Cortexica

Cortexica, founded in 2008, originated as a spin-out from the Bioengineering Department of Imperial College London. The company was established by Professor Anil Bharath and Jeffrey Ng, stemming from research aimed at reverse-engineering the human visual cortex. Jeffrey Ng holds a PhD in Computer Vision and Machine Learning from Queen Mary University of London and has co-founded two AI startups. The initial work was considered ahead of its time and gained momentum with advancements in GPU power and a grant from the UK Government.

The firm provides business-to-business artificial intelligence solutions centered on computer vision, machine learning, and video analytics. Cortexica's technology replicates the human process of analyzing visual aspects like color, pattern, and shape to recognize objects. The company's offerings are designed for B2B digital transformation, serving clients across retail, manufacturing, automotive, and media sectors. Revenue is generated by providing these software systems, supported by professional services tailored to specific industries.

Cortexica's core technology enables visual search and image recognition, allowing applications to identify objects in images and videos. One of its key products, FindSimilar™, and its variations for fashion and shoes, allows a user to take a picture of an item to find similar products from a retailer's inventory. This technology has been utilized by major retailers such as John Lewis, Macy's, and Zalando. Beyond retail, the technology has applications in monitoring safety on construction sites and has been explored for use in medical imaging. In November 2019, Cortexica was acquired by Zebra Technologies to enhance Zebra's enterprise asset intelligence and accelerate the development of its retail robotics solutions.

Keywords: computer vision, visual search, image recognition, artificial intelligence, machine learning, video analytics, retail technology, B2B AI solutions, fashion technology, object recognition, Imperial College spin-out, edge AI, digital transformation, data analytics, asset intelligence, retail robotics, operational efficiency, automated environments