Irish tech start-up EmotionReader snapped up in multimillion dollar deal

EmotionReader, a Limerick-based start-up that has developed technology that uses algorithms to analyse facial expressions in video content, has been acquired in a multi-million dollar deal.

Co-founded by Pádraig O'Leary and Stephen Moore in 2017, the Enterprise Ireland-backed company has been acquired by Kairos, a Miami-headquartered venture-backed specialist in facial recognition technology.

EmotionReader’s patent-pending software is built on an artificial intelligence (AI) platform that uses computer vision and deep learning to track facial expressions and report in real time how audiences feel about the content they are viewing.

While no exact figures were disclosed for the transaction, Kairos described it as a “multi-million dollar” deal in a blogpost.

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"In our mission to fix biases in today's face recognition algorithms, we're thrilled to welcome to Kairos some of the best deep learning talent in the world," said Kairos founder and chief executive Brian Brackeen.

Perfect fit

As part of the deal, Kairos is to consolidate its research and development team in Singapore where Dr Moore, is currently based. Dr Moore is an alumni of the University of Limerick and was previously chief technology officer of facial technology company IMRSV, which was acquired by Kairos in 2015.

“EmotionReader’s technology is a perfect fit for the Kairos platform. I believe with recent advances in AI and deep learning we’re at a tipping point where AI will change the lives of millions of people for the better. Kairos is perfectly placed to make this a reality and do it in a socially responsible way to benefit all,” he said

Dr O’Leary is a former assistant professor for software engineering in the school of computer science at the University of Adelaide. He was also previously a research fellow at Applied Research for Connected Health (Arch) in Dublin, the chief technology officer for cloud platform TruePivot and a researcher at the Lero centre in Limerick.

He holds a Phd from the University of Limerick in software development optimisation techniques.