Former rhipe exec's video analytics software venture Nola scores funding

Melbourne-headquartered AI start-up Nola has raised investment from Skalata Ventures to deliver a data capture SaaS solution that optimises visitor experience across retail, hospitality and entertainment venues.

Founded in 2019 by rhipe's former global marketing director Victoria Zorin, Nola offers an anonymised video analytics software that enables venues and retailers to improve visitor experience. This solution provides insights on visitor count, marketing engagement, and wait times through the analysis of live video feeds or historical footage.

Due to increasing backlash against global surveillance, Nola pitches its software as a cost-effective, ethical artificial intelligence (AI)solution that has been designed to protect personal privacy and security but still offers rich data. Through their no-installation solution, Nola offers customisability to clients, aiming to reduce guesswork for venues and retailers for tasks such as wayfinding, staff rostering, queue times and measuring marketing effectiveness.

Zorin said, “Unlike bluetooth, wi-fi or facial recognition cameras, Nola is anonymous-by-design. This means Nola doesn’t track or store any form of unique identification, managing risk for the organisation and protecting customers”.

“Unlike bluetooth, wi-fi or facial recognition cameras, Nola is anonymous-by-design. This means Nola doesn’t track or store any form of unique identification, managing risk for the organisation and protecting customers”.

Last year, Nola partnered with environmentally conscious music festival ‘Yours & Owls’ in NSW, using temporary cameras to monitor queue length, speed and wait times.

“The client had real-time data and a live traffic map available via an app, allowing the event organisers to move staff reactively around the venue and better manage customer flow,” Zorin said.

Zorin highlights the predictive capabilities planned for the software, “Nola will soon be able to tell you how many customers will visit your store next week, and even integrate external data like weather and public holidays to predict behaviour and help businesses plan for spikes or low traffic days”.

As an AI software, Nola can train itself on data feeds with every new client, leading to increased accuracy, insights, and automation.

Skalata investment manager Tom Smalley said, “It’s like Google Analytics for the physical realm. Ecommerce has the advantage of being able to track shoppers’ every move. With hospitality one of the hardest-hit industries during the pandemic, and Australia now back open for business, Nola offers a huge opportunity to IRL businesses”.