24 May 2023 10:47

Papillon to form JV in Thailand for biometrics, AI projects

MOSCOW. May 24 (Interfax) - Papillon Group, a Russian information technology company, plans to form a joint venture in Thailand to promote products based on artificial intelligence and biometrics on the local market.

The partners in the project will be JSC Papillon and 3DiVi LLC, which are both divisions of Papillon Group based in Chelyabinsk Region, and Thailand's Element Group Holdings. A contract on the formation of the venture has already been signed, the Chelyabinsk Region Information and Communications Ministry reported.

3DiVi chairman Dmitry Morozov said that initially the venture's Russian specialists will localize products under a local trademark for facial recognition software.

"We will localize 3DiVi's product line of AI algorithm tracking and human recognition for the Safe City and remote identification projects," Morozov said.

He said the venture is expected to be registered by the end of the first half of 2023. He did not specify its charter capital or ownership distribution.

The JV plans to open an office in Thailand within the next six months and then offices in Malaysia and Indonesia in the subsequent three years, he said. In future, the venture intends to raise investment to expand its presence in all Southeast Asian countries.

"Papillon already had a similar project in Turkey a few years ago. We created a JV and localized the release of software and production of fingerprint scanners for the national biometric identification program. The company listed on the exchange in Turkey a few years ago and we sold our shares," Morozov said.

Papillon's website said the group is engaged in comprehensive development, rollout and support of biometric and forensic systems for security agencies, government and businesses, supplying solutions to 43 countries. The group, which has offices in Moscow, Chelyabinsk and Miass, Chelyabinsk Region, includes JSC Papillon, 3DiVi LLC, IT-Papillon LLC and Papillon Systems LLC. It is controlled by Papillon CEO Pavel Zaitsev, Vladimir Bichigov and Ivan Shapshal.

3DiVi, founded in 2011, specializes in developing AI and machine learning technologies for computer vision. The company's technology is based on its own 3DiVi Core AI platform for developing machine learning models.

Element Group Holdings is known for its payment solutions for e-commerce and IT services for the real estate market.