MetroTech Net

MetroTech Net is developing technologies that turn video feeds from traffic and security cameras into data that can be used to better synchronize traffic lights. The real-time information can help city planners better design intersections and widen lanes to ease traffic flow, MetroTech CEO Christian Kostcher said. MetroTech is part of a growing cluster of tech startups working on connected car-related technologies - a term that refers to telematics and infotainment systems. The region has also attracted interest from Fortune 500 firms such as General Motorsand AT&T who are bringing related software development work here. MetroTech's technology is being used at four major intersections in Buckhead and 100 intersections in Santa Clara, Calif. "In California, we reduced 18,000 stops per day," Kostcher said. Coordinated traffic lights mean cars don't have to come to a complete stop, idle, and waste gas. MetroTech is chasing a large market. The intelligent transportation market is a $2.6 billion business, and is expected to grow to $12 billion in revenue in the next five years. To finance a national expansion, MetroTech plans to raise $5 million in venture capital next year. Local governments are MetroTech's initial market - the startup uses already installed camera infrastructure and is paid by cities for the traffic data. The real money however, will be made when MetroTech sells the real time traffic data to the private sector. The startup will share those revenues with the cities who own the camera infrastructure. The traffic data can be used by UPS and FedEx to route drivers around congested intersections, and allow navigation services providers to deliver real time traffic data. There are commercial real estate applications, as well. Developers can know "where to put that $400 million building," based on traffic patterns, Kostcher said. An even bigger market would be wireless carriers such as AT&T and Verizon, who view the "connected car" as the next major revenue stream. The carriers can charge drivers $10 a month for in-car wireless access and throw-in real time traffic reports Kostcher said. While the market for MetroTech services is large, that demand is drawing deeper-pocketed competition. Google purchased Israel's Waze for $1.3 billion in June 2013, to add the startup's "crowd sourced" data to its existing Google Maps data. Also, some of MetroTech's s potential customers, such as AT&T, could become competitors if they decide to build their own traffic reporting platforms, rather than buy them. - Urvaksh Karkaria covers Technology.