Milestone Creates Incubations and Ventures Unit In Silicon Valley

  • Sep 04, 2012

Milestone Systems, the open platform company for IP video management software (VMS), will heighten its focus on development by starting up a new international business unit, Incubation and Ventures, with locations in Silicon Valley, California, and at the Danish headquarters. The goal is to develop new products and services with high potential for market superiority and differentiation, to achieve additional growth by cultivating new Milestone ventures.

To steer the new initiatives, Milestone has hired an experienced strategist, Lars Nordenlund Friis, as vice president for incubation and ventures.

"The Incubation and Ventures business unit will work with groundbreaking innovations that can extend Milestone’s leadership in the industry and accelerate our growth. The team will work with a portfolio process that covers new business areas where we see high potential and integrate these into our main business as they mature. This requires taking a broad view across new technologies and business segments that will continue to build the Milestone vision to enable business optimization through open platform IP video surveillance," says Lars Thinggaard, CEO & president, Milestone Systems.

The term "Incubation" relates to organic product innovations that can be developed and taken to commercial success, and "Ventures" signals the intention to build a portfolio of stand-alone businesses, joint partnership ventures or potential mergers and acquisitions, with or without external funding.

"Milestone has always had a strong focus on long-term growth and that is why we have been successful the past 14 years. We will now be investing in exciting new initiatives," says John Blem, Chief Product Officer and co-founder of Milestone Systems. "We have brought in an experienced person to run the Incubation and Ventures unit with knowledge of international business development and global expansions; I believe that Lars Nordenlund Friis is exactly the right man to help Milestone continue as the world’s leading provider of IP video management software."

Lars Nordenlund Friis has an MBA from Henley in London. He has been Head of Strategy in Northern Europe for PwC, a partner at PA Consulting, and spent six years at Microsoft in Seattle leading their global ISV (Independent Software Vendor) business, as well as being responsible for global business development at Columbus IT and other technology companies.

The Milestone Incubation and Ventures business unit will identify new opportunities in the markets, build up strategic partnerships and take in the most lucrative potential initiatives with the intention to integrate with the core business of the company.

"We are already looking at undiscovered markets and innovative technologies that can increase Milestone’s growth across software and hardware, as well as exploring the potential of cloud services. We will also look at possible acquisitions of exciting products or new business areas for expansion," says Lars Nordenlund Friis, Vice President for Incubation and Ventures.

The Milestone Incubation and Ventures unit will also involve strategic collaborations on interesting projects with business and financial partners. A new office location in Silicon Valley will ensure access to the world’s high technology innovation center with its networks and resources drawing on the IT industry’s front-runners.

"Milestone is in a league of its own for global open platform IP video software: I look forward to driving a portfolio of exciting new opportunities and maturing them to scale worldwide. I plan to contribute up to 25 percent of Milestone’s growth in the long run," concludes Nordenlund Friis.

Featured

  • Cost: Reactive vs. Proactive Security

    Security breaches often happen despite the availability of tools to prevent them. To combat this problem, the industry is shifting from reactive correction to proactive protection. This article will examine why so many security leaders have realized they must “lead before the breach” – not after. Read Now

  • Achieving Clear Audio

    In today’s ever-changing world of security and risk management, effective communication via an intercom and door entry communication system is a critical communication tool to keep a facility’s staff, visitors and vendors safe. Read Now

  • Beyond Apps: Access Control for Today’s Residents

    The modern resident lives in an app-saturated world. From banking to grocery delivery, fitness tracking to ridesharing, nearly every service demands another download. But when it comes to accessing the place you live, most people do not want to clutter their phone with yet another app, especially if its only purpose is to open a door. Read Now

  • Survey: 48 Percent of Worshippers Feel Less Safe Attending In-Person Services

    Almost half (48%) of those who attend religious services say they feel less safe attending in-person due to rising acts of violence at places of worship. In fact, 39% report these safety concerns have led them to change how often they attend in-person services, according to new research from Verkada conducted online by The Harris Poll among 1,123 U.S. adults who attend a religious service or event at least once a month. Read Now

  • AI Used as Part of Sophisticated Espionage Campaign

    A cybersecurity inflection point has been reached in which AI models has become genuinely useful in cybersecurity operation. But to no surprise, they can used for both good works and ill will. Systemic evaluations show cyber capabilities double in six months, and they have been tracking real-world cyberattacks showing how malicious actors were using AI capabilities. These capabilities were predicted and are expected to evolve, but what stood out for researchers was how quickly they have done so, at scale. Read Now

Most   Popular

New Products

  • Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden Door Controls has relaunched its CV-7600 card readers in response to growing market demand for a more secure alternative to standard proximity credentials that can be easily cloned. CV-7600 readers support MIFARE DESFire EV1 & EV2 encryption technology credentials, making them virtually clone-proof and highly secure.

  • QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    The latest Qualcomm® Vision Intelligence Platform offers next-generation smart camera IoT solutions to improve safety and security across enterprises, cities and spaces. The Vision Intelligence Platform was expanded in March 2022 with the introduction of the QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC), which delivers superior artificial intelligence (AI) inferencing at the edge.

  • FEP GameChanger

    FEP GameChanger

    Paige Datacom Solutions Introduces Important and Innovative Cabling Products GameChanger Cable, a proven and patented solution that significantly exceeds the reach of traditional category cable will now have a FEP/FEP construction.