Wow - another fantastic Summit thanks to all of you brilliant people!

YOU are why our annual LDV Vision Summit gathering is special and a success every year. Thank You!

We are honored that you fly in from around the world each year to share insights, inspire, do deals, recruit, raise capital and help each other succeed!  

Congratulations to our competition winners:
- Startup Competition: Carbon Robotics, Rosanna Myers, Co-Founder & CEO
- Entrepreneurial Computer Vision Challenge: Grokstyle, Sean Bell, CEO & Co-Founder

A special thank you to Rebecca Paoletti and Serge Belongie as the summit would not exist without collaborating with them!

“Beyond the fascinating sessions, there is the serendipity and the inspirational networking that leaves everyone wanting more. Until next year,” Paul Melcher, Kaptur, Editor.

The quotes below from our community is why we created our LDV Vision Summit. We could not have succeeded without the tremendous support from all of our partners and sponsors:

Organizers:
Presented by Evan Nisselson, LDV Capital
Video Program: Rebecca Paoletti, CakeWorks, CEO
Computer Vision Program: Serge Belongie, Cornell Tech
Computer Vision Advisor: Jan Erik Solem, Mapillary  
Universities: Cornell Tech, School of Visual Arts, International Center of Photography
Sponsors: Amazon AWS, Facebook, FLIR Systems, GumGum, IDA Ireland, Microsoft Research, Qualcomm,  Vidlet
Media Partners: Kaptur, VizWorld
Coordinators Entrepreneurial Computer Vision Challenge: Andreas Veit, Cornell University, Doctor of Philosophy, Computer Science and Oscar Beijbom, UC Berkeley, Postdoctoral Researcher  

"LDV has been ahead of the pack in identifying and analyzing the visual tech space (far beyond just AR and VR) as one that is becoming an increasingly important and viable theme for many businesses. The convening of researchers, investors, and companies that are literally inventing our future is an immersive and instructive way to spend two days,"  Barin Nahvi Rovzar, Hearst, Executive Director, R&D & Strategy

"LDV Vision Summit is one of those rare events that brings a very focused group of people together to talk about something that they all care about - computer vision & visual technologies. If you are investing or working in the space, you should definitely attend to meet other experts and startups building the next great products and companies." Josh Elman, Greylock Partners, Partner

“It was my first time at a summit as a student, and it was quite an eye-opening experience: lots of interesting people to meet with game-changing ideas in the works. I feel like it is a necessary bridge to even out the disparities between academia and industry in this rapidly growing field, and the opportunity to network with some of the greatest names in the field is something that should definitely not be overlooked!” Divyaa Ravichandran, Carnegie Mellon, Research Assistant

"LDV Vision Summit exposed me to some amazing entrepreneurs and thought leaders thinking about the world through a different perspective than any other tech conference I've been to.  Anyone that wants to get a glimpse at the future of how we process everything around us would benefit from attending." Ed Laczynski, Zype, CEO & Co-Founder

“The LDV Vision Summit is computer mad scientists meets visual storytellers with world class investors lurking in every corner. Two days that will stretch your brain and open your eyes to countless emerging possibilities in the imaging world.” Brian Storm, Founder & Executive Producer, MediaStorm

“I believe all CV/ML/AI researchers should attend the LDV Vision summit and its competitions. LDV Vision Summit is a unique event. Different from traditional conferences where I mostly only meet researchers, at LDV Vision Summit, I made a lot of good contacts from the whole computer vision technology ecosystem, lots of CV researchers, investors, entrepreneurs, and VR/AR content creators. I was thrilled to participate.” Shuai Kyle Zheng, University of Oxford, Graduate Research Assistant

"The last 10 years of advances in mobile and cloud computing have been life changing. Visual computing feels like that next life changing tech movement, and the questions and ideas explored at the LDV Vision Summit will be critical to any tech player serious about being involved." Rohit Dave, Samsung, Corporate Development & Strategy
 

“My first experience at the LDV Vision Summit was a slam dunk:  true thought leadership content, a never-boring pace, and a great platform to drive awareness of our technology.  I was also very impressed by the caliber of speakers as well as the attendees.” Travis Merrill, FLIR Systems, SVP, CMO

