Leader in the biometrics market big data, Griaule is a Brazilian software company with a long partnership with the State University of Campinas. Founded in Goiânia and transferred shortly afterwards to Campinas, it was one of the pioneers to graduate (between 2002 and 2005) from the Unicamp Technology-Based Business Incubator (Incamp), under the management of the Inova Unicamp Innovation Agency. In 2003, it was already listed as one of the 8 most accurate algorithms in the world by NIST, a reference body in the biometrics industry.
Twenty years later, it still maintains its Brazilian headquarters on one of the avenues that give access to Unicamp, in the district of Barão Geraldo. The proximity to the University's ecosystem is strategic: it helped in building a solid foundation for the company, in the internationalization process (with expansion to the USA, Europe and Mexico) and in contact with professors, researchers and students, helping to maintain its technology in the state of the art of biometric identification.
“Unicamp is the main innovation and technology ecosystem in Latin America, in addition to being one of the main universities in the area of computer science. This proximity to an institution of excellence allows us to hire a very high level workforce and collaborate on technological projects”, says João Weber, CEO of Griaule.
The company currently employs 60 employees and serves four thousand customers in more than 70 countries. Griaule provides solutions ranging from combating terrorism (for the US Department of Defense) and identifying users of banking institutions to biometric registration of newborns to avoid exchanges in hospitals. The startup also helped to consolidate the largest biometric database in Brazil, with the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), increasing security against fraud in elections.
Technology developed in partnership with Unicamp
Griaule keeps its facial recognition, fingerprint, palm and iris technology up to date through technical and scientific cooperation projects with Unicamp. In 2021, it signed another Research and Development (R&D) agreement with the Computing Institute (IC), with the granting of Scientific Initiation, Master's, Doctorate and Research Stimulus to Innovation scholarships to researchers and teachers linked to Information Technology.
The project aims to develop image acquisition, processing and analysis techniques for recognizing people through machine learning and pattern recognition in different biometric modalities, with nine thematic lines. One of these lines intends, for example, to improve identification technology using fingerprint fragments; in another, the aim is to acquire biometric signals through contactless devices.
“Griaule is a success story in Information Technology that developed within our incubator, conquered the world and continues to be in contact with the University due to the excellence of the professionals trained here. This partnership fuels teaching, research and extension, impacting the curriculum of our students and researchers”, celebrates Professor Ana Frattini, executive director of Inova Unicamp.
Coordination of the new R&D agreement will be the responsibility of Alexandre Falcão, professor at the Computing Institute (IC). The partnership will last for five years. The number of students covered will be defined jointly by the company and the University and may vary throughout the duration of the projects.
Original article published on the Inova Unicamp Innovation Agency website.
