Vera aims to create intelligent digital twins of any building or physical space

Based in Tel Aviv, Israel, Resonai aims to build the “digital square foot” and prepare the built world for its “mixed reality” future. The company aims to transform physical spaces into intelligent, digitally-enabled environments.

After successfully growing and steering the $60M sale of Pebbles Interfaces to Metas Oculus in 2014, Emil founded Alon Resonai to develop a new operating system that would merge the physical, built world with emerging digital and web technologies .

“Augmented reality will dramatically change the world we live in and the way we experience it today,” he told VentureBeat. “It will require a new paradigm of ownership, accountability and privacy in a world where everything can be seamlessly redesigned for users at any time.”

The company recently raised $20 million in a Series A extension funding round with investors including Meitav Dash, a TSE-traded Israeli institutional investment house; Blue Square Israel, the second largest retail chain in Israel; and Irani Ventures, the investment arm of Irani Corp (Factory 54), the exclusive representative in Israel of the world’s leading fashion brands.

A digital infrastructure for the physical world

Resonai’s enterprise computer vision technology enables building owners and operators to transform their real estate into new digital assets. Vera, the company’s core platform, serves as the new digital infrastructure, enabling the integration of powerful technologies such as IoT, artificial intelligence (AI), and augmented reality (AR) so they can be used to enhance the world’s physical buildings and properties. Vera is designed to enable highly accurate, location-based applications and experiences across the building lifecycle to relevant stakeholders such as property managers, facility managers and consumers in commercial sectors such as shopping malls, retail, entertainment venues, offices and hospitality venues.

“Around the world, commercial real estate owners and operators face the reality that their portfolios and traditional business models are coming under pressure and their survival is increasingly threatened by broad shifts in society and consumer behavior towards more modern, hybrid and digital ways of living and work,” Alon said. “Our mission at Resonai is to cultivate a new type of built environment that can thrive in this rapidly changing world.” Resonai does this by enabling commercial property owners and operators to transform their physical properties into operationally efficient ones to transform intelligent digital assets that enable innovative experiences and create new data-driven revenue models.

By integrating computer vision with accurate indoor mapping and location tracking services, Vera creates an intelligent digital twin of any commercial building. This digital twin then serves as the operating system for a variety of applications aimed at improving operations and delivering engaging consumer experiences, while also opening up new, non-traditional revenue streams.

A new world of AR experiences

Building owners and marketers can use Vera to launch innovative AR experiences and applications such as digital concierge services, indoor navigation and personal assistance signposts, and enhanced loyalty programs. They can also transform a property into a 3D digital canvas to create new media entities, launch mixed reality offerings, and offer personalized, immersive AR experiences accessible via visitors’ mobile devices.

Vera also serves as a powerful tool for property and facility managers, allowing them to visualize and access their buildings anywhere, anytime. That means they can control their IoT devices more efficiently and use embedded data to manage power consumption, occupancy, HVAC, and more across portfolios. Managers can proactively identify maintenance issues; Accelerate, prioritize, and accurately pinpoint required repairs; Increasing customer satisfaction through space and revenue optimization tools such as virtual tours; and launch AR training courses to effectively train workers in individual buildings on the equipment they will be working with.

“Our proprietary visual positioning technology enables accurate positioning in six degrees of freedom. Our technology is unlimited in the size of buildings we can scan and process. We offer an SDK focused on enterprise solutions and integrated AR applications with app management tools for developers and customers. We also have a range of management tools including content delivery and publishing, permissions management and visualization tools. This 360-degree offering is what makes Resonai different,” said Alon.

international growth

Resonai has partnered with a growing number of real estate and construction companies around the world, including Kajima Construction, Takenaka Construction and GoldBeck Construction, as well as transportation companies such as JR Tokai and real estate companies such as Vonder Properties in Europe. It has also partnered with a growing list of retail companies, including one of the largest wholesale center operators in the world.

The new round of funding brings the total amount raised in Series A to $30 million and will be used to continue Resonai’s growth in the US, Asia and Europe. In addition to Blue Square Real Estate and Meitav Dash, Resonai has received funding and ongoing support from existing and new global investors including SBI, Vive Nevo, Redds Capital and others.

The financing will also fund continued development and expansion of the proprietary Vera platform, as well as support sales and marketing programs to build a pipeline for the company’s next round of growth.

“With [Vera’s] With a global footprint and growing pipeline, we anticipate significant growth as we solve real estate owners, operators and developers’ most pressing problems and build their businesses[s] for the future,” said Alon.