“Truly inspired by inspired by the LDV Vision Summit and Evan Nisselson’s dedication to creating an exceptional audience experience. I was fortunate to join this year as a judge reviewing the selected start-ups and felt confident that they were well-vetted ahead of time. Hats off to the entire team for bringing this event to life — a very important annual gathering for those in the VC/Tech space.” Susan McPherson, McPherson Strategies, CEO

“As a first time attendee to the LDV summit, I was mostly expecting to see numerous technical presentations by various startups from the computer vision field.  I was pleasantly surprised that LDV Summit also covered important investment related topics and trends that helped me gain greater understanding of business aspects related to Visual Tech.  I am definitely looking forward to LDV 2017!” Jack Levin, Nventify, CEO & Founder, ImageShack, CEO & Co-Founder

“I enjoyed the unique atmosphere and fresh perspectives that come from bringing together vision researchers, entrepreneurs, and investors. I can't get that within the usual academic conference. Computer vision specialists who want to make an impact should make every effort to participate in this lively summit.” Derek Hoiem, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Associate Professor, Computer Science

"The LDV Vision Summit was the most rewarding event we have attended since starting GrokStyle, by a large margin. The talks were interesting and varied, and it was inspiring to see the kinds of real-world applications of computer vision that you might not see at academic conferences like CVPR. We are grateful for the opportunity to present our startup, and our presentation allowed us to connect with many new potential customers, investors, business partners, and collaborators.  It’s given us a running start to take our technology out of the lab and into the world." Sean Bell, GrokStyle, Co-Founder and CEO [Winner of the LDV Vision Summit Computer Vision Challenge]

“It’s amazing to see all the innovation around creativity at the Summit,” said Brian Hunt, EVP Head of Believe Studios & Development. “I think our panel spurred a valuable conversation around the importance of not losing sight of the storytelling amidst the chase to keep up with it all."

“For computer vision entrepreneurs and investors, the LDV Vision Summit is not to be missed. There simply is no other place where you can find such high caliber ideas being explored, and high impact people discussing them.” Samson Timoner, Founder/CTO Mythical Labs.

“LDV brings together thinkers from many fields, which is key for productive, cross-disciplinary discussion about the present and future of imaging. As a professor who approaches photography from a humanities perspective, I found the talks and panels, from experts in fields beyond my own, illuminating. This is an excellent space for the generation of important conversations for anyone (photographer, academic, investor, branding expert, artist, software developer…) interested in the role of the image.” Lauren Walsh, New York University, Professor & Director NYU Gallatin Summer Photojournalism Lab.

"Oh, I heard about your company" - presenting on stage in the startup competition gives you prior visibility among investors, whom you want to get connected to. It also brings some inbound meeting requests from Venture Capitalists." Anton Yakubenko, GeoCV, Co-Founder & CEO

"The LDV Summit is truly a unique synergy of smart business, cutting edge research, and inspiring creativity. The LDV Summit provided a platform and focused audience that can't be found anywhere else. Through the pitch competition we were instantly connected with several very interested investors. " James George, Simile, Co-Founder

“It was definitely one of the best learning and networking experience.  I love listening to all the rapidly disseminated information.  Also loved feedback from people on my thoughts.  So many people came and provided me positive feedback on Context and intent are essential for finding meaning in photos; and language divides but visual unites.” Ramesh Jain, Professor at UCI and CoFounder at Krumbs  

“The LDV Vision Summit bests itself each year, and 2016 was no exception: the panels, talks and competitions are absolutely world class. I used to say that entrepreneurial CTOs, regardless of company size or focus, *should* attend. I’m now telling them it is absolutely essential!” Andy Parsons, Kontor, CTO & Co-Founder

“Photographs and images enable us to imagine ourselves in another place, another time and as if we were another person. They enable us to empathize with others across time and space. What images do for people symbolically, the LDV Vision Summit did practically for its attendees who came across space and time (zones) to attend. We were brought up close to new problems, solutions, burgeoning fields and concepts. We were able to empathize with founders up close, learn about new emerging technologies and solutions to today's and tomorrow's biggest problems.” Dan Schiffman, Tvision Insights, Co-Founder & CRO

