Blink Identity Earns Pilot Program in Contest with Manchester City FC

The biometric ticketing startup Blink Identity has been selected as the winner of the City Startup Challenge organized by the City Football Group in Manchester, England. The City Football Group manages the Manchester City Football Club, and launched the City Startup Challenge in an effort to find new technology with soccer-specific applications.   

Blink Identity won with a proprietary facial recognition solution that can identify spectators as they walk into the stadium. As the winner, the company has earned the opportunity to work with the City Football Group to trial its technology in a real world setting. The pilot is expected to begin in the next few weeks, and will leverage Blink’s facial recognition tech for VIP access and general security.

“We’re thrilled to have been chosen to work with the City Football Group,” said Blink co-founder and CEO Mary Haskett. “Our biometric technology has high throughput rates and accuracy, which will improve dwell times, overall and specific security issues, and back and front of the house operations.”

The City Football Group is the latest corporation to express interest in Blink Identity’s smart stadium technology. The company previously partnered with Ticketmaster, and later received $1.5 million in seed funding in a round led by Sinai Ventures.

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July 17, 2019 – by Eric Weiss