Chinese facial recognition start-up Megvii makes push into Southeast Asia

Megvii, the Beijing-based facial recognition start-up whose technology has been used by police departments to arrest fugitives, is seeking to expand its presence in Southeast Asia as China bolsters its export of surveillance and security technology.

Founded by three Tsinghua University graduates in 2011, the company has appointed a distributor in Thailand and is in talks with commercial banks and building managers to deploy its facial recognition software.

The distributor has also demonstrated the technology of Megvii, also known as Face++, to police departments in Thailand and received good initial feedback, according to representatives at the Techsauce Global Summit in Bangkok.

In Malaysia, the company is holding exploratory talks with state governments and banks. It is also working on demonstrating the feasibility of its technology - known as proof of concept in industry parlance - to qualify for tenders by airports in the region looking to upgrade their surveillance capabilities, according to the representatives.

China has made strides in facial recognition technology because of its large population and centralised identity databases. The technology, which uses biometric computer applications to automatically identify an individual from a database of digital images, is today used extensively in areas such as public security, financial services, transport and retail across the country.