KFAR SABA, ISRAEL, APRIL 15, 2019
3d Signals, startup and pioneer in acoustic-based analytics for industrial machines, today announced completing an “A Round” of $12 million, bringing the total investment in the company to $17 million, to aid in the acceleration of manufacturing industry digitalization. This round was led by early-stage venture capital fund State of Mind Ventures, known for backing technology-driven, game-changing companies. Other investors included Grove Ventures, based in Israel, Mr. Enrique M. Aboitiz Jr. from the Philippines, and German Dive Digital.
The funding is testament to the early success of 3d Signals’ innovative Asset Performance Monitoring solution, and further strengthens the startup’s position and mission to bridge the gap to manufacturing digitalization, otherwise known as ‘Industry 4.0’.
Though digitalization promises to transform the manufacturing landscape, in reality, its fruition is reliant upon the surmounting of significant obstacles. Cisco* states, “By some estimates there are 60 million machines in factories throughout the world and 90% are not connected. Meanwhile, 70% of the machines are more than 15 years old.” According to European Parliament Think Tank**, “Large investments are needed if enterprises are to make the move to Industry 4.0…perhaps as much as €140 billion annually in Europe.” In addition, SMEs could be daunted by the size of such investments, “who fear the transition to digital because they cannot access how it will affect their value chains.”
3d Signals’ acoustic-based technology, coupled with AI and machine learning, powerfully bridges this shortfall by extracting operational performance parameters such as availability, speed, and health of industrial machines, and generates insights that improve utilization and increase machines’ productivity. The 3d signals solution can be installed in less than an hour, works with a variety of machines from different vendors, both old and new, and shows immediate value.
Founded in 2015, 3d Signals’ groundbreaking solution has already achieved worldwide recognition for its ability to monitor and maintain industrial equipment and processes. The startup achieved the accolade of “Cool Vendor 2018” from Gartner for its innovative cloud-based predictive monitoring solution that collects sounds from industrial machines and equipment.
German manufacturer, SAMSON AG achieved a considerable increase in its overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), with 3d Signals’ Asset Performance Monitoring solution, which was successfully installed and up and running in under an hour. “Each installation of 3d Signals’ system improves asset productivity 15%+,” said Dr. Andreas Widl, CEO, SAMSON AG. “Looking across the entire value proposition, one can systematically avoid bottlenecks and predict unanticipated downtime. This provides significant value for any production company. We are privileged to be part of 3d Signals’ journey.”
Since the deployment of the 3d Signals solution in its factories, the company reports a substantial improvement in daily operations, including workflow optimization, increased production efficiency and machinery optimisation, accomplishing a remarkable advancement towards full factories digitalization.
3d Signals management team includes Ariel Rosenfeld, CEO, Offer Affias, co-founder and CTO, Amit Ashkenazi, co-founder and VP R&D, and David Koren, VP Operations. Rosenfeld was the general manager of the USB Flash Drive division at M-Systems, the Israeli company behind the first flash drive, which later was sold to SanDisk in 2006 for $1.6B. Ariel worked at M-Systems under Dov Moran, Managing Partner of Grove Ventures and the inventor of the USB Flash Drive. Rosenfeld led the division to a leadership position and to sales growth from $6M to over $300M within only three years.
“This is an exciting time for 3d Signals,” said Ariel Rosenfeld, CEO. “There is a growing need for our solution as it has already shown remarkable results within existing customers. Enterprises are realizing they can significantly improve operational efficiencies and cut costs through digitalization, and this trend has only just started.”
“Our plans are to focus on growth by increasing 3d Signals’ install base significantly over the next few months across Europe,” concludes Rosenfeld.
“We, at State of Mind Ventures, are excited to become an investor in 3d Signals and to join its team on this adventure and help them realize their vision and mission. Industrial companies in Europe and North-America are experiencing tremendous economical pressure driven by competition from the east, as well as increasing economical and geo-political market fragmentation and taxation. Their best route, I believe, to remain competitive, is to adopt, as soon as possible, IoT technologies and used them to upgrade their existing infrastructure, without replacing it.” said Yuval Baharav, General Partner at State of Mind Ventures. “3d Signals’ talented team, led by Ariel Rosenfeld, whom we believe is a unique and proven leader, is delivering a transformative technology to its customers, showing great promise to it users and shareholders.”
“Digitalizing the factory floor is one of the biggest challenges and opportunities in Industry 4.0 innovation vertical.” Said Lotan Levkowitz, a partner in Grove Ventures, an Israeli VC that specializes in early stage deep tech investments with focus on the Industry 4.0 sector. Lotan added that “3d Signals’ unique acoustic based solution enables a frictionless integration to industrial environments and brings the right offering with a quick ROI for the industry. We are proud to back the company from the first day and to experience first-hand the market acceptance to their technology.”
“Digitalization in under an hour is a phenomenal achievement. This is a highly exciting area of investment right now”, said Mr. Enrique M. Aboitiz Jr. “3d Signals is creating next generation technology that will drive advancement and change for a connected future and a better world”.
*IHS 2014 Machines Report for Cisco, PWC Internet of Things in Manufacturing 2015, McKinsey Disruptive Technologies 2013 Report
** http://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document.html?reference=EPRS_BRI%282015%29568337
