Member Article

A startup applying machine learning to solve our traffic woes has just raised up to £1.3m

London-based smart city innovator Vivacity Labs has followed up a string of client wins and local government pilot programmes in the last 12 months with a funding boost worth up to £1.3m.

The investment has come from software and traffic data firm Tracsis who have agreed to invest up to £1m in exchange for a 23% stake of the enlarged share capital in the startup, along with an agreement to invest a further £300k for a further 4.8%. The initial £1m is dependent upon performance.

A Tracsis executive will also join Vivacity’s board as a result of the investment.

Also contributing to the funding round were Downing Ventures EIS Fund and the London Co-Investment Fund, marking a further cash injection into the business after it successfully won a £1.7m Smart Cities grant last March.

Based at Holborn Viaduct, Vivacity has developed machine learning software which works in tandem with sensors to help solve problems relating to traffic and pedestrian flow, along with real-time data on roads and other transport hubs.

Following the investment, Mark Nicholson, Chief Executive Officer of Vivacity Labs Limited, commented: “We are pleased to join forces with Tracsis having worked with them for some time now on joint projects.

“The combination of Tracsis’ experience and extensive customer list, combined with our technology makes for a great partnership. With this investment in place and the support of Tracsis, we look forward to accelerating our penetration into the market.”

The traffic data company has identified Vivacity’s innovations as having the potential to support its Traffic and Data Services division, with the potential to increase the accuracy of its traffic counts and other provisions.

John McArthur, who is Chief Executive Officer at Tracsis plc, said: “We are delighted to have agreed this investment into Vivacity Labs and are excited by the potential of this technology both for our business and the wider traffic and transport market.

“The potential of machine learning technology is very significant and the Vivacity offering is highly complementary to our Traffic and Data Services division.”