Akselos: Innogy Ventures and Shell Ventures Back Predictive Digital Twin Pioneer with $10 Million Investment
Predictive digital twin pioneer, Akselos, today announces the completion
of a $10 million financing round led by innogy Ventures, with Shell
Ventures as Co-Investor.
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Akselos Windturbine and Sensor (Graphic: Business Wire)
The new round of financing will be used to help increase the
sustainability of critical assets in the energy sector, by empowering
predictive maintenance with structural analysis software, big data
analytics and machine learning.
Thomas Leurent, Akselos co-founder and CEO, said: “Today’s announcement
underlines the value we will bring to the energy sector and is a huge
vote of confidence from two of the world’s most progressive and
innovative energy companies. Our technology will not only help maximise
efficiency and returns in the oil and gas industry in an increasingly
competitive market, but it also has a crucial role to play in
accelerating the energy transition. To tackle the many challenges
humanity is facing, we need to think beyond incremental innovation and
move towards next generation extreme engineering - that’s what Akselos
is all about.
“We look forward to working closely with both innogy and Shell and
taking advantage of the unrivalled expertise available to us as we
continue to pursue our vision and develop our technology.”
Akselos, spun out from MIT, brings emerging digital tech to the market
through an exclusive license with MIT. The technology, over 15 years in
the making, was further developed at the Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology. The technology simulates exact virtual replicas – or digital
twins – of large mechanical assets, using data to create accurate
living, learning and predictive twins. It’s the first technology of its
kind to be compatible with the IoT and digital solutions such as
sensors, big data analytics and machine learning.
The solution, which is 1,000 faster and more accurate than the industry
standard when modelling large scale assets, will offer operators
real-time access to the condition of the asset from anywhere and at any
time, and allow a move towards predictive maintenance.
Felix Krause, Investment Partner for innogy Ventures said: “Akselos has
a fantastic, highly skilled team with extraordinary market
understanding. Their unrivalled expertise in simulation technology has
led them to commercialise something that has overcome the limitations of
the current industry solution.
“We are very happy to be part of the Akselos story at such an exciting
time for the company. Having successfully developed ground-breaking
technology and having built an impressive customer base, Akselos is now
in a position to focus on growth and continue working towards digital
transformation in the energy sector and beyond.”
Peter van Giessel, Investment Director for Shell Ventures said: “Akselos
allows us to better monitor the integrity of our most complex assets –
be it production vessels or wind turbines. With this technology,
engineers can now run analysis almost at the speed of thought. When
integrated with real life sensors on the assets, the technology creates
a responsive system, enabling cost reduction and enhanced safety.
“We are proud to support the brilliant work of the Akselos team and look
forward to seeing this being used throughout our operations.”
In addition to its work with the energy industry, Akselos is currently
involved in a number of high-level R&D projects with world-class
technology institutes to accelerate the energy transition and space
exploration.
http://www.akselos.com/
https://www.innogy.ventures/
https://www.shell.com/energy-and-innovation/innovating-together/shell-ventures.html
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