Baidu Inc Invests $3 Million In Israeli Startup Pixellot

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Chinese search engine giant Baidu Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU) has made its first ever investment in the booming Israeli startup sector. Baidu announced that it had invested $3 million in Pixellot. Founded by Miky Tamir and Gal Oz in 2013, Pixellot provides affordable and high-quality alternative to traditional video capturing.

Pixellot will use the funds to expand its R&D

According to Reuters, the Israeli company has developed a system of ultra high-definition, unmanned cameras, opening a new era of music video and sports production. It also comes with a remote proxy video production suite. Pixellot’s solution deploys a multi-camera system, which is capable of covering the entire scene. That’s much better than the traditional method where several manned cameras are deployed to capture the right shot.

The Israeli company’s algorithms allow users to zoom in on any part of the covered area, and navigate back and forth in time. Pixellot has raised $5.3 million so far. Baidu’s chief of corporate development, Peter Fang, said that Pixellot’s technology could revolutionize video content production for Chinese users. Pixellot said it would use the funds to expand its R&D, and advance its business development.

Baidu investing aggressively in new technologies

Pixellot’s target market is professional broadcasters as well as amateur fans. Pixellot allows fans, players and their families to create personal videos and monitor the player’s performance using cloud services. It also offers unique effects such as tied-to-field graphics and spatial replay for professional broadcasters. The company estimates that “long tail” sports and music production market is worth billions of dollars.

Baidu is increasingly investing in innovating technologies to diversify its offerings and explore other markets. The company is developing an autonomous car in collaboration with German automaker BMW. Last month, Baidu unveiled a smart bike called DuBike. It comes with Bluetooth connectivity, letting the bike interact with your smartphone. It has the same features as wearable fitness devices available in the market.

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