Not sure if you’ve been paying attention, but it appears that there are a host of players and investors that share our bullish view of the opportunity in the restaurant and retail space – despite the gloomy economy.

By my informal count, $35 million has been invested in video providers that target retail and restaurants in the first half of 2009 alone.  None of these companies are MVaaS providers (well except for us, as we are counted in that $35M figure having raised a round ourselves), but all of them are squarely focused on the value proposition of taking video beyond security and extending it into the organization.

Here’s are some examples:

• DTT - Geovision based DVR solution + operational audits focused on franchisee community – $7M
• Westec – Video and remote guard/monitoring – $20M (although big chunk of that was recap)
• Agilence – Video, exception reporting and LP consulting – $4M + undisclosed strategic investment from Schneider

I’m excited to see this activity, despite the competitive nature of these companies, for a couple of reasons.  First, it is again a sign that others (including investors willing to bet serious $) see the same opportunity that we do, which is always reassuring for our current and prospective investors.  Second, one of the biggest categories of competition we face is the “status quo” – old DVR and video technology that companies still buy that will only ever be used by a small group of people in a company for security purposes only.  The more companies that are promoting a broader value proposition, the more customers will start looking for solutions that meet these increased needs – this will be good for all of the providers that can deliver a more extensive ROI.

There might be more people competing for the same opportunities, but the number of opportunities will grow exponentially.   This is good for the space and good for us (b/c I really like our chances..)