Bird Buddy Swoops in for SXSW 2023 AI Innovation Award Win

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Mar 16, 2023, 11:41 ET

Tech for Nature startup crowned winner at SXSW Innovation Awards 2023
Bird Buddy win comes on the heels of CES where the brand won numerous "Best of Tech" awards
Bird Buddy's built-in AI has identified over 50 million birds since October 2022

KALAMAZOO, Mich., March 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Bird Buddy has been crowned the winner of the highly coveted SXSW Innovation Awards within the Artificial Intelligence category. After being chosen from hundreds of entries by a jury of industry judges, the world's first Tech for Nature startup swooped in with their ground-breaking Smart Bird Feeder which uses an AI powered camera to instantly recognize bird species at the feeder, take their photo and organize them into collections for you to admire.

Bird sightings activation across Bird Buddy Smart Bird Feeders in the US

Co-founders Kyle Buzzard, Franci Zidar and Ziga Vrtcic with 2023 SXSW Innovation Award for AI

UGC Red Cardinal on a Bird Buddy Smart Bird Feeder

UGC Blue Jay on a Bird Buddy Smart Bird Feeder

Bird Buddy's world first Smart Bird Feeder

Bird Buddy has been trained to identify species from around the world that regularly visit backyards. With over 50 million birds identified since fulfillment started in October 2022, accuracy has scaled rapidly and now includes geo-tagging. Future AI ambitions include using in-depth bird features and deeper location data to identify additional species.

"This is a win for nature and for our Bird Buddy community as without them, our AI would not be the transformative experience it is" said Franci Zidar, CEO and co-founder at Bird Buddy. "We are proud to show how AI can be used as force for good and the true impact of Bird Buddy is already coming to life with our Heartbeat project which uses our sightings reports to create valuable open source datasets for scientific use."

Since the inaugural Kickstarter launch in November 2020, the company has dedicated significant resources to ensure its AI technology was ready for product launch two years later. Now, over 300 tester units have been sent out worldwide to gather raw data to start training the neural networks. The same approach is being applied to Bird Buddy's new Smart Hummingbird Feeder, ready for market launch this spring. The new feeder is part of a larger initiative aimed at developing backyards and balconies into a localized oasis for nature.

Attendees of SXSW can see Bird Buddy at booth #870 in the Creative Industries Expo and have the opportunity to get a hands-on demo of the current Bird Buddy feeder as well as register for pre-release discounts for the upcoming crowdfunding campaign.

About Bird Buddy and the Smart Bird Feeder
Bird Buddy is a 'Tech for Nature' startup that has created the world's first smart bird feeder that instantly snaps and recognizes birds that visit the feeder. Our groundbreaking built-in AI can identify over 1000 species. Used with our app, users are notified whenever a bird stops by, sending one of those rare notifications that will bring them joy instead of stress. It also enables daily bite-sized connections with nature any time, anywhere which can be shared with family and friends.

Bird Buddy has also developed a range of accessories including a solar roof, wall mount, suet ball holder and water fountain. It is also available in two colors: blue and yellow. With over 100k units now shipped, Bird Buddy is on its way to create the world's largest bird monitoring network. In time, the recognition datasets will be made available to scientists and environmentalists for their work on climate and conservation.

SOURCE Bird Buddy