Belfast-based tech start-up Liopa has announced “significant” investment for its research in automated lip reading technology.
The undisclosed funding from The Future Fund will be used to bring two new products to market, LipRead and SRAVI.
LipRead will leverage automated lip-reading to significantly increase the accuracy of video and media transcriptions. The second product, SRAVI, is an app which enables people to communicate with healthcare workers, or their friends and family, while they cannot use their voice.
A spin-out from Queen’s University Belfast and The Centre for Security Technologies (CSIT), Liopa has also been backed by QUBIS, the commercialisation arm of Queen’s, Invest NI’s Access to Finance funds Techstart NI, managed by Techstart Ventures and Co-Fund II, managed by Clarendon Fund Managers, and the company’s founding team.
SRAVI is currently being trialed in a pilot study with the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. The demand for the communications aid has increased due to the raise in patients who have undergone a tracheostomy as a result of COVID-19 complications.
The Future Fund was developed by government, delivered by the British Business Bank, to support high-growth, innovative firms through the current period of economic disruption caused by COVID-19.
Liopa chief executive, Liam McQuillan said: “We are delighted to receive this funding in support of innovative businesses within the UK.
“The award will help Liopa achieve global impact with our automated lip-reading technology and ensure our continued success as a sustainable high growth tech company in Northern Ireland.”
