When people started putting mannequins in the backs of their cars to try and sneak onto during the , it was an extreme example of how desperate we can become when faced with major traffic congestion. It was also proof that potential solution to transportation management couldn鈥檛 come at a better time.
Co-founded by University of 蓝莓视频 Engineering alum Kurtis McBride, Miovision uses a combination of hardware and software to analyze traffic conditions in real time, then adjust traffic lights to improve the flow of vehicles. After raising $30 million in funding earlier this year, the company鈥檚 growth may seemed to have happened overnight, but McBride says his entrepreneurial ambitions started early.
鈥淚鈥檝e always had the interest in starting a business, much to my parent鈥檚 dismay,鈥� he says, recalling an early attempt to raise mice for sale in his family鈥檚 basement as a child.听 At 蓝莓视频, McBride studied Systems Design Engineering, which he described as an area with plenty of room to explore opportunities. 鈥淭he program really incubated that bug that I鈥檇 always had.鈥�
In one of McBride鈥檚 engineering co-op jobs, for example, he worked in software development with a transportation company. The firm was often short-staffed and needed some 鈥渇ront-line鈥� help with collecting data.
鈥淭hey would pull me in on weekends, and I would sit on a lawn chair and count the cars that went by,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 started to see a market need through that experience.鈥�
The first generation of 惭颈辞惫颈蝉颈辞苍鈥檚 product was really focused on providing data to help city planners make better decisions about transportation management. More recently, it has launched a product which is being permanently installed at intersections to better understand how the network is performing, and to improve that performance accordingly. This kind of technology is becoming of increased interest to local governments who see traffic management as a foundational element of 鈥渟mart city鈥� initiatives, as well as those touting the benefits of connectivity via the 鈥淚nternet of Things.
鈥淥n one level, our data collection product has something like 50 percent market share in North America, and we鈥檙e a mature company that鈥檚 been around for five or six years,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut there鈥檚 also still very much a startup side to who we are. I guess the difference is that the first time you do a startup, you鈥檙e really learning as you go. Now we鈥檙e in a spot where we have the means to do it right, and to take the time to keep it right.鈥�
Keeping it right means focusing on creating a strong culture inside Miovision, McBride adds. The company has taken the听Agile methodology used in creating more rapid, collaborative iterations of software applications and applied it across the board. This includes, operations, finance and marketing.
鈥淭he punchline of our culture is empowerment,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he notion is that if we trust people who are close to the customer and close to the front lines, they will do the right things.鈥�
In other words, just as Miovision is helping clear up conditions on the road, it鈥檚 not about to put up any internal roadblocks to innovation.
