AI Hype Doesn’t Save All: Metropolis Acquires Oosto in $125M Deal
Despite the ongoing AI boom, not all startups are thriving—some are still struggling and seeking exits. In a recent development, Metropolis, an AI-powered parking platform, has acquired Oosto (formerly AnyVision), a computer vision company with a controversial past.
TechCrunch has confirmed that the all-stock deal is valued at $125 million, significantly lower than the $380 million Oosto had reportedly raised from investors—though sources dispute this figure. This valuation is also likely just a fraction of the startup’s peak worth.
Metropolis, which operates across 4,000 locations and processes $5 billion in payments annually, is now raising funds at a valuation nearing $5 billion. As part of the acquisition, Oosto investors—including SoftBank, Fifth Wall, Lightspeed, DFJ, and Eldridge Industries—will receive Series D preferred stock. The deal includes Oosto’s intellectual property and team, with CEO Avi Golan and CTO Dieter Joecker set to take senior roles at Metropolis.
A company spokesperson confirmed the acquisition, stating that Metropolis, which specializes in AI-driven, checkout-free payment experiences, will integrate Oosto’s technology to enhance its existing platform.
Oosto’s sale marks the end of a turbulent chapter for the company. Previously known as AnyVision, it was one of several computer vision startups implicated in controversial surveillance practices. Reports over the years revealed its involvement in secretive surveillance projects, including its use by the Israeli government to monitor Palestinians, raising concerns about data privacy and ethical AI use.
The bad publicity led to the company losing Microsoft as a key strategic investor, although other investors were ready to double down. In 2020, it appointed a new CEO, Avi Golan, who had worked at SoftBank, and then in 2021, AnyVision, pitching itself as an ethical AI company, raised a whopping $235 million in a round led by SoftBank and Eldridge. Other backers of the company have included Lightspeed and Qualcomm, per PitchBook data.
Just months after the big SoftBank raise, AnyVision rebranded to Oosto and looked to pivot to more enterprise applications as it inked a research partnership with Carnegie Mellon. But it seems that the difficulties continued, with rounds of layoffs and Oosto parting ways with the university.
We understand from sources close to the company that Oosto was making around $20 million in annual revenues and was signing new deals up to the acquisition.
It’s worth wondering whether some of Oosto’s problems might have been a matter of timing. The last couple of years have seen big geopolitical shifts, AI has entered the mainstream of public consciousness, and a new wave of AI companies like Anduril and Helsing seem to be breaking many taboos on building military, defense, and (more euphemistically) “resilience” technology.
Would AnyVision (or Oosto) have appeared as controversial today as it did five years ago? Regardless, the rise and fall of Oosto can be seen as a memento mori for the newer wave of AI companies being funded today on very high hopes, but perhaps not very high revenues (let alone profits).
That brings us to Metropolis. It, too, is focused on computer vision, but “focus” is perhaps the operative word here: Its square aim is to build AI-based systems for parking environments, automatically tracking cars when they enter or leave a space, and charging accordingly. In 2023, Metropolis raised $1.7 billion in financing and other investment, most of which was used to buy another parking technology specialist called SP Plus for $1.5 billion.
From what we understand, the basic plan now will be to use Oosto tech to enhance Metropolis’s capabilities around computer vision in parking environments, rather than to expand to covering a number of other use cases. Over time, it could include more applications where customers regularly drive or walk in and out of a business environment (e.g., drive-throughs).
“Tech-wise this acquisition makes the perfect sense,” Avihai Michaeli, an investment banking adviser based in Tel Aviv, told TechCrunch. “Both Metropolis and Oosto (formerly known as AnyVision Tech) are key players in the AI-driven computer vision and security solutions space, with applications that enhance urban management, public safety, and automation. Both companies focus on leveraging cutting-edge technology to create safer, smarter, and more efficient environments through artificial intelligence and data analytics.”
He added that the current war in Israel has made it challenging for some Israeli companies looking to raise money or do other business, which could have also played a role here.
Update: a source close to Oosto claims that the company had only ever raised around $160 million. The large SoftBank investment of $235 million in 2021 was delivered in tranches, the source said, with only $60 million deposited at the time of the deal. By the time the second tranche was due, SoftBank’s VisionFund itself was pulling back on its activities and Oosto was in restructuring mode, so nothing further ever came through. All public records still describe Oosto’s funding as between $350 million and $380 million (per PitchBook).
Topics
AIAnyVisionComputer VisionExclusiveIsraelM&AMetropolisNorth Americaparkingsurveillance