The corporate venturing units of semiconductor producer Intel and petroleum producer Saudi Aramco co-led a $30m series B round for US-based industrial internet-of-things (IIoT) software developer FogHorn Systems on Wednesday.
Intel Capital and Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures were joined by Robert Bosch Venture Capital (RBVC), Honeywell Ventures and Dell Technologies Capital, subsidiaries of industrial product maker Robert Bosch, electronic systems producer Honeywell and computing company Dell.
Power and industrial conglomerate General Electric and industrial technology manufacturer Yokogawa Electric also participated in the round, as did venture capital firms March Capital Partners and Darling Ventures and startup studio The Hive.
Founded in 2014, FogHorn has developed a software platform that can perform data processing at the edge of networks, close to the data source. It can provide real-time insights into data and lowers costs associated with transferring the data to the cloud.
The software gives businesses advanced monitoring and diagnostics capabilities, operational intelligence and the ability to optimise machine performance and maintenance. The funding will be used to expand FogHorn’s engineering team and enhance its presence internationally.
The new round brings FogHorn’s total funding to $47.5m, the company having initially it raised $2.5m of seed capital from March Capital and The Hive in 2015.
FogHorn subsequently closed a $15m series A round in May 2017 featuring General Electric subsidiary GE Ventures, Dell Technologies Capital, Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, RBVC, Yokogawa Electric, Darling Ventures and March Capital Partners.
Jonathan Ballon, vice president of Intel’s IoT Group, said: “Both the promise and challenge of IIoT lie in the ability to convert sensor data to actionable insights that improve customers’ operating efficiency and generate new sources of business value.
“As we have watched FogHorn’s progress with both leading IIoT solutions providers and major industrial end customers, we believe their edge analytics and machine learning technology will be a critical factor in enabling those operating efficiencies and delivering that business value.”