focalise
Focalise builds proprietary computer-vision AI for real-time human detection in video, thermal, and fused sensor data, primarily serving international search-and-rescue organisations, with extensions into border security, critical infrastructure, and construction safety.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2024
- HeadquartersPaisley, United Kingdom
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What focalise does
Focalise Limited is a UK-based AI company that develops computer-vision software for real-time human detection in video, thermal and fused sensor data, primarily for search-and-rescue (SAR) operations. The company's flagship product, AI-SAR, is built on proprietary deep-learning models originally developed over 5+ years at the University of West of Scotland and validated in collaboration with Police Scotland (SmartRPAS 2019, NG-RPAS 2021), Victoria Police (Australia), Swedish Rescue Drones, and the Search and Rescue Aerial Association Scotland (SARAAS). The model is optimised to run on low-power constrained devices such as drones, and can be customised per geography, weather condition, or use case.
The company operates a subscription-based commercial model (with freemium trial mechanics and undisclosed pricing) alongside licensing for customised AI deployments. Its go-to-market is community-led and relationship-driven, anchored by a Strategic Advisory Board of operational SAR practitioners and supported by participation in the STAC Smart Things Accelerator Hub. Target customers span four primary verticals: international SAR organisations (primary), border and critical-infrastructure security, construction/worker safety, and broader problematic-pattern-recognition use cases.
Focalise was incorporated on 5 February 2024 as a spinout from the University of West of Scotland, with non-dilutive funding from Scottish Enterprise, EU Horizon 2020 (5G-INDUCE), CENSIS and Thales. The leadership team — CEO Jim Foley (ex-BT, Logica/CGI, Kroll, Canonical), R&D Director Dr Ignacio Martinez-Alpiste (founding researcher), and Operations Director David Wilson (ex-Craneware SVP Engineering, 5→120 person scale-up) — operates from Paisley, Scotland, alongside a board of advisors and mentors. The company reports 1–10 employees and is actively hiring across engineering, sales, marketing, customer success, and community functions.
focalise firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- focalise
- Legal name
- Focalise Limited
- Website
- https://focalise.ai
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2024
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Focalise builds proprietary computer-vision AI for real-time human detection in video, thermal, and fused sensor data, primarily serving international search-and-rescue organisations, with extensions into border security, critical infrastructure, and construction safety.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
focalise industry classification
Industry- Product category
- AI-Powered Search and Rescue Software
- NAICS
- Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Object Detection & Tracking (HDAAAEAB)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Remote Sensing & Geospatial Vision (satellite/drone imagery) (HDAAAEAL), Disaster Response & Search and Rescue (SAR) (BPADADAA)
Keywords
Where focalise is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Paisley
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
focalise business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Subscription-based AI Solutions: The company offers subscription-based access to its AI-enabled Search and Rescue platform. Terms indicate recurring billing on daily, weekly, monthly or annual periods with automatic renewal. Free trials are available for limited periods.
- Enterprise Software Licenses: Customized AI models and solutions for enterprise customers including search and rescue teams, government agencies, and critical infrastructure operators. Revenue derived from licensing AI capabilities developed over 5+ years of R&D.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Free Trial available for limited period |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
focalise product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Focalise develops AI-SAR (AI-Enabled Search and Rescue), a computer vision software platform that detects humans in real time from video, thermal, and other sensor data captured by IoT devices such as drones. The models are designed to work in challenging conditions (poor weather, low visibility) and on low-power edge hardware, and can be customized for specific geographies and use cases. The company complements the core platform with model customization services, a community platform, training resources, and challenge/mission-based engagement.
Product overview
Focalise offers AI-SAR (AI-Enabled Search and Rescue) as its core product, complemented by AI model customization services. The AI-SAR platform uses advanced computer vision models developed over 5+ years to detect humans from video, thermal, and sensor data captured by IoT devices like drones. Additional offerings include a community platform, courses/training resources, and challenges/missions for community engagement. The company is currently offering free trials for early access to the AI-SAR platform.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- AI-SAR (AI-Enabled Search and Rescue) AI-powered search and rescue software platform that uses computer vision models to detect humans in real time from video, thermal, optical, and fused sensor data captured by IoT devices such as drones. Built for international SAR teams, government agencies, and critical infrastructure operators, and designed to function in challenging conditions including poor weather and low visibility.
Quantifiable outcome
- Successfully located previously undetected missing victims using 4-year-old video footage during early trials
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use focalise
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
focalise technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration3 records
AI capability5 records
Feature4 records
focalise partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and major.
- SARAAS (Search and Rescue Aerial Association Scotland)coreSARAAS joined the Strategic Advisory Board of Focalise upon spinout completion on February 5, 2024. With 14 aerial teams across Scotland supporting Scottish Mountain Rescue and other organizations, SARAAS provides operational SAR expertise and drives product development through practitioner insights.
- STAC (Smart Things Accelerator Hub)flagshipFocalise was selected to participate in the 18-month STAC business growth programme, Europe's largest Smart Things Accelerator Hub. The structured programme with milestone-based deliverables will rapidly mature and position Focalise for international operations and success. Supported by executives from Dyson, Plexus, Meta, Blackberry, Motorola and Volvo.
