Deeptech
Q2 202406.06.2024

Industrial tech (Q2 2024)

Picture of Éanna Kelly

Éanna Kelly

at Sifted

AI systems are coming onto the factory floor to help with quality control, equipment maintenance, training and the automation of paperwork.

Germany’s Daedalus, founded by one of OpenAI’s first engineering hires, raised $21m in February to develop its vision for AI-controlled factories. Switzerland’s EthonAI raised a $16.5m Series A in May for software that predicts maintenance needs.

Big manufacturers are using so-called digital twin tech and AI to identify and correct shortcomings in operations early. Ai:omatic Solutions — based in Germany, as so many of these manufacturing startups are — raised €2m in January for a system that detects potential machine faults. Tomorrow Things, also German, raised €1.5m in March for a similar product.

Daedalus founder Jonas Schneider told Sifted in February that his technology will let workers communicate with its system via natural language. So you could prompt it with instructions like: “I need to make a hinge for this part that needs to be thin in these places.”

This sounds like potentially a big leap forward — and far away from the reality of most factories today. But imagine creating a painstakingly-complicated silicon wafer only to discover afterwards it’s not usable. In theory, the Daedalus approach could avoid costly defects like this: the company's pattern-matching tech could apply previous knowledge to configure machines for every new part.

20 startups to watch

  • Tacto logo

    Sifted score

    8.08
    -

    Tacto

    • Strong investor(s)
    • Hiring

    • Year founded

      2020

    • HQ

      Munich, Germany

    • Latest round

      Series A
      €50m / Dec 2023

    • Total funding

      €55.3m

    View company profile
  • Bren logo

    Sifted score

    7.3
    -

    Bren

    • Serial founder(s)

    • Year founded

      2018

    • HQ

      Nilüfer, Türkiye

    • Latest round

      Seed
      €10.9m / Oct 2022

    • Total funding

      €11.2m

    View company profile
  • Jimmy Energy logo

    Sifted score

    7.07
    -

    Jimmy Energy

    • Strong investor(s)

    • Year founded

      2020

    • HQ

      Paris, France

    • Latest round

      Grant
      €32m / Nov 2023

    • Total funding

      €49.2m

    View company profile
  • Ethon AI logo

    Sifted score

    6.98
    -

    Ethon AI

    • Strong investor(s)

    • Year founded

      2021

    • HQ

      Zurich, Switzerland

    • Latest round

      Seed
      €6.2m / Feb 2023

    • Total funding

      €7.2m

    View company profile
  • Outsight logo

    Sifted score

    6.61
    -

    Outsight

    LiDAR-based tracking and measurement solutions.

    • Strong investor(s)
    • Serial founder(s)
    • Hiring

    • Year founded

      2019

    • HQ

      Paris, France

    • Latest round

      Early VC
      €22m / Oct 2022

    • Total funding

      €42.6m

    View company profile

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