Calgary based industrial AI and IoT provider Osprey Informatics has raised $2.75 million ($3.75 CAD) from Shell Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Royal Dutch Shell, and Evok Innovations, the Silicon Valley startup fund. The investment round also saw participation also from InterGen Capital and existing shareholders.
The company’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform, Osprey Reach, manages remote cameras at a massive scale. It employs AI to analyse images and video, cross data with inputs from other sensors and systems, and deliver actionable insights.
“This strategic investment provides not only capital, but also access to global energy leaders. We are now well positioned to grow our deployments throughout the Industrial IoT,” the company’s chief, Rob Logan, said of the new funding round.
Osprey claims over 30 energy companies in North America use its Osprey Reach platform to reduce operating costs and mitigate environmental and safety risks. The new investment will be used to bring to market additional AI solutions, including methane detection.
Michael Crothers, president and country chair at Shell Canada, commented: “Enabled by augmented intelligence and machine learning, our industry is undergoing rapid change. We see Osprey’s technology as a core component of this digital transformation, with proven operational benefits and promising methane detection potential.”
A slew of enterprise funds and venture capital has been staked on the enterprise-facing internet-of-things (IoT) sector in recent months.
Recent research claims $3.3 billion in total recorded IoT investments in 12 months, covering the end of 2017 and most of 2018. However, the overall trend is down, as the IoT sector passes ‘hype’ phase, and enters more realistic commercial territory. Nevertheless, two thirds of investors expect an increase in IoT investments in the coming 12 months.
The end of 2018 has seen a rush of activity, including a record-breaking $320 million funding round for Chinese firm G7 Networks.
At the same time, IoT exits and acquisitions are trending upwards. Notable recent acquisitions include IoT specialist Silver Spring Networks by Itron, French security-specialist Gemalto by Thales Group, and IoT Platform Relayr by MunichRe.
