Seeing Machines Ltd (AIM:SEE, OTC:SEEMF) CEO Paul McGlone talked with Proactive about the company’s expanding partnership with Mitsubishi across Europe and North America.
Seeing Machines Ltd is collaborating with Mitsubishi’s European division to accelerate sales of its Guardian driver safety technology, following a successful arrangement in the US.
McGlone explained: “It is the highest pipeline volume that we’ve ever seen since we’ve been in the business, and we’re quite confident that we’ll get a meaningful level of conversion from that pipeline.”
The European agreement is driven by upcoming GSR regulations and is expected to create significant growth opportunities.
In North America, the company has multiple trials underway, including a six-week pilot of Guardian Generation 3 involving a Mitsubishi Electric business unit and fleet.
McGlone noted that more than 90% of such trials typically lead to live engagements, positioning the company for strong momentum.
The total pipeline represents a market opportunity of more than 18,000 vehicles, combining referrals from Mitsubishi and the company’s in-house sales team. McGlone shared confidence that upcoming quarterly KPIs will show improvement and help sustain growth into year-end.
Proactive: Paul, I know it's been an active week or so between Seeing Machines and Mitsubishi over in Europe. How's the partnership so far, and what can you tell us about this partnership?
Paul McGlone: Look, we're really pleased. As you mentioned in your opening, we set up a similar agreement with Mitsubishi Americas that's going along exactly as planned. They're now starting to generate referrals and qualified leads for our sales teams to convert for our Guardian product. This new arrangement in Europe, I think driven by the GSR requirements in June next year, will be very, very successful.
Proactive: Paul, this comes nearly four months after your agreement with Mitsubishi in the US. Can you perhaps walk our viewers through the existing partnership you have set up in North America?
Paul McGlone: Yeah. So the North American business for Mitsubishi has been around for decades. It's a very strong capability in electronics and motor parts. They have customers that operate a million trucks. So this is really big, really long-term relationships. But they sell something quite different. So what they're doing for us is they're talking to their customers about our tech, which is a new sale for them, and then generating qualified leads that our salespeople then take over. So it's really focusing on their capability and our capability, bringing it together to maximise their relationships.
Proactive: Paul, we really can't dismiss Guardian Generation 3. It's been a revolutionary product, so to speak. You've launched a trial or a six-week pilot in the US for Guardian Generation 3. This is in collaboration with a North American Mitsubishi Electric company. As we understood, this pilot forms part of a pipeline that represents a market opportunity of more than 18,000 vehicles. This is a massive number, Paul. First off, can you walk our investors through this trial? And most importantly, can you tell us how confident you are of the sales outcome from this trial and the other current opportunities you have in the US?
Paul McGlone: We actually have a number of trials in the US that have been running for several weeks, some a little longer. They're coming to a conclusion. I'm very confident that we will close sales as a consequence. This one is unique and very important in that it is a Mitsubishi business unit and fleet. So while we have an arrangement with Mitsubishi Americas to generate leads that will help propel our business forward, this is the first opportunity in a fleet that they own and manage. So strategically very important for us. I'm highly confident that the trial will result in them going live with us. More than 90% of trials that we do end up with a live engagement, and I've got good reason to believe it will be similar in this case. As far as the pipeline goes, that 18,000 units—that's the pipeline that includes both the referrals we've received from Mitsubishi and the referrals that our in-house sales team have generated over the past few months. So it is the highest pipeline volume that we've ever seen since we've been in the business, and we're quite confident that we'll get a meaningful level of conversion from that pipeline.
Proactive: Paul, you've got multiple avenues happening all at once between North America and Europe. What is the timing on the conclusion of those opportunities, and what can investors expect next in terms of announcements or progressions within those trials or other potential announcements that could come out in the coming weeks?
Paul McGlone: Well, shortly we'll be talking about the quarterly KPIs that we publish at the end of each quarter. The quarter closed yesterday. It takes us a few weeks to gather the data, but I'm pretty confident that the market will appreciate that we'll have made a significant improvement from last quarter. And this goes to momentum. So we're going to see continued momentum this quarter, quarter on quarter, and from here until the end of the year. So I'm quite confident of that.