“The LDV Vision Summit is a must for anyone interested in images, video or computer vision.  This event is unique in bringing together scientists, investors, entrepreneurs and artists all willing to share knowledge and ideas in a stimulating and dynamic atmosphere. The discussions are excellent. The connections made invaluable.” Thomas Jelonek, envision.ai, Founder

“The LDV Vision Summit is a fast-paced mix of technology, business, and academic perspectives.  You can hear insights from seasoned venture capitalists, major industry players, and young entrepreneurs developing their first vision or machine learning-based startups, packed into just two days.  It's invigorating!” Dr. David S. Touretzky,  Carnegie Mellon University, Research Professor Computer Science Department & Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition

“The LDV Vision summit is an opportunity to listen, learn and share ideas that are impacting everyone connected to the world of visuals. As photographers we too often wait to see what ideas and tools are coming down the pipeline that will have impact on the way we work. I prefer learning about potential visual technologies in advance and speaking with technologists during the process of creating them to hopefully have a beneficial impact for all. I hope other photographers will join our discussion at the next Summit.” Ron Haviv, VII Photo, Photographer & Co-Founder

“In Silicon Valley - Augmented & Virtual Reality & Robotics are all hottest trends. The annual LDV Vision Summit in NYC always gathers the top-tier experts, brains and the ideas which drive these trends. It showed how early we are and simultaneously that we are embarking on technology paradigm shift. Excited for Keepy to leverage these technologies to save memories on any device and to collaborate with the people I met at this unique gathering of inspiring experts. I truly enjoy this conference each year.” Offir Gutelzon, Keepy, CEO and Co-Founder

“The summit gave us insight on emerging technologies that will be valuable for our network of photographers to anticipate as tools for their work in the near and distant future!” Susan Meiselas and Emma Raynes, Magnum Foundation

“Being surrounded with computer vision experts from academia, industry and startups was a great networking and learning experience. It was a very surprising moment for me to listen and meet such a great people at one place. I have made plenty of connections and learnt different perspectives about future of Computer Vision & AI. I am sure LDV Vision Summit will attract larger crowd in future and makes huge impact to humanity by bringing 2 different worlds (Academia & Industry) on to the same platform. I will try to be part of future LDV summits and contribute to them in some way.” Harsha Vardhan, Carnegie Mellon University, Graduate Student

“As an early stage investor in robotics, computer vision, autonomous mobility, and remote sensing,The LDV Summit is an invaluable resource to have in our venture community.  Reflecting on last week’s presentations, I am still impressed by the curated experience of industry leaders, innovative startups and quality connections all under one roof.” Oliver Mitchell, Mach 5 Ventures

“I wanted to let you know your conference is hands down the best conference in NYC. I was absolutely blown away by the caliber of people you have assembled at every vertical of the ecosystem.” Jonathan Ohliger, CEO at VeePiO

“Concealed behind all the incredible people you meet, everything you learn and the amazing discoveries is the formidable inspiration that empowers you for many days after the event is over. The LDV Vision Summit only gets better with each edition.” Paul Melcher, Kaptur Magazine, Founder & Editor

"Being involved in the LDV Vision summit was a pleasure and an amazing opportunity to network across all disciplines of entrepreneurial computer vision. Big congrats to this years winners and everyone else for a great meeting!" Oscar Beijbom, UC Berkeley, Postdoctoral Scholar

"Easily the best curated speakers for any conference I have been to in awhile and great coverage of computer vision/machine learning. The startup pitches were high level. The doodle notes on screen were unique and enjoyable to watch." Nisa Amoils, Investor and Co-Chair Frontier Tech, New York Angels

“LDV Vision Summit assembled a fantastically eclectic group of people from investors to inventors who are all passionate about the how computer vision will change the world.  I look forward to going again in 2017!” Paul Kruszewski, wrnch, CEO & Founder

"As a first-timer at the LDV Vision Summit, one never knows what to expect... will it be too academic, too commercial, to many early stage start-ups, or over-run with larger tech companies?  Instead, the LDV team has curated the perfect blend of people and topics - all tackling disparate, but related applications leveraging computer vision.  In one quick trip, I engaged with potential hires, strategic partners, future investors - and learned about myriad new applications being tackled by this robust ecosystem!  Definitely planning on coming back next year." Richard Lee, Netra, CEO & Co-Founder

“The Summit's clear technology focus sets it apart - I was truly impressed by the quality of companies using computer vision across a range of verticals, from VR to robotics, and by the caliber of conversation amongst speakers.” Christina Bechhold, Samsung Global Innovation Center, Investor. Empire Angels, Co-Founder, Managing Director.  

