Industrial AI Startup Detect Technologies Raises $12Mn From Accel, Elevation Capital

Industrial AI startup, Detect Technologies, announced that it raised $12 Mn in funding led by Accel, along with existing investors including Elevation Capital, Bharat Innovation Fund, BlueHill Capital, and  Axilor Ventures. Stride Ventures also participated as a venture debt partner.

The company will utilise this capital to further expand and strengthen its sales and operations teams across India and international markets in North and South America, Singapore, Indonesia, Middle East, and Europe and to fulfil the accelerating demand for industrial automation. Part of the funds will also be deployed for R&D and product innovation to strengthen Detect’s position in the industrial AI and IoT (Internet of Things) market.

Founded in 2016, Detect Technologies is an enterprise tech SaaS company that creates unique platforms powered by deep-tech – novel AI architecture and hardware. These technologies are in turn used to increase overall industrial productivity through increased schedule certainty, enhanced resource visibility through real-time intelligent monitoring, decreased in-service equipment failure, and increased estimated life of an asset through predictive maintenance and automation of compliance to standards.

With the global pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, industrial companies have been eager to adopt automation solutions for enhanced productivity with minimal human interventions. Consequently, Detect claims to have grown its portfolio from 25+ to over 45 companies. Additionally, the company stated that its solutions have been implemented in over 100 individual sites globally.

“Despite initiatives towards industrial automation and digitization, large conglomerates have seen limited success in generating tangible value on site. Industrial processes today are siloed and need significant human intervention, which is subject to error. The pandemic accelerated the adoption of automation, leading to large-scale disruption in industrial technology,” said Daniel Raj David, CEO and cofounder of Detect Technologies.”

The company has also expanded into 6 new international territories within 10 months. Its current portfolio includes other industrial companies, such as Shell, Tata Steel, ExxonMobil, Adani Group, Reliance, and many more. These span across sectors such as oil and gas, petrochemicals, construction, steel, metals, chemicals, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, power, renewables, and cement.

Commenting on the funding, Barath Shankar Subramanian, partner, Accel, said, “The industrial sector loses millions globally in revenue due to unplanned shutdowns, a result of lack of intelligent real-time data and insights to aid decision making. Detect is operating in this $200 Bn+ market opportunity of industrial automation and real-time analytics to increase visibility over operations, the health of equipment, and the safety of workers. At Accel, we believe that the Detect team is well equipped to solve this problem, and we are excited to partner with them.”

The AI sector surged during the pandemic as companies and individuals realised the limitations of manual labour. According to a report by Accenture, AI has the potential to add $957 Bn, or 15% of India’s current gross value to the economy, in 2035.

A report by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, and NITI Aayog, on the national strategy for AI, is built on the “AI for All” concept. This highlights the need for developing open source systems to democratise the AI industry, making it a resource accessible to all. India strategizes to become the garage of AI solutions providers for 40% of the world including emerging and developing economies.