LocusView Solutions Acquired by NortecView

LocusView Solutions (LVS) Incorporated, a wholly owned subsidiary of GTI International (GTII), has been sold to NortecView, Ltd. The Chicago-based LVS start-up was launched in 2014 to help bring advanced commercial-scale mobile geospatial products and services to natural gas operators, leveraging technology developed with industry support.

NortecView is an Israeli-based software company that develops innovative cross-platform mobile, IoT, and web solutions for utility companies. The long-standing partner developed the mobile application platform currently utilized by LocusView. Together, the team will be well positioned to accelerate the pace of product development and rapidly scale deployment of the technology throughout the U.S.

LocusView’s Digital Construction product is a mobile application that provides a paperless process for capturing and validating construction data in real-time. The application uses GPS, barcode scanning, and sensors to automate as-builting and promotes data quality by reducing manual entry. The technology creates a complete record of field constructed assets including traceability for materials, fusions and joints, operator qualifications, and pressure tests and delivers data for integration into enterprise systems such as GIS.

LocusView’s Intelligent Inspection product provides technology and analytics to optimize and standardize inspections of workmanship quality, compliance, and safety for construction operations. The risk-based statistical model prioritizes inspections to focus on the highest priority construction tasks. The mobile application standardizes the collection of inspection data and the web application visualizes and analyzes results to identify trends and areas for continuous improvement.

Says Ron Snedic, President of GTII, "Four years ago, we launched a start-up to address a new market with a new technology. Having expanded to nearly 30 employees with dozens of clients, LVS is ready to take things to the next level. NortecView is an excellent partner with in-depth software expertise, and will enable LVS to accelerate product development to address the increasing demand for their products and services."

With more than 900 users of the Digital Construction and Intelligent Inspection offerings, and with up to 1,500 additional users planned for 2018, LVS is positioned to leverage the solid start provided by GTI Energy and will remain a separate, U.S.-based legal entity. LVS’s technology is currently deployed at over 15 operators including Unitil, Ibedrola (NYSEG and RGE), Southwest Gas, National Grid, and New Jersey Natural, with large-scale deployments at Atmos, PG&E, Southern Company, Washington Gas, and Exelon/PECO planned for 2018.

"What sets our company apart is our intimate knowledge of the industry’s unique engineering, operational, and regulatory compliance needs, and our ability to translate this knowledge into products that solve real-world problems," notes Alicia Farag, President of LocusView.

"We couldn’t be more pleased than to be acquired by NortecView. We will continue our strong relationships with GTI Energy and other industry stakeholders, and our partnership with NortecView will provide us with a complete team of world-class software developers, innovative product designers, and experienced project managers. We now have all of the necessary resources to meet the needs of our existing clients as well as develop advanced products to address new industry challenges."

Shahar Levi, Co-Founder and CEO of NortecView, adds, "We are proud to be joining forces with LocusView’s experienced team under Alicia’s leadership to bring the technology to natural gas markets. We are very impressed with the quality of the LocusView staff, their relationships with clients, and their deep understanding of how technology can create new value for utilities. We look forward to working together to make a significant and lasting impact on the industry."