MUNICH, Germany. Munich-based IIoT startup KONUX announced today that it has raised another $9 million from existing investors, led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA). This internal round was the third and final close of their Series A financing, bringing the total raised to $16 million. Other participants in the comprehensive Series A include MIG, Upbeat Ventures, Andy Bechtolsheim, Michael Baum, Unternehmertum Venture Capital Partners, Warren Weiss and Lothar Stein. KONUX is one of the very few German based startups that were able to attract leading Silicon Valley VCs.
KONUX also announced that Dr. Greg Papadopoulos, Venture Partner at NEA and former CTO at SUN Microsystems, will be joining its Board of Directors.
"KONUX has the potential to have a massive impact on the industrial world through its AI solutions,” said Papadopoulos. “It will significantly change the way companies approach their asset management and maintenance processes. KONUX has demonstrated impressive progress with its predictive analytics solution for railway operators and has successfully installed its first systems in the field – giving us the confidence and excitement to increase our original investment.”
KONUX combines smart sensors and AI-based analytics to help customers know their assets’ performance in real-time and switch to predictive maintenance. The company‘s vision is to enable a data-driven industrial world.
“Predictive analytics for critical assets is one of the largest opportunities for industrial companies in the era of digitalization,” stated Board Observer Dr. Torsten Kreindl, Managing Partner at Upbeat Ventures and former longtime Swisscom board member. “KONUX has managed to find a huge market and to profit from its roots in two innovative technology hubs: Its product development is based on both the executional speed of Silicon Valley and the quality of German engineering.”
Board Member Dr. Sören Hein, Venture Partner at MIG and former Vice President of Infineon, stressed KONUX’ in-house expertise: “KONUX has built a team of both young entrepreneurs and senior professionals who have decades of experience in the field of engineering and AI. This combination of innovative ideas and deep technical know-how is clearly reflected in their solution.”
KONUX has recently achieved several important milestones, including the start of its work with Deutsche Bahn (DB), Europe’s largest rail operator. The company has also begun its successful expansion into further European markets. The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) startup enables rail operators to digitize their network through condition monitoring of switches, the most critical part of railway infrastructure. The smart sensors and analytics solution will help them predict maintenance needs in advance and react in time, thereby increasing network availability and punctuality.
Over the last months, KONUX was awarded the German Mobility Prize as well as the German Digital Prize “Spark Award” for its predictive analytics solution. The startup and its founders furthermore made it into the “AI 100” list by CBInsights and the “Forbes 30 under 30”.
The additional funding will be used primarily for the development of new product features and the market entry in further European countries.
“Over the last year, we’ve made significant progress with our customer projects,” stated KONUX CEO Andreas Kunze. “We aim to continue this strong momentum and drive IoT implementation with real business results. We feel very proud to have our current investors believing in us and supporting us on our journey. This additional funding is a true show of their confidence.”
Munich-based IIoT company KONUX integrates smart sensor systems and AI-based analytics to deliver asset insights in real time and enable its customers to switch to predictive maintenance. The end-to-end solution uses artificial intelligence to help clients continuously monitor their infrastructure, identify maintenance needs ahead of time and improve operational efficiency. KONUX empowers industrial and rail companies to reach a new level of asset performance. Since its foundation in 2014, KONUX has raised a total of $18M in funding from world-leading investors and has built a team of currently 35 employees. For more information visit: konux.com
Press contact: Andreas Kunze | Chief Executive Officer | Tel: +49 159 04155111 | E-mail: [email protected]
New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA) is a global venture capital firm focused on helping entrepreneurs build transformational businesses across multiple stages, sectors, and geographies. With nearly $17 billion in cumulative committed capital since the firm’s founding in 1977, NEA invests in technology and healthcare companies at all stages in a company’s lifecycle, from seed stage through IPO. The firm’s long track record of successful investing includes more than 200 portfolio company IPOs and more than 320 acquisitions. For additional information, visit www.nea.com.
MIG Verwaltungs AG is a leading German VC investor with an investment focus on early to mid-stage technology and life science companies. The portfolio of the funds managed by MIG currently comprises 26 companies. For additional information, visit www.mig.ag; www.mig-fonds.de
Upbeat Ventures invests in leading technology companies in both Europe and the US, always with a transatlantic view. It considers itself a strategic, high-value-add investor for its entrepreneurs that leverages both its large senior executive network and long-lasting tier-one VC relationships for its portfolio companies. The Upbeat team combines many years of and lessons from successful European and West Coast VC investment practice, international business leadership and significant governance experience.
Unternehmertum Venture Capital Partners (UVC) is an early-stage fund investing in new businesses with innovative technologies and international market potential. UVC focuses on Industrial Technologies & Smart Enterprises with a preference for B2B business models. Even though UVC is fully independent it can leverage the overall UnternehmerTUM ecosystem to support its portfolio companies. UnternehmerTUM is the largest German innovation and entrepreneurship center and is partnering with many leading German corporates, universities as well as research institutes. www.uvcpartners.com