Augury, a tech startup that helps companies better maintain the machines in their production and distribution facilities, announced Tuesday it hit a $1 billion valuation after receiving $180 million in fresh funding. The round was led by strategic investor Baker Hughes, and will be used to fuel the newly minted unicorn’s international expansion.
At the center of Augury’s technology is noise — its sensors listen to the vibrations and other sounds industrial machines make, and then send that data to their servers to analyze it for abnormalities that could indicate a potential malfunction. The goal is to alert companies of a problem before it becomes too big, which in turn means lowering costs for both the manufacturers and, indirectly, their customers.
In addition to partnering with major companies like Colgate and Hershey’s, Augury works with some of the largest manufacturers of the machines themselves, including Grundfos and Carrier. Most recently, the company formed partnerships with its lead investor Baker Hughes and Schneider Electric to move into the oil and gas and power industries, respectively.
“AI-enabled predictive asset maintenance is a key pillar of resilient and sustainable supply chains, and Augury’s proven solution combined with our unique expertise and global reach will be an important agent for industrial digital transformation,” Barbara Frei, the executive vice president of industrial automation at Schneider Electric, said in a statement.
Indeed, Augury’s expansion is coming at an interesting time for the wider world of industrial tech — mainly because of the Covid-19 pandemic and all of the manufacturing and supply chain hurdles that have come with it. Now more than ever, companies need to get their products and services to consumers in a reliably quick fashion, and Augury’s technology helps them do it.
“We’ve spent the last decade building towards a future where we can always rely on the machines that matter, in the sectors that matter,” co-founder and CEO Saar Yoskovitz said in a statement, adding that this latest investment is a “significant step” and validating the sector. “I’m thrilled by the opportunity this funding, coupled with the market access our new investors provide, gives us to further fuel Augury’s exponential growth and bring the impact of machine health to new markets.”
To keep up, Augury also plans to expand its team. The startup is headquartered in Israel, but has a large office here in NYC, where it is currently hiring for more than a dozen open tech positions.
