Robotics firm targets Middle East

The company's adventure began in 2014 when its founder and general manager, Dr Anis Sahbani, decided to return to his homeland to realise his dream.
After writing a thesis on artificial intelligence, and ten years as lecturer and researcher at La Sorbonne University in Paris, he launched his startup in Sousse.
“My goal was to create robots that could help or assist human beings, not replace them,” he said.
His first robot, Ogy, was designed to help people with their daily tasks.
In 2015, the company decided to diversify its activities, particularly in the security and defense sector.
Enova Robotics now specialises in robot design and manufacturing through combined expertise in software, hardware and perception.
It exports what it claims is the world's first civil safety robot, the Pearl Guard, a mobile platform for monitoring and remote alert, used to detect intrusions on large industrial sites, launch arrest messages and allow the command station to act remotely via the robot. This can slow down intrusion via blinding flashes, deafening noise or dense smoke.
Enova Robotics has won several awards, including a gold medal at the International Exhibition of Inventions in Geneva.
"Our target is essentially the security groups that are already established in industrial sites", says Anis Sahbani. "Pearl Guard can also be used to monitor specific borders or areas."
For Sahbani, the Middle East market is mature enough today to absorb this technology. “With Europe and the United States, this market is our priority. We currently sell 98% of our products in Europe and 2% in the Middle East. In 2019, we want to increase the deployment of our robots in the Middle East to reach 30%.”
Enova Robotics just raised around €1.5 million ($1.76m) via the asset management company CAPSA to industrialise the chain supply process of the Pearl Guard and to set up a commercial and research and development entity in France.