EIC SC_xxii_blogpost banner

Founded in 2015, XXII is a deep-tech computer vision startup from France that's leveraging AI to transform the way businesses and other organizations use video data from camera feeds. The company – whose name is pronounced “twenty-two” in English or “vingt-deux” in French – is part of the EIC Scaling Club's Digital Security & Trust cohort and boasts an ambitious goal to become the “Google Analytics of real life”.

François Mattens, VP of Public Affairs and Strategy at XXII, explains the company's core offer and mission: “We add a layer of AI behind your screen, allowing you to make use of 100% of your cameras for live detection and data extraction. Our goal is to understand situations in real-time for security, operations, or marketing purposes, and provide useful data synthesis for businesses”.

Leveling up existing video infrastructure with an eye to the future

XXII's technology addresses a significant inefficiency in current video surveillance systems. As François explains, when you have production sites or sensitive infrastructure with around 100 cameras, you typically only use 25 screens, losing 75% of your investment. Accordingly, the company's AI solution enables businesses to make use of 100% of their cameras and do so effectively.

The company offers two main tools:

  1. Live detection for reactive information from video feeds
  2. Real-time and historical dashboards to extract and synthesize useful business data

Beyond supercharging existing monitoring systems, “we want to be the Google Analytics of real life,” François emphasizes. 

“Just as Google Analytics tracks online behavior, we aim to understand real-world interactions through camera data – why people go somewhere, how long they stay, what they do, and how many people are present.”

This has far-reaching potential for many spaces and sectors from retail and public establishments to transport and logistics, but may also raise privacy concerns. That's why XXII has made privacy and ethical considerations a cornerstone of its operations – engaging intimately with regulations, handling all data on-premise, as well as intentionally limiting its technology to prevent biometric analysis or facial recognition.

François emphasized the company's proactive approach to addressing concerns about AI and video surveillance: “We really implement ethics by design. We have an ethics committee that challenges our business and R&D every two months to ensure we are responsible.”

A pirate mindset driving innovation

François attributes XXII's success not only to its technology but also to its unique company culture. “We have a very positive, human-centric mindset. Our office is decorated with pirate flags because we see ourselves as pirates – we want to change the world, be smart, and do crazy things”.

With William Eldin at the helm as CEO, you'd expect nothing less. William is a serial tech entrepreneur and a household name in France, having founded the well-loved Coyote system and even laying claim to an international music hit he helped produce. 

XXII's pirate culture extends to regular hackathons, dubbed “pirate retreats,” where the entire company focuses on innovative projects, as well as spending quality time together, for 48 hours. “When we do that, it's amazing to see what kind of leaps we can make,” François says.

In terms of more substantial achievements, François outlines three that the company is particularly proud of:

  • Raising €22 million in funding last year
  • Winning its first contract in the US retail and QSR (Quick Service Restaurant) sector
  • Implementing a strong ethics-by-design approach to address privacy concerns

However, the company faces challenges, particularly in talent retention. “It's very difficult to keep talent in France,” François admits. “We focus on maintaining our family-like company culture to keep our team happy and engaged.”

Future plans and EIC Scaling Club involvement 

Looking ahead, XXII wants to be the European leader in computer vision. The company is also aiming to expand its presence both in the US and European markets.

XXII views joining the EIC Scaling Club as conducive to both of these goals – “EIC is a big accelerator for us. We're learning from mentors and other companies, even those in different sectors.”

As XXII continues to grow and innovate, it remains committed to its core values of ethical AI use and maintaining its unique company culture. With its cutting-edge technology and pirate spirit, XXII is well-positioned to revolutionize the field of video analytics and become a major player in the European tech scene and beyond.


About the EIC Scaling Club

EIC_Scaling Club_general_Twitter

The EIC Scaling Club is a curated community where 120+ European deep tech scale-ups with the potential to build world-class businesses and solve major global challenges come together with investors, corporate innovators and other industry stakeholders to spur growth.

The top 120+ European deep tech companies will be carefully selected from a pool of high-growth scale-ups that have benefitted from EIC financial schemes, other European and national innovation programmes, and beyond.

The EIC Scaling Club is an EIC-funded initiative run in partnership by Tech Tour, Bpifrance (EuroQuity), Hello Tomorrow, Tech.eu (Webrazzi), EurA and IESE Business School.

