IoT SaaS startup Thingtrax has raised €5 million in a Pre-Series A round co-led by Concentric, Superseed and Puma Private Equity. The investment was also supported by Haatch, Portfolio Ventures, Vinci Venture Capital and several well-known angel investors, including Charlie Songhurst. The funding will fuel expansion by developing strategic partnerships, scaling the team, and broadening the customer base across Europe and the US.
Thingtrax was established to accelerate the evolution of the industrial sector by helping CEOs activate a digitally enabled performance platform that improves operational excellence and reduces costs. It was founded in 2015 by Aman Gupta, a seasoned professional in solution architecture, agile methodologies, and business analysis, along with Imran Shafqat, a specialist in enterprise software development. The company is led today by CEO Paul Reader.
Speaking on the funding Paul Reader, CEO of Thingtrax, said: “Out of 10 million factories worldwide, 94% are looking for digital solutions that can connect multiple factories globally, standardise processes and improve efficiency. Thingtrax goes beyond data collection and provides leaders with in-depth analysis and actionable insights for improved efficiency and behaviour change across the workforce. We give manufacturers the tools and knowledge that they need to accelerate progress on their digitisation journey and the attainment of operational excellence.”
Today’s CEOs don’t have an easy way to understand the limitations of their factories and improve performance. Thingtrax solves this through one integrated platform, using cloud computing, robotics, industrial Internet of things (IIoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and computer vision to convert factories into intelligent manufacturing hubs.
Thingtrax can monitor 100% of production activity on the manufacturing floor within a single system with real-time visibility into daily management practices to help businesses perform better. Recently, RGE, a high-value plastic injection moulding company, adopted the Thingtrax Vision System to monitor its entire factory floor efficiently. This transition led to an impressive 70% reduction in downtime and significant cost operation savings. As a direct result of these advancements, RGE was also able to increase its team size by 50% and further strengthen its position.
Reader added: “With limited resources, we have built a fantastic product and attracted prominent customers. This funding will enable us to bolster the quality of our service, prioritise strategic partnerships and focus on expanding our customer base with an emphasis on Europe and the United States.”
Speaking further on the investment, Alex Stroud, Investor at Concentric, said: “We have a strong belief that the industrial technology space is at an inflexion point. In a high inflation, labour-scarce environment, industrial CEOs are realising that technology is one of the only levers left to optimise their P&L. We’re excited to support Thingtrax, who have a compelling platform product and the right sales approach to scale within their target sub-sectors.”
In 2020, Thingtrax raised $1 million in a seed round led by SuperSeed alongside industrial specialist Sumaria. Since then, the company has had an impressive growth rate, growing 550% in 2021, followed by a remarkable growth of 230% in 2022. It also holds preferred partner status with Microsoft and is an official AI partner in the Edge Solution category for Intel. Thingtrax is supporting clients such as Berry, Carlco, RGE Group and Southern Champion, who are located across the UK, Europe, Asia, Africa and North America within various industries, including plastics, food & beverage, consumer packaged goods and automotive.
Mads Jensen, Founder & Managing Partner, Superseed added: “We specialise in helping early-stage businesses navigate from zero revenue to their first million. We appreciate the very large market that Thingtrax’s solution serves, backing the founders at the pre-seed stage when they had their initial product. It has been fantastic to witness and support their rapid growth over the last couple of years, and we are excited about what they will achieve with this new round of funding.”
Ben Leslie, Investment Director, Puma Private Equity, said, “Thingtrax can help the vast number of factories that need digital solutions and support them in becoming more efficient and fit for the future. In the current environment, it’s more important than ever to maximise efficiencies, and we’re therefore pleased to invest in the business’s development. Thingtrax has a strong track record, and a healthy customer base and has consistently grown in the last few years. This investment will enable it to scale further, and we look forward to working closely with the team to achieve their goals.”
In the past few years, Thingtrax has witnessed a remarkable growth spurt with expansions in both operations and team size. Today, the company has grown to a strength of 60 talented individuals spanning across the United Kingdom, United States and Pakistan. As part of the growth phase execution, Thingtrax has already made a number of strategic new hires, including a VP of Sales, VP of Marketing and VP of People, to ensure it has the right talent to successfully propel its vision of becoming the leading manufacturing performance platform.
