Redpoint eventures led a US$5m round in CyberLabs, a Brazilian computer vision and voice recognition technology developer founded by Movile Co-Founder Marcelo Sales.

(Contxto) The new normal calls for technology that reduces physical contact. As a result, investors are keen to find startups ready for this future.

Case in point is Redpoint eventures who recently led an investment round in CyberLabs for US$5 million.

The startup will use the funds to perfect its AI-geared products through research and development. After which, in fall, it hopes to bring these contactless tools to businesses in its native Brazil. And just in time for the flu season too.

One can only guess what sort of Covid-induced chaos can ensue then.

CyberLabs puts Covid-19 to the test

CyberLabs had been quietly trying out its tech in one of the most populated cities in Brazil during the Covid-19 outbreak.

“The AI we developed during our pilot testing helped to flatten the curve in Rio de Janeiro by reducing public health risks with advanced technologies, such as computational imaging and machine-learning analysis of live video streams over the public safety network created for the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics,” said CyberLabs’s Founder and CEO Marcelo Sales in a press release.

Now thanks to its latest investment, the startup plans to bolster research and development. Then it’s off to market.

Contactless tech by CyberLabs

One of the core products CyberLabs will promote is its KeyApp.

Through it, people can enter or leave premises via facial-recognition tech. Companies can also use it to register employee check-ins and check-outs via QR codes. That’s certainly a more sanitary alternative when compared to thumbprints or those tags we drag around everywhere.

Likewise, in the coming months, CyberLabs will roll out a more sophisticated system that combines the KeyApp with thermal tech cameras for a safer experience.

However, it’s not the only startup of this nature that’s raised funds recently. Last month, Unike closed US$557,000 for its contactless tech.

I’m watching you

So much surveillance comes off as creepy. But “if it’s for our own good”, does that make it okay?

This is a problem tech companies and policymakers alike have been addressing in recent years. And Covid-19 only further emphasized these applications’ potentially negative implications.

So to put employees at ease, CyberLabs says that its system complies with Brazil’s General Data Protection Law (GDPL) which is expected to become effective in May of next year. Correspondingly, users can opt-out of their data being collected.

The startup also states it anonymizes gathered data.