Subscribe to our newsletter here to stay up-to-date!

By/ EIC Scaling Club

Related Articles

Recent Articles

Tallano Technologies: On a mission to work for the future generations

1 Oct 2024

Carmen Font – Clean Fuels and Hydrogen Group President

26 Sep 2024

Heimdall Power: Revolutionizing grid management to enable energy transition

24 Sep 2024

Easelink: Leading the way in automated EV charging

18 Sep 2024

EIC Scaling Club members have raised a cumulative 73M EUR in advance of the Scale 100 Forum

17 Sep 2024

Persistence, stamina, and grit are more important than ever – Interview with Patrik Sobocki

11 Sep 2024

UMNAI: The missing piece of today’s AI – Hybrid Intelligence

11 Sep 2024

Transmetrics: Redefining the transport industry with the power of AI

3 Sep 2024

How to create an effective 45-second pitch in 7 steps

2 Sep 2024

Basemark: Transforming the driving experience with augmented reality

21 Aug 2024

Europe's Next-Gen Computing market roadmap: Decrypting future challenges

20 Aug 2024

Europe's Digital Security & Trust market roadmap: Securing growth

14 Aug 2024

Learning is a lifelong journey – Interview with Tero Vauraste

9 Aug 2024

Quobly: Tackling the world's growing computational challenges with quantum power

8 Aug 2024

Europe's Renewable Energies market roadmap: Powering through challenges

7 Aug 2024

European deep-tech scale-ups focus on market expansion, funnel optimization, and investment readiness level to attract growth funding

6 Aug 2024

Manna: The world's only autonomous drone delivery solution with positive unit economics

2 Aug 2024

Open Call – EIC matchmaking opportunity: Pitch your maritime and shipping industry innovations

1 Aug 2024

Europe's Smart Mobility market roadmap: The road ahead

30 Jul 2024

EIC Scaling Club report identifies top go-to-market challenges of European deep-tech scale-ups

24 Jul 2024

The sound of innovation: sensiBel's optical MEMS microphones

22 Jul 2024

GScan: Pioneering infrastructure assessment with muon tomography

18 Jul 2024

.lumen raises €5M for its glasses for the blind

17 Jul 2024

Meet the New Space stakeholders from Cohort 2 of the EIC Scaling Club

16 Jul 2024

Cohort 2: Introducing Clean Fuels & Hydrogen stakeholders

16 Jul 2024

XXII: Revolutionizing video analytics with AI-powered computer vision

10 Jul 2024

Cohort 2: Meet the New Biotech Platforms stakeholders

9 Jul 2024

Sweetch Energy: Providing a source of renewable energy that ‘ticks all the boxes’

8 Jul 2024

How a paradigm-shifting company can benefit from the EIC Scaling Club – Interview with Marta Garcia Pedruelo

3 Jul 2024

Decarbonizing maritime shipping with state-of-the-art technology – Interview with Dana Camps

2 Jul 2024

ThreatMark: Building AI-powered defense against evolving banking fraud

1 Jul 2024

Cohort 2: Introducing Cardiovascular Therapies stakeholders

27 Jun 2024

Stakeholders – becoming a part of the journey to innovative excellence

26 Jun 2024

Scaling new heights: How Aerones conquers the wind industry

21 Jun 2024

Cohort 2: Meet the Battery & Energy Storage stakeholders

20 Jun 2024

.lumen: Revolutionizing mobility for the visually impaired

18 Jun 2024

Bridging the Blockchain Chasm with Innovative Solutions – Interview with Fabrizia Zanca, VP of People at SettleMint

10 Jun 2024

Turning nanotechnology into business – Interview with Tom Vanhoutte

30 May 2024

Finding investment as a deeptech scaleup – interview with Larissa Skarke of World Fund

28 May 2024

Meet the man building deep tech ventures and spin-offs for IMEC: An interview with Olivier Rousseaux, its Director of Venture Development

24 May 2024

On European competitiveness and entrepreneurial education: Interview with Maria Zubeldia of Oxford's Saïd Business School

22 May 2024

'Mobilising private capital to address the world's greatest (climate) challenges': Carbon Equity CEO Jacqueline van den Ende is on a mission

15 May 2024