"LDV Vision Summit is a unique event focused on visual technologies with a rare mix of great entrepreneurs, researchers, investors and global technology companies. Definitely worth the time and the trip to NYC.” Jan Erik Solem, Mapillary, CEO & Co-Founder

“LDV brought together entrepreneurs, practitioners and investors for a multidisciplinary discussion about where the future of the visual image is heading. It was a great mix of people who are working inwhat lies ahead for visual media. It is clear we are only at the beginning of what is possible. It was exciting to be part of it.” Doreen Lorenz, Vidlet, Co-Founder

“I wanted to let you know your conference is hands down the best conference in NYC. I was absolutely blown away by the caliber of people you have assembled at every vertical of the ecosystem.” Jonathan Ohliger, VeePiO, CEO

“The LDV Summit is always inspiring – for those who are creating, those who are operating, those who are investing – and for all of us who are constantly learning. For those of us obsessed with video, the ongoing discussions about live streaming were particularly great. Thanks to all who participated and asked great questions!” Rebecca Paoletti, CakeWorks, CEO & Co-Founder

“Real nice mix of very technical solutions with real-world application. It’s nice to see the results of research applied on a real market and how those solutions have to adapt to this environment” Brunno Attore, CTO, Brohan

“The LDV Vision Summit is at the forefront of what's changing in the image space, bringing founders and CEOs of image-related companies, academic researchers, technology developers, brands and cultural creators, and even photographers and visual artists together in one space. It's a great place to learn about what's happening in visual technology and meet the people that are defining the space.” Taylor Davidson, Unstructured Ventures, Managing Director

"IDA Ireland were thrilled to be part of such a fantastic event. It was a real privilege to spend two days with some of the smartest people in Computer Vision, Artificial Intelligence, Deep Learning, and Augmented Reality. The summit provided invaluable insights into what is happening at the forefront of vision technology" Jessica Benson, IDA Ireland, @IDAIRELAND

The LDV Vision Summit program and quality of attendees never fail to exceed expectations. Evan, Rebecca and Serge do a masterful job of curating a kaleidoscope of speakers, topics and sponsors and it works. Please set the date for 2017 so I can save it! Myron Kassaraba, Managing Director, MJK Partners, LLC

“We are three CS students, just graduating from Cornell Tech, spinning out our CV-driven video ad tech company. We are actively raising seed, actively trying to build partnerships with video platforms, and actively recruiting CV talent. So, for us, LDV was a hydra-headed home run. We met dozens of potential investors (and got a sense of who else to target). We connected with a few video player platforms and already set up a meeting with one. Lastly, we left with a fistful of solid recruiting leads.Next year, I'll have major FOMO if I can’t make LDV. It felt, for those two days, that we were at the center of the vision world. Even if we're not raising money, I feel like we'll have to be here to scope out the competition and see what’s on the horizon for CV.” Bill Marino, CEO, Brohan

Learn more about our partners and sponsors:

AWS Activate Amazon Web Services provides startups with low cost, easy to use infrastructure needed to scale and grow any size business. Some of the world’s hottest startups including Pinterest, Instagram, and Dropbox have leveraged the power of AWS to easily get started and quickly scale.  

CakeWorks is a boutique digital video agency that launches and accelerates high-growth media businesses. #videoiscake

Cornell Tech is a revolutionary model for graduate education that fuses technology with business and creative thinking. Cornell Tech brings together like-minded faculty, business leaders, tech entrepreneurs and students in a catalytic environment to produce visionary ideas grounded in significant needs that will reinvent the way we live.

