iCetana completes $8m raising

Curtin University spin-out iCetana, which is commercialising video monitoring software, has become the second unlisted Perth tech company to complete a big capital raising this year.

The Subiaco-based business has raised $8 million from a range of investors, including local investment funds Go Capital and Yuuwa Capital, and Melbourne-based Delcor Asset Management.

Its successful raising follows the bumper $26 million raising completed last month by fast-growing HealthEngine, which also attracted support from Go Capital.

The iCetana raising comes after the business turned a profit of $1.4 million in 2016 on revenue of $4.9 million.

Chairman Rohan McDougall said the company had installations in 10 countries monitoring more than 10,000 camera streams and was seeing a significant increase in international demand for its product.

iCetana was founded in 2010 as a spin-out from Curtin University, leveraging unique anomaly detection algorithms developed in the School of Computer Science.

Its system detects motion that is unusual or abnormal and alerts camera operators in real-time so they can respond appropriately.

It has been installed on university campuses (including Curtin University) and at public transport hubs and large shopping malls.

The company, which is led by chief executive Chris Farquhar, said a new focus would be the international military and defence markets.

Go Capital chairman Geoff Pritchard has joined iCetana’s board following the raising.