Military operators must make quick decisions in high-stakes environments, but are often challenged by technology that doesn't provide accurate information about their surroundings. While military leaders have made it clear they are prioritizing the military's “decision advantage,” actually shipping new technology and getting it into the hands of end users can be even more difficult. be.
Reveal Technology is one standout company to watch in this effort. The six-year-old startup has worked with multiple departments of the U.S. Department of Defense to bring its flagship software product into the hands of carriers. Its software, called Farsight, can quickly convert video from a drone into a 3D map displayed on a smartphone. The company already has a number of programs in the works with the Army, Special Operations Command, Marine Corps, and some foreign militaries.
Farsight offers significant advantages over the current state of smartphones, which typically come preloaded with 2D maps. These maps are often generated from satellite data that is years old and do not reflect the changing nature of the battlefield, said Garrett, co-founder and CEO of Reveal. Smith explained in a recent interview.
“When you're facing an enemy, a lot of things can change in that environment. They close roads, they dig ditches… none of that shows up on the map,” he said. . “Farsight solves all of that by providing a fresh, 3D, high-resolution model of your operating environment, allowing you to measure it, analyze it, drive decisions, and understand your environment.”
What Mr. Smith should know is that he is a U.S. Marine Corps officer who has served in Afghanistan, South Asia, and South America. He retired from active duty about 12 years ago and has been in the reserves ever since. Smith said there were incredible benefits to being in the military, “but those experiences also highlighted a serious lack of technological readiness in the U.S. Department of Defense.” Technologies that businesses introduced years ago, such as cloud computing, were still on the adoption curve.
“It was a pretty crazy realization to realize that while I was in danger,” he said.
After retiring from active duty, Smith decided to attend Stanford University and jump into the world of startups. Mr. Smith's experience operating drones in the military has allowed him to work with companies in the commercial drone industry. What he noticed was that cheap commercial drones were rapidly emerging alongside cheaper consumer smartphones. “There was an opportunity to create software value there,” he explained.
He and three colleagues founded Reveal Technology in December 2018 to build the software tool that is now Farsight. In addition to map generation, this software can also simulate enemy visibility, provide route planning, determine height and distance, and provide other analysis.
“These operating environments collect vast amounts of visual information, and the amount is only increasing. I’m just trying to be,” Smith said.
Along the way, the startup also acquired DFL Technology to power its product Identifi, a primarily smartphone-based biometric and personal identification data collection and verification system. The consistency between Reveal's two products determines the decision-making advantage of providing tactical information in edge and mobile environments. If Farsight is all about navigating the physical terrain, Smith said, “Identifi is about the human terrain.”
Investors are paying attention. The company just closed an $11.2 million Series A led by Next Frontier Capital with participation from defy.vc and 8VC. This is to expand the team and build out the product lineup. As Mr. Smith said, there's nothing more to it than that. It's about “dominating the mobile and edge space.”