Research at Facebook Our mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected. At Facebook, research permeates everything we do. We believe the most interesting research questions are derived from real world problems. Working on cutting edge research with a practical focus, we push product boundaries every day. At the same time, we are publishing papers, giving talks, attending and hosting conferences, and collaborating with the academic community.

FLIR designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes technologies that enhance perception and awareness. We bring innovative sensing solutions into daily life through our thermal imaging systems, visible-light imaging systems, locator systems, measurement and diagnostic systems, and advanced threat detection systems. Our products improve the way people interact with the world around them, enhance public safety and well-being, increase energy efficiency, and protect the environment.

GumGum is a leading computer vision company with a mission to unlock the value of every online image for marketers. Its patented image-recognition technology delivers highly visible advertising campaigns to more than 400 million users as they view pictures and content across more than 2,000 premium publishers.

The International Center of Photography is the world’s leading institution dedicated to the practice and understanding of photography and the reproduced image in all its forms. Since its founding in 1974, ICP has presented more than 700 exhibitions and offered thousands of classes, providing instruction at every level.

IDA Ireland is Ireland's inward promotion agency, we partner with international companies, working with them every step of the way to achieve a smooth, fast and successful set-up of their operations in Ireland. Ireland is one of the best places in the world to do business for large multinationals and high-growth companies.  

Kaptur is the first magazine about the photo tech space. News, research and stats along with commentaries, industry reports and deep analysis written by industry experts.

LDV Capital Investing in people around the world who are creating visual technology businesses with deep domain expertise.

Mapillary is a community-based photomapping service that covers more than just streets, providing real-time data for cities and governments at scale. With hundreds of thousands of new photos every day, Mapillary can connect images to create an immersive ground-level view of the world for users to virtually explore and to document change over time.

Microsoft Research has contributed to nearly every product Microsoft has shipped, including Kinect for Xbox, Cortana, cool free photography apps like Hyperlapse, and other programs that help secure your data in the cloud. We have world-renowned scientists at the forefront of machine learning, computer vision, speech, and artificial intelligence. Our external collaborations include efforts to prevent disease outbreaks and solve problems facing large cities such as traffic and pollution.

The MFA Photography, Video and Related Media Department at the School of Visual Arts is the premiere program for the study of Lens and Screen Arts. This program champions multimedia integration, interdisciplinary activity, and provides ever-expanding opportunities for lens-based students.

Qualcomm Research is a world-class, global R&D organization comprised forward-thinking researchers that engage in a wide variety of exciting and technically challenging areas of research. Each focus area pushes the envelope of what is possible in mobile technology, paving the way for the devices, applications, services, and business models of tomorrow. We are leading the way in next-generation wireless technologies, including 5G. For more than 25 years, our ideas and inventions have driven the evolution of digital communications, linking people everywhere more closely to information, entertainment, and each other.   

Vidlet taps the power of mobile video for business. The company’s mobile-first B2B video platform makes it easy for large enterprises to use mobile video for a wide range of business communications, from conducting market research for innovative new products, to training a world-class workforce and employee engagement, to surfacing valuable insights from troves of video.

VizWorld covers news and the community about visual thinking, from innovation and design theory to applied visual thinking in technology, media and education. From the whiteboard to the latest OLED screens, graphic recording to movie making and VFX, VizWorld readers want to know how to put visual thinking to work and play. SHOW US your story!

AliKat Productions is a New York-based event management and marketing company: a one-stop shop for all event, marketing and promotional needs. We plan and execute high-profile, stylized, local, national and international events, specializing in unique, targeted solutions that are highly successful and sustainable. #AliKatProd

Robert Wright Photography Clients include Bloomberg Markets, Budget Travel, Elle, Details, Entrepreneur, ESPN The Magazine, Fast Company, Fortune, Glamour, Inc. Men's Journal, Newsweek (the old one), Outside, People, New York Magazine, New York Times, Self, Stern, T&L, Time, W, Wall Street Journal and more…

Hybrid Events Group is the only real-time solution for turning conferences and meetings into web-ready videos. Using our proprietary CaptureProTM System we digitally capture your presentation materials, combine them with HD video of your presenters and then edit everything live, right there, during your event. You’ll have your finished videos before you leave the venue.