Technova Industries: From FOR-M to the frontier of security technology

The Milwaukee startup ecosystem was introduced to Technova Industries when the security technology company participated in MKE Tech Hub Coalition’s FOR-M startup incubator. The Madison-based company was awarded a $10,000 grant at the close of the program in November 2023, and the team behind this cutting-edge technology has not stopped moving since.

Although the company is less than a year old, it has made tremendous strides. The revenue-generating startup won a prestigious industry award just days before starting the gener8tor business accelerator program.

In April, the company was at the International Security Conference (ISC West) and competing in the pitch contest sponsored by the Security Industry Association (SIA), a trade association for security solution providers to find the best new security innovations in the world.

“ISC West is the largest security convention in the U.S., and we were competing against 66 companies including Intel, Microsoft, Motorola. We won first place in the Convergence and Integration Solutions category. It’s very good recognition and very hard to get and we are the first Wisconsin company to get that recognition. So, it’s a huge thing for Wisconsin and for us,” founder Aymen Azim said.

While the technology behind Technova Industries’ security software is complicated, what the company is doing is easy to understand.

“Technova is about connecting legacy security systems with existing systems. When we’re talking about systems, it can be cameras or sensors we see in the street, or it can be the traffic lights themselves. All of this equipment is getting old and it’s very hard to replace it when we’re talking about a camera in an intersection. If we want to replace a camera, we have to block the road, get someone to climb a pole, get the camera, rewire everything. It costs a lot of money and a lot of operational loss because we’re blocking the road and that creates a traffic jam which creates a lot of problems and even liability issues,” Azim explained.

“We can avoid all of that with our software. It can connect this old equipment (to modern systems), so the customers don’t have to change their equipment… Our software is able to bridge that gap between this old equipment and the new technologies. Even with an old camera from the 1980s, we can add AI to it through our software. The problem we are solving has been around for more than 30 years,” he said.

“Before, the only way to upgrade the equipment was to rip it out and replace it. But think about all of the equipment out there. It’s billions and billions of dollars if we want to replace everything. In the U.S. there are more than 10 million cameras… imagine changing 10 million cameras. That’s impossible,” he continued.

The company is able to access and integrate analog equipment online through the use of generative AI.

“We’ve made a lot of progress on the product side. The software was also developed and now we leverage generative AI in the software, which is a huge advancement in the security industry. We are the only company in the world leveraging generative AI in the security industry and we are changing the game in the security industry,” Azim said.

“We took that generative AI, and we made it think like a human who can see the (legacy)system and find a way to integrate with this (modern) system. We developed our generative AI in-house. Our generative AI is able to do about 75% to 80% of that integration,” he explained.

Azim, a native of France, has worked around the globe in the security industry, but he is committed to keeping Technova Industries in Wisconsin.

“We consider ourselves Wisconsinites and the company was born in Wisconsin. Going through the FOR-M program, then gener8tor and now raising capital in Wisconsin, we want to keep it in Wisconsin. We’ve had offers from all over the U.S., from the Bay Area, from the East Coast, but we wanted to keep it in Wisconsin, and we fought for that. It’s important because of the community here. I feel the Midwest has a great community and Wisconsin in particular… We’re not in boxes and we don’t try to play a role (in Wisconsin). We are ourselves and we develop what we think is good for the community and we can expand it all over the world- that’s the goal,” he said.

Technova Industries will complete the gener8tor program on stage at the Forward Festival next week. The company predicts it will double its current annual recurring revenue (ARR) before the end of the year and hopes to begin fundraising to support its rapid growth.

As Technova Industries prepares for its next phase of growth, the company remains committed to both innovation and its Wisconsin roots. The team’s dedication to leveraging cutting-edge technology, while staying grounded in the values of their community, sets them apart. Technova Industries is not just advancing security technology; it’s laying the groundwork for a safer, more connected future.

If the company’s first few months in business are any indication, Technova is well-positioned to become a leader in the security industry.