When Alex Hockinson was CEO of SmartThings, the consumer-focused connected devices company he co-founded and sold to Samsung for about $200 million, he kept thinking that Internet of Things (IoT) technology might be big. Can solve problems.
He left SmartThings in 2018 to explore where connected devices could make the biggest impact. He co-founded IoT company BrightAI in 2019 with Nathan Hanks, Douglas Berman and Robert Parker. As the pandemic hit in 2020, Hoakinson, now CEO, said it became clear where BrightAI should focus: infrastructure.
“In a pandemic, this downtime, really makes you think about what are the critical services that modern life depends on? As you look at them, it’s amazing how many of those things That’s how ancient I am,” Hawkinson told TechCrunch.
Using connected devices to solve critical infrastructure problems became the foundation of BrightAI. Hawkinson describes BrightAI as a “physical AI” company today. BrightAI offers an end-to-end tech platform that uses sensors to help companies monitor physical assets. BrightAI’s sensors are constantly sending data to an AI algorithm that processes the data and can help catch and predict potential problems before they arise.
For example, pest control provider Pelsis uses BrightAI’s sensors to remotely monitor its light nets installed in food and pharmaceutical production facilities. BrightAI can identify and alert Pelsis if any of their light traps catch a new type of pest between manual inspections, allowing Pelsis to deploy necessary treatments earlier.
“It leaves your inspector out there all the time, even when there’s no humans there,” Hawkinson said. “It lets you get this kind of real-time sense of sites and assets. You’re collecting data that humans have never done before, because you’re there all the time, and then [you] Use AI to sort out patterns in this and truly move from reactive to proactive.
BrightAI launched its platform in stealth in 2023. It currently has seven major enterprise customers across six verticals including HVAC, waste management, and power. It has deployed more than 250,000 sensors and has so far reached $80 million in revenue while operating in stealth mode without raising any outside capital.
The company is emerging from stealth today and has just raised a $15 million seed round funded entirely by Upfront Ventures. Hawkinson said they decided to start venture funding now because they needed capital to get to the next level of growth. He added that BrightAI has more customer interest than they can currently serve.
BrightAI’s seed round of capital will be used to expand the company’s tech capabilities. Hawkinson said he wants BrightAI’s tech to be able to tap into the data collected by its sensors to better inform field workers about how to solve problems.
There are many startups that take a similar approach to AI and sensor technology that are more vertical than BrightAI. Sensorita is a Norwegian startup that uses sensors and AI to help monitor and manage construction waste. WaveLogix Another one uses sensors to test the strength and health of concrete. Hockinson acknowledged that building in a single vertical would probably allow them to move faster, but added that they could use their total capacity. Don’t want to limit the identity market.
“I realized that by limiting myself to one vertical, it would also leave a lot of untapped potential,” Hawkinson said. “So for me, it’s just building a great business instead of moving fast and all that stuff. That’s how we can maximize our impact in the world.
Bright AI tech can also help companies be more accurate, Hawkinson added. Pest control companies don’t need to spray solutions everywhere, they can use BrightAI’s sensor data for more targeted targeting. Water companies don’t need to send truckloads of employees to monitor pipes if they know in advance which ones need maintenance.
“It’s like this beautiful thing, because as you unlock productivity, and then you unlock capital efficiency, both improve the services that we rely on so much, Hawkins said. “We can reach a lot more than that. But it’s also great that it does it in a way that wastes very little.
Credit : techcrunch.com
