Funding

Cortica raised $7 million in its Series A funding round, announced in August 2012. Investors included Horizons Ventures (the investment firm of Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing), and Ynon Kreiz, the former chairman and CEO of the Endemol Group. Kreiz would also be joining Cortica as Chairman.[13][14]

In May 2013, it was announced that Cortica had raised $1.5 million from Russian firm Mail.ru Group.[15][16] It later transpired that this was a part of Cortica's Series B funding round for $6.4 million, announced in June 2013. The round was led by Horizons Ventures, with participation from the Russian firm Mail.ru Group and other angel investors.[17][18] In its fourth funding round, Cortica has raised $20 million, bringing the total investments to $38 million.[19] According to a report from The Israeli lead Daily economic newspaper, TheMarker, the fourth round was led by a strategic Chinese investor who will probably help the company expand into the Asian market.[20]

Media coverage

GigaOm listed Cortica as one of the top deep learning startups in a November 2013 article surveying the field, along with AlchemyAPI, Ersatz, and Semantria.[21]

References

  1. ↑ Grant, Rebecca. "Cortica gets $7M to endow computers with the power of sight". VentureBeat. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  2. ↑ "CrunchBase". CrunchBase. TechCrunch. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  3. ↑ Ha, Anthony. "In-Image Ad Startup Cortica Raises $7M From Li Ka-Shing's Horizons Ventures And Ynon Kreiz". TechCrunch. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  4. ↑ Ha, Anthony. "Cortica Raises $6.4M To Improve Visual Search And In-Image Ads". TechCrunch. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  5. ↑ Grant, Rebecca. "Cortica gets $7M to endow computers with the power of sight". VentureBeat. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  6. ↑ "CrunchBase". CrunchBase. TechCrunch. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  7. ↑ "Power Pitch: Cortica". CNBC.com. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  8. ↑ "Mapping of Natural Patterns by Liquid Architectures Implementing Neural Cliques". SpringerLink. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  9. ↑ Harris, Derrick. "The Gigaom guide to deep learning: Who's doing it, and why it matters". GigaOm. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  10. ↑ Cooper, James. "Why Visual Search Will Become a Marketing Obsession in the Coming Years". AdWeek. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  11. ↑ Raichelgauz, Igal. "Natural Signal Classification by Neural Cliques and Phase-Locked Attractors" (PDF). technion.ac.il. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  12. ↑ Raichelgauz, Igal. "Cliques in Neural Ensembles as Perception Carriers". IEEE. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  13. ↑ Ha, Anthony (August 2, 2012). "In-Image Ad Startup Cortica Raises $7M From Li Ka-Shing's Horizons Ventures And Ynon Kreiz". TechCrunch. Retrieved February 11, 2014.
  14. ↑ Grant, Rebecca (August 2, 2012). "Cortica gets $7M to endow computers with the power of sight". VentureBeat. Retrieved February 11, 2014.
  15. ↑ Ludwig, Sean (May 28, 2013). "Image recognition startup Cortica nabs $1.5M from Russian tech leader Mail.Ru". VentureBeat. Retrieved February 11, 2014.
  16. ↑ Yeung, Ken (May 28, 2013). "Israel-based Cortica raises $1.5M from Mail.Ru to fund its Image2Text visual search technology". The Next Web. Retrieved February 11, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Cortica Raises $6.4M To Improve Visual Search And In-Image Ads". TechCrunch. June 19, 2013. Retrieved February 11, 2014.
  18. ↑ Koetsier, John (June 19, 2013). "FABulous funding Wednesday: From gay social network to billion-dollar design store". VentureBeat. Retrieved February 11, 2014.
  19. ↑ Henn, Idan (March 10, 2014). "Cortica raises $20M in fourth round funding". geektime. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  20. ↑ Hirschauge, Orr (March 11, 2014). "Cortica raises $20m from Chinese investors". TheMarker. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  21. ↑ Harris, Derrick (November 1, 2013). "The Gigaom guide to deep learning: Who's doing it, and why it matters". GigaOm. Retrieved February 11, 2014.

External links

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