- Swedish Rescue DronescoreSwedish Rescue Drones, with 1,600 volunteer members frequently assisting Swedish Police in locating missing persons, joined as founding Community members after exceptional trial results. Founder Hans Hedin joined the Strategic Advisory Board. Swedish Police are Europe's largest users of DJI drones for policing.
- University of West of ScotlandcoreFocalise is a spinout from the University of West of Scotland where the core AI technology was developed through 5+ years of collaborative research. Prof. Gordon Morison, Dean of Computing, Engineering and Life Sciences, serves as Board Observer and Advisor. Dr. Ignacio Martinez-Alpiste is the founding researcher.
- Police ScotlandcorePolice Scotland participated in SmartRPAS (2019) and NG-RPAS (2021) projects, providing requirements and participation for real-time detection of missing people during SAR missions using RPAS-based smart systems. They are Europe's largest users of DJI drones for policing.
- Victoria Police (Australia)majorVictoria Police in Australia participated in the NG-RPAS project (2021) which extended human detection capability for SAR missions with upgraded models effective in poor weather using thermal, optical, and fusion data.
- ThalescoreThales co-funded the SmartRPAS (2019) and NG-RPAS (2021) projects. As a major international technology company, Thales provides expertise in aerospace, defense, and digital security.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights7 records
focalise competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- DroneSense: DroneSense provides a drone management and AI analytics platform purpose-built for public safety agencies, including search and rescue workflows. It is the closest direct comparable to Focalise's AI-SAR value proposition of AI-enabled drone operations for first responders.
- Skydio: Skydio is a leading autonomous drone manufacturer with strong adoption across US public safety and SAR programs. It competes with Focalise on the drone-plus-AI stack used by police and rescue teams, though its primary differentiation is autonomy rather than human-detection AI.
- Auterion: Auterion offers an enterprise drone operating system and AI stack deployed across defense and public-safety fleets. It overlaps with Focalise on AI-on-drones for mission-critical users, though it addresses a broader set of payloads beyond human detection.
Emerging players
- Dedrone: Dedrone provides AI-based airspace security and drone detection for defense, critical infrastructure and public safety. It is comparable as a computer-vision-on-drone-feed vendor for security-mission buyers that overlap with Focalise's border/infrastructure use cases.
- Pix4D: Pix4D provides drone photogrammetry and imagery processing software widely used in mapping, inspection and public-safety workflows. It overlaps with Focalise in turning drone-captured imagery into actionable outputs, though it focuses on mapping rather than human detection.
- DroneDeploy: DroneDeploy is a drone data platform for inspection, mapping and asset management across construction, energy and public safety. It is an adjacent peer that processes drone imagery for operational decision-making, comparable on platform-and-AI-on-drone-data though narrower on SAR.
Broad incumbents
- Anduril Industries: Anduril is a well-capitalized defense-tech incumbent building AI-driven sensing and autonomy products (Lattice, Roadrunner, etc.) for border security, infrastructure protection and public safety. It represents the scaled, venture-backed incumbent that could bundle similar human-detection capability into a broader portfolio.
- DJI: DJI is the world's largest drone manufacturer and the platform of choice for many of Focalise's police and SAR customers (e.g. Swedish Police, Police Scotland). It is a broad incumbent that could integrate native AI human detection directly into its enterprise drone software.
- Parrot SA: Parrot is a European drone manufacturer with a public-safety and defense focus. It is a comparable broad incumbent serving similar government and SAR buyers, although its primary differentiation is hardware rather than AI detection software.
Others
- Esri: Esri is the dominant GIS and geospatial analytics platform, routinely used by police, SAR and emergency-response agencies. It is comparable as ecosystem infrastructure where Focalise's detections would be visualized and operationalized, but it does not directly compete in human-detection AI.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
focalise social profiles
Digital presencefocalise compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
focalise financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
focalise leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles12 records
focalise funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
focalise M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about focalise
What does focalise do?
Focalise develops AI-SAR (AI-Enabled Search and Rescue), a computer vision software platform that detects humans in real time from video, thermal, and other sensor data captured by IoT devices such as drones. The models are designed to work in challenging conditions (poor weather, low visibility) and on low-power edge hardware, and can be customized for specific geographies and use cases. The company complements the core platform with model customization services, a community platform, training resources, and challenge/mission-based engagement.
Is focalise a public or private company?
focalise is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was focalise founded?
focalise was founded in 2024. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is focalise based?
focalise is headquartered in Paisley, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does focalise make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Subscription-based AI Solutions are the primary driver. The others are enterprise Software Licenses.
Who are focalise's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are DroneSense, Skydio and Auterion. Emerging players are Dedrone, Pix4D and DroneDeploy. Broad incumbents are Anduril Industries, DJI and Parrot SA. Esri is listed as an others.
Does focalise have an API?
No public API is recorded for focalise.
What industry is focalise in?
focalise's product category is AI-Powered Search and Rescue Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAAAEAB, Object Detection & Tracking, with a secondary code of HDAAAEAL, Remote Sensing & Geospatial Vision (satellite/drone imagery). Its NAICS code is 54151 and its SIC code is 7373.