Shared micro-mobility company Tier Mobility said Wednesday that it has acquired Fantasmoa US-based computer vision-enabled e-parking start-up whose technology tier has been tested in many cities in Europe.
Tier will engage all 15 Fantasmo employees and continue to invest in and develop technology that will now be an Internal Camera Positioning System (CPS), which the company says is more accurate than GPS and can authenticate electronic vehicle marking within 20 cm or less.
The acquisition signals both Level’s commitment to reducing the “public nuisance” impact of scooters parked on sidewalks and a continued model of strategic acquisition to vertically integrate the ability or win more land and vehicles.
Neither company will share the terms of the agreement, which we expect from Grant. This is the fourth purchase by the Berlin-based company in five months, each time as financially enigmatic as the last. In November 2021, Tier acquired German bike-sharing startup Nextbikeand in December, it Acquisition of Wind Mobility’s Italian e-scooter operation, Vento Mobility. More recently, Tier purchased Spin from Fordmarked a deep penetration into the North American market.
Tier has been rolling out Fantasmo’s mapping solution to eliminate irresponsible parking last year, first in Paris and then in other locations, including London, York, Dusseldorf and Leipzig. CPS technology involves riders using the camera on their phone to scan the surroundings where they have parked the scooter, acquiring information such as patterns in buildings or road signs to determine the vehicle’s location. . That metadata is then compared with Fantasmo’s 3D map to pinpoint the vehicle’s location.
Fantasmo has about 20 to 25 cities mapped mostly in Europe and some in North America, according to Ryan Measel, Fantasmo’s co-founder and chief executive officer. With Tier’s support, that number would probably increase, but not just for Tier’s sake.
Fantasmo has other micro-feature operators in its portfolio, including Helbiz. Tier said it has no intention of severing any relationship if the partner wishes to continue, and is committed to making Fantasmo’s technology available widely by expanding its R&D budget to accelerate development.
“We will take our service and use it internally, but also offer it as a service to other operators with the idea that this could be a solution for cities. generally, and bring the entire market to a point where it can work fashionably to meet compliance needs,” Measel told TechCrunch.
This means that Tier not only benefits from putting Fantasmo’s technology into action, but can also gain another source of revenue by selling services to other operators or applications.
The trend of ADAS scooters is getting more and more extensive
Most of the major players in the industry are currently trialing or implementing some version of scooter ADAS that protects not only from bad parking but also inappropriate driving. For example, Superpedestrian acquired Navmatic last year to integrate the company’s super-accurate location-based technology that can also detect and correct unsafe riding behavior. Bird has developed a similar technology in-house.
On Wednesday, Tier also announced plans to introduce a new computer vision-based driver-assistance technology that can detect traffic violations and collisions, as well as reckless scooter-driving behavior. . The technology will be enabled by Fantasmo’s CPS for high location accuracy and centimeter-level mapping, and paired with Tier’s new IoT platform and vision sensors.
“Drivers who do not follow the rules and regulations will be warned of their violations and may even be fined or banned,” Tier said in a statement. “The new technology is currently being tested privately and will be rolled out in cities around the world in the coming months.”
The company will not provide any further information about this “new technology”, like the specific meaning of “visual sensors” and how Tier’s new IoT platform will help facilitate this. . However, the company has said that the new technology will not be part of any previous or current programs that Tier is running with outside companies.
Spin, again, now part of Tier, is working with Drover AI to implement computer vision technology that essentially involves attaching a camera to the scooter, allowing it to “see” if it is being driven in the correct lane, if it is on the sidewalk or if it is parked improperly. BILLIONier itself is running a similar program with Luna across Dublin City University campuses.
Drover AI also refused to work on a new project with Tier. When pressed, a spokesperson for Level responded that both partnerships are considered legacy, with no deeper or deeper integration envisioned or supported. A spokesperson said Tier’s sole focus is to deliver a new in-house solution with Fantasmo at scale next year.
