On Wednesday, New York’s Fero Labs, which has developed the first Explainable Machine Learning application (i.e., AI technology that not only solves a problem but provides an accompanying rationale) for the industrial sector, today announced that it has raised $9 million in a Series A round. The round was led by technology VC Innovation Endeavors, with participation from Germany’s Deutsche Invest VC. Fero Labs says it plans to use the capital to expand into new sectors and support the evolution of industrial manufacturers, as they introduce tech-powered processes to cut waste, improve efficiency and grow profits.
Fero Labs cites figures from Next-Gen Industrial AI that say more than half of leaders in the manufacturing and utilities sector expect artificial intelligence to control high-value assets such as industrial plants, equipment, machines and its processes in the next five years. Perhaps not surprisingly, this trend only deepened and accelerated during the pandemic, as artificial intelligence and machine learning uptake increased across industry verticals, including energy, manufacturing, heavy industry, infrastructure, and transportation.
“At Fero Labs, we develop our technology around the needs of customers, delivering the best of machine learning, AI technologies and scalable automated infrastructure,” Fero Labs CEO Berk Birand said in announcing the round. “We’re excited to have the support of investors like Innovation Endeavors and Deutsche Invest VC to help us expand and adapt to our increased demand, and to help businesses of all industries thrive in this new normal.”
Fero Labs says its explainable machine learning software is unique in providing plant operators, who may have little to no data science background, access to powerful machine learning algorithms, so they can understand the root cause of any production issues. Fero Labs’ application automatically generates explainable ML models that factor in key process parameters and variations. These models can be deployed in real-time to ensure that the plant operates at peak performance by continuously, dynamically adjusting to process and market changes.
“Fero Labs equips industrial manufacturing professionals — like process and chemical engineers — with cutting-edge machine learning capabilities. Fero gives these experts new abilities to identify root causes of issues, predict outcomes earlier on, and drive optimal performance in a dynamic environment,” said Sam Smith-Eppsteiner, Partner at lead investor Innovation Endeavors. “The product also helps the world’s largest producers become more sustainable. They’re helping companies minimize emissions, increased recycled input, and reduce waste.”
Amid the pandemic and global industrial restrictions, Fero Labs grew 400 percent in 2020, emphasizing the increased need to create sustainable solutions for the entire industrial sector. After implementation, Fero Labs says its customers saw an average increased profitability of 10 percent, while also reducing emissions. Fero Labs’ software supports multiple industry verticles, including consumer goods, automotive, steel and chemical industries, and with key partners including Henkel, Volvo Trucks, Gerdau, and Covestro.
