Advanced Mobility Analytics Group Pty Ltd (AMAG) is pleased to announce a partnership with the ASX-listed technology investment firm, PPK Group Limited (ASX: PPK, ppkgroup.com.au). Through its AU$1.5 million investment, PPK has secured a 20% equity stake in AMAG, and will be providing ongoing advice and expertise to assist AMAG in achieving its technology development and deployment roadmap going forward.
“On the heels of the considerable investment by PPK, AMAG will accelerate development of its world-leading, comprehensive SMART Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Platform, which will enable governments around the globe to proactively manage road safety on their transportation networks, reducing crash risks for all road users”, said Co-Founder and CEO Simon Washington.
“AMAG is excited at the breadth and depth of technology development and deployment experience that PPK will bring to AMAG through this partnership”, said Professor Tarek Sayed, AMAG Co-Founder and Professor at the University of British Columbia (UBC). “Our ability to support SMART City deployments will be significantly accelerated”.
“Our speed to market, the quality of our SMART Platform, and our ability to enable both video and LIDAR-based technologies to support Vision Zero and Safe System policies will be greatly enhanced by this partnership”, said Associate Professor Shimul Haque of the Queensland University of Technology (QUT).
This successful partnership builds upon considerable funding and intellectual property (IP) developed by the University of Queensland (UQ), UBC and QUT, and licensed to AMAG by UniQuest, the technology transfer company of UQ.
Helping to build Brisbane’s profile as a high-tech hub and global start-up ecosystem, AMAG’s HQs will be established in Brisbane, Australia. AMAG will initially employ about 15 engineers with plans to grow to about 35 staff within a couple of years. “The growth potential of the global business is significant”, said CEO Washington, “as governments around the world seek to design Smart Cities and achieve “Vision Zero” and “Safe System” policy objectives.
“The SMART Platform enables governments to proactively reduce injuries and fatalities on transport systems before they occur by rapidly assessing the effects of design and operational changes on crash risk, and provides reliable feedback to transport system design and operations”, said Professor Sayed.
AMAG has secured government customers for its SMART Platform in the United States (the state of Florida and the City of Bellevue, Washington), Australia, and is currently negotiating with various cities in Canada and the US. AMAG is forging go-to-market partnerships with several global engineering consulting companies and enjoys a technology partnership (MOU) with Microsoft.
According to Robin Levison, Executive Chairman of PPK, “This investment represents a great opportunity for PPK to further diversify into new technology and the development work already undertaken by AMAG is very positive. I see this technology having a significant purpose to improving road safety globally, and PPK is very pleased to be approached by UniQuest to partner with AMAG and provide follow-on investment to UQ, QUT, and UBC initial seed investments. Finally, we see significant opportunity to intermediate with the growing driverless vehicle market also”.
The founders of AMAG are planning a future that will see seamless integration of LIDAR, video, and connected and automated vehicle data coupled with edge, cloud, and internet-enabled sensor technologies (IoT) into AMAG’s world-leading road safety SMART Platform, powered by advanced econometrics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and data mining techniques. With some of the most experienced and recognised road safety experts globally, coupled with leading developers and partnership with PPK, AMAG is poised to deliver on this plan.
