Israel’s Inspekto, an autonomous machine vision company, plans to open a location in metro Detroit after forming a partnership with the Michigan Israel Business Accelerator. An exact location was not disclosed.
“Detroit is widely known as the U.S. headquarters for some of the world’s largest automotive manufacturers, including Ford, General Motors, and Fiat Chrysler,” says Zohar Kantor, vice president of sales and projects at Inspekto. “This, combined with the birth of advanced manufacturing across the city, is what excites us most about having a presence here. Detroit is home to more than 15,000 industrial robots and the largest engineering workforce in the U.S. We’re eager to inject some of Israel’s start-up-nation spirit into the city.”
Scott Hiipakka, CEO of Michigan Israel Business Accelerator says Inspekto is in the hiring process and plans to open an assembly plant later this year.
“We are proud that Inspekto has chosen Michigan as their U.S. headquarters, ” Hiipakka, says. “It’s exciting to see what the future holds for them as they grow their operations and create jobs in our state.”
Inspekto launched the world’s first autonomous machine vision system in 2018. The product clamps on to the edge of assembly lines and, using artificial intelligence and machine learning, inspects products for anomalies based on prototypes it first examines. Hiipakka says the system can check everything from computer chips to parts of engines.
Since its launch, Inspekto has gained endorsement from Bosch, BMW, Daimler, and Schneider Electric. Its European headquarters are in Germany, and the company’s funding via investors and companies using the product comes from Germany.
“The Michigan Israel Business Accelerator is facilitating Inspekto’s introduction into Michigan and the U.S. market along with assisting in building connections for office space, staffing, and even an assembly facility,” Kantor says. “Since partnering, we’ve received a very warm welcome and a great deal of personal attention. It will play a huge part in our successful U.S. launch this year.”
The accelerator works to develop business connections and partnerships between Michigan and Israel.
