In 2008 the company “Videntifier” was founded in Reykjavik by three researchers who participated in a joint project between Icelandic and French scientific institutions in developing visual search solutions. The company offers two unique services. One company tool is able to quickly and efficiently compare the content of millions of photos (images) and videos for matching and similarities. Another solution helps identify the photos taken by the same camera. The company has a wide range of clients: from content owners who want to protect their intellectual property, to law enforcement agencies investigating terrorism, child sexual exploitation cases (best practice example – Interpol).
As the “Videntifier” team works with the latest technology, finding talented staff has always been a real challenge. As a result, the team grew slowly but steadily. Today the company employs twelve specialists. In 2013a highly-qualified software developer from Lithuania joined the team. According to the founder and head of “Videntifier” Herwig Lejsek, this first “contact with Lithuania” and “Invest in Lithuania” agency support were the main factors that had determined the decision to choose Vilnius.
“For us Lithuania is a place where it is easy to create a multicultural team of relatively narrow niche expertise professionals, whose work is based on mutual understanding and respect. Maybe in a couple of years Vilnius will become the main “Videntifier” research and development center, ” says Herwig Lejsek. – “We also hope to work closely with local universities, to establish partnerships with research laboratories and to offer young graduate and postgraduate students the opportunity to choose internship at our company and learn more about our technology.”
Upon opening the company’s center, it is planned to transfer three workers from Iceland to Lithuania and about five specialists are to be recruited by the end of the year 2018. “Videntifier” is looking for highly skilled software developers who can cope with emerging challenges using “Computer Vision” and “High Dimensional Indexing” technologies. In the next few years the company is planning to recruit about 20 more employees.
According to the Managing Director of “Invest in Lithuania” Mantas Katinas, the “Videntifier” case reminds us that high-quality talent is one of the key factors in attracting high-tech companies to Lithuania.
“Companies from such distant countries as Singapore and Iceland, are choosing Lithuania for the talents that are located here and that allow businesses to grow and improve. Lithuania, in turn, is very interested in fostering talent in future-oriented areas such as virtual reality, machine learning, artificial intelligence and robotics, ” Mantas Katinas shared his thoughts.
About the company
“Videntifier Technologies”, more commonly known as “Videntifier”, is an Icelandic company specializing in visual search and identification and delivers high-tech software to the world’s largest law enforcement and copyright protection agencies. “Videntifier’s” solutions are being installed in key law enforcement organizations, including the US National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the US Department of Homeland Security, the Swedish National Police, EUROPOL, the UK Department of Homeland Security, the Korean National Police and the Indian Home Office. In February2018, “Videntifier” signed an agreement with one of the five major US Internet companies that were looking for enhanced opportunities of visual search and identification solutions.
