By making television screens interactive, the West Flemish start-up Pixee aims to make life in hospitals and retirement homes more pleasant. At the same time, the system also makes it possible to carry out dynamic displays on yet other screens.
“Loneliness is the main problem in retirement homes and hospitals,” Pixee owners Steven Zwaenepoel and Bert Vanhoutte have themselves observed during the pandemic. ‘Sometimes people were simply happy to see one of our technicians come by. And so, our solution is more than welcome. This gives people more opportunities to keep in touch with their families.’
What does this solution consist of? Bringing interactivity to TV screens using middleware called Tellie. ‘Without hardware, just by installing software on it,’ says Zwaenepoel. ‘So you can, for example, record shows and watch them later. You control everything with a single remote control and you can also call up an app on a family member’s smartphone via a separate camera.’
PowerPoint style
Zwaenepoel in 2019 acquired Pixee from his other business Connectify – an ICT integrator that brings the platform to the customer – together with his partners Stefan Danschotter and Jimmy Kluits. ‘At the time, the product was quite different, but we still kept the original starting point,’ he explains. ‘So we developed Tellie. In addition, we have created an integrated digital signage tool, allowing the rapid and effective projection of dynamic content for screens. This is comparable to the design mode with PowerPoint, but it is for example also possible to integrate Office365 widgets and other data.’
Pixee and Connectify quickly aroused the interest of Telenet which, in terms of connectivity, was still looking for a partner for West and East Flanders. Shortly thereafter, the company became the main business partner of the Flemish technological moloch. The ambitions of start-ups are also in keeping.
‘Recently, we obtained a European subsidy of 1.9 million euros for an Assisted Ambient Living (AAL) project for which we collaborate not only with Telenet, but also with international groups in the field of service flats and retirement homes, such as Korian and the Belgian Helan. The objective is to see if we can also bring Tellie to the periphery of their offer. Because the goal can also be to let seniors live as long as possible at home, where the same problem of loneliness arises that we can perhaps also help to overcome.’
fly with their own wings
After Telenet’s equity investment and the accompanying capital injection, the aim now is for the two start-ups to stand on their own two feet. ‘We now have some 1,250 customers,’ says Vanhoutte. ‘Including major nursing home operators like Care-Ion, and various hospitals. But we are also present in other markets. This is why Burger Brands, the company that oversees Quick and Burger King, is a customer with us, and why we also took charge of the display in the Belgian pavilions at the recent Universal Exhibition in Dubai.’
And the link with Telenet offers other advantages, according to Vanhoutte. ‘As a startup, it’s quite a challenge to implement your own support network with a team of only 55 people. By relying on Telenet’s greatness of scale, it is possible for us to take this step. For the maintenance of our screens, we can therefore call on the Telenet network of 1,300 technical staff, which means that there is always someone available within a maximum of sixteen minutes from each screen.’
Pixee
Siege social: Beernem
Number of associates: 4
Finances: no project
Site web: Pixee.be
“Loneliness is the main problem in retirement homes and hospitals,” Pixee owners Steven Zwaenepoel and Bert Vanhoutte have themselves observed during the pandemic. ‘Sometimes people were simply happy to see one of our technicians come by. And so, our solution is more than welcome. This gives people more opportunities to keep in touch with their family.’ What is this solution? Bringing interactivity to TV screens using middleware called Tellie. ‘Without hardware, just by installing software on it,’ says Zwaenepoel. ‘So you can, for example, record shows and watch them later. You control everything by means of a single remote control and you can also, via a separate camera, call up an app on a family member’s smartphone.’ Zwaenepoel in 2019 acquired Pixee from his other company Connectify – a ICT integrator who introduces the platform to the client – together with his partners Stefan Danschotter and Jimmy Kluits. ‘At the time, the product was quite different, but we still kept the original starting point,’ he explains. ‘So we developed Tellie. In addition, we have created an integrated digital signage tool, allowing the rapid and effective projection of dynamic content for screens. This is comparable to the design mode with PowerPoint, but it is for example also possible to integrate Office365 widgets and other data.’ Pixee and Connectify quickly attracted the interest of Telenet which, in terms of connectivity , was still looking for a partner for West and East Flanders. Shortly thereafter, the company became the main business partner of the Flemish technological moloch. The ambitions of the start-ups are also to match.’ , but also with international groups in assisted living facilities and retirement homes, such as Korian and the Belgian Helan. The objective is to see if we can also bring Tellie to the periphery of their offer. Because the goal can also be to let seniors live as long as possible in their homes, where the same problem of loneliness arises, which we may also be able to help overcome.’After Telenet’s acquisition of a stake and the injection of capital going hand in hand, the goal now is for the two start-ups to fly on their own. ‘We now have some 1,250 customers,’ says Vanhoutte. ‘Including major nursing home operators like Care-Ion, and various hospitals. But we are also present in other markets. This is why Burger Brands, the company that oversees Quick and Burger King, is a customer with us, and why we also took charge of the display in the Belgian pavilions at the recent World Expo in Dubai.’And the link with Telenet offers further advantages, according to Vanhoutte. ‘As a startup, it’s quite a challenge to implement your own support network with a team of only 55 people. By relying on Telenet’s greatness of scale, it is possible for us to take this step. For the maintenance of our screens, we can therefore call on the Telenet network of 1,300 technical staff, which means that there is always someone available within a maximum of sixteen minutes from each screen.’