KONUX, the Munich-based industrial IoT company, today announced $7.5m in Series A financing from leading venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates (NEA), the largest German industrial VC MIG (lead) and Silicon Valley legend Andy Bechtolsheim. Additional investors include UnternehmerTUM, Warren Weiss, and Michael Baum’s Founder.org, KONUX Seed Investor. KONUX is developing smart sensor systems for industrial companies and helps them reduce maintenance costs with artificial intelligence. The new funding will be used to expand the product platform, roll out products in volume for new and existing customers and establish KONUX as the leading company for machine insights.
“Industrial companies are facing increasing challenges related to machine efficiency and maintenance expenses,” said Andreas Kunze, CEO of KONUX. “We believe the real impact and the toughest challenges of IoT are in the industrial world. We have designed solutions that allow for complete digitalization of manual measurements and comprehensive sensor data tracking and analytics, with the ultimate goal to shift from unplanned maintenance to predictive maintenance. As a consequence, our customers benefit from a reduction of maintenance cost 25%+ and an increase of machine uptime.”
“KONUX has tremendous experience with sensor solutions in industrial settings and can provide unique insights by combining sensors with cloud-enabled analytics,” said Greg Papadopoulos, Ph.D., Venture Partner at NEA and former CTO at SUN Microsystems. “Other solutions tend to focus on either the analytics layer or the manufacturing of sensor components; KONUX’s vertical approach and use of AI are unique differentiators. Industrial companies are spending billions of dollars on maintenance with European railway track companies alone spending $25bn annually for infrastructure maintenance (1). The market opportunity is enormous.”
Since initial inception in the end of 2014, KONUX has experienced powerful traction and acquired multiple customers including major customer Deutsche Bahn, one of the world’s leading passenger and logistics company operating in 130 countries across the globe. Deutsche Bahn invests more than $1.6bn per year in infrastructure maintenance (2). To digitalize their infrastructure, reduce costs and increase safety and quality they started working with the KONUX solution. “KONUX is one partner on our essential road to infrastructure 4.0,” said Klaus Müller, Chief Technology Officer, Deutsche Bahn Netz AG.
“The KONUX sensor system is a breakthrough innovation that makes infrastructure and industrial manufacturing smarter, safer and more efficient yielding tremendous benefits for companies and society at large. As the earliest believers and investors in the KONUX team, we are constantly amazed by the range of industrial applications KONUX is enabling,” said Michael Baum, CEO of Founder.org and founding CEO of Splunk.
“The KONUX team is combining the strengths of two technology hubs in a unique way: The speed and innovation of Silicon Valley with exceptional young digital natives and the quality and precision of German engineering with experienced experts,” said Dr. Sören Hein, MIG, Partner and former VP of Infineon. “I am looking forward seeing the team transform the industrial world!”
KONUX is a Munich-based sensor company, combining German engineering quality and the speed of Silicon Valley. The firm develops smart sensor solutions to generate real-time machine insights for industrial companies. The deployment of sensor solutions and data analytics based on artificial intelligence enables customers to analyze machine problems, predict maintenance and increase uptime. For more information visit: www.konux.com
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 since its founding in 1977. In the U.S., NEA has offices in Menlo Park, CA; Boston, MA; New York, NY; Chicago, IL; and the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. In addition, New Enterprise Associates (India) Pvt. Ltd. has offices in Bangalore and Mumbai, India and New Enterprise Associates (Beijing), Ltd. has offices in Beijing and Shanghai, China. 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. Additional information at: www.mig.ag; www.mig-fonds.de
UnternehmerTUM Fund invests in young technology companies across Germany in the fields of Industry 4.0, Enterprise Software, and Mobility & Smart Cities. Portfolio companies benefit from UnternehmerTUM’s longstanding experience in developing young companies. The UnternehmerTUM Fund has in-house industry experts and a unique network of connections in industry and to other venture capital investors. For more information visit: www.unternehmertum.de/vc
Founder.org is an accelerator program created by Silicon Valley founding expert Michael Baum, which invests in student entrepreneurs from the world’s leading universities. Outstanding companies are selected for the so-called ‘Company Building Program’ which helps them meet the challenges on their way to a global player. More information at: www.founder.org/about/
ScienceDirect; DB Netze
Andreas Kunze | KONUX Inc. | Phone: +1 415 802 2323| Email: [email protected] | Web: www.konux.com | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/konux | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/konux | Twitter: https://twitter.com/wearekonux