Sight Machine, the US-based developer of a big data platform for manufacturing, secured $13.5m yesterday in a series B round that included industrial product and appliance manufacturer General Electric.
GE, which participated through its GE Ventures unit, was joined by venture capital firm Jump Capital, which led the round, O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures, which acts as media company O’Reilly’s investment arm, Two Roads Group, IA Ventures, Mercury Fund, Huron River Ventures, Orfin Ventures and Pritzker Group Venture Capital.
Sight Machine has built a platform that uses data concerning process, parts and people into insights that can be used by manufacturers to improve the quality and efficiency of their practices. The capital will go to sales, marketing and product development.
The round follows a $5m series A in February 2015 featuring O’Reilly AlphaTech, Mercury Fund, Michigan eLab, Huron River Ventures, Orfin Ventures, Funders Club and IA Ventures. O’Reilly AlphaTech and IA had previously supplied an undisclosed amount of seed funding.
Karen Kerr, senior managing director of advanced manufacturing for GE Ventures, said: “Sight Machine is developing the technology that will bring us closer to the realisation of the brilliant factory.
“The ability to effectively manage and analyse manufacturing data will change so many industries, and we are proud to partner with Sight Machine to help grow and commercialise its business.”