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(Sharecast News) - Driver monitoring technology specialist Seeing Machines announced an exclusive, perpetual licence agreement with Raytheon Technologies subsidiary Collins Aerospace on Tuesday.
The AIM-traded firm said the collaboration's goal was to jointly market and deliver artificial intelligence (AI)-powered eye-tracking solutions to the global aviation industry, with a focus on enhancing safety and supporting pilots with fatigue detection systems.
It said the agreement would build on the two companies' previous successful collaboration, which was announced in November 2021.
The goal of the expanded partnership was to tap into the significant market opportunity in aircraft and simulators, estimated to be worth more than $700m within the next two decades.
Additionally, the companies were intending to develop fatigue management technology solutions to improve safety across the aerospace sector.
As part of the agreement, Seeing Machines had granted Collins exclusive perpetual rights to use its technology in the aviation and space fields.
In return, Collins would provide an upfront payment of $3m to Seeing Machines, along with an additional $7m over the next two years.
Additionally, Collins would make non-recurring engineering payments to Seeing Machines for the development of the eye-tracking solutions, which could evolve into royalty payments as shipsets were released to customers.
"Over the past five years, Seeing Machines has shaped the eye-tracking market for aviation, working with some of the world's largest companies to develop and implement our leading interior sensing technology," said chief executive officer Paul McGlone.
"We are now in a position to immediately exploit our significant existing pipeline of business opportunities by bringing these solutions to market through this transformational partnership with the world's leading avionics supplier."
McGlone said the business operates with "high barriers to entry", adding that it had been uncontested in the space to date, so the timing was ideal.
"Being able to deliver for our customers, on a scale we could not do independently, demonstrates the enduring strengths of our differentiated, high-quality operating model, the superiority of our proprietary technology and our focus on delivering value for the benefit of all stakeholders."
At 1144 BST, shares in Seeing Machines were up 3.9% at 5.97p.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
