Thread, a platform that autonomously inspects infrastructure, raises $15 million
The American startup Thread has just announced it has raised $15 million in Series A funding. The round was led by the investment fund Badlands Capital with participation from Minnkota Power Cooperative, Generational Partners, Rosecliff Ventures, Excell Partners, Homegrown Capital and Wonder Fund North Dakota. Thread intends to use the funds to expand its workforce, both on its technical and commercial sides.
Founded in North Dakota in 2020, the startup has designed a drone capable of autonomously collecting data on infrastructure assets, such as wind turbines, oil installations, solar farms, overhead power lines and pipelines. This data is then processed by artificial intelligence algorithms, offering real-time monitoring accessible via its monitoring platform called uniti.
The company has 50 employees and works mainly with energy companies, telecom operators or insurers. It is planning to branch into the field of security and defence.
Thread is far from being the only startup in the US operating on the inspection drone market: Aerones and Skyqraft are also developing monitoring solutions for electrical power utility assets, as is Zeitview (formerly DroneBase), which raised $55 million in February 2023 and has just acquired the Canadian company Heliolytics. And even more recently, the Polish startup AIClearing (a member of the 2021 Leonard Catalyst program), another player in this market, raised €14 million.
Dutch startup Skoon Energy raises €5 million to develop low-carbon electricity generators
In the Netherlands, Skoon Energy has just raised €5 million euros for its low-carbon electric generator marketplace, which is aimed at customers whose needs include powering construction sites, events or audiovisual productions.
The platform was developed in 2017 and connects users of traditional fossil-fuel-powered generators with more than 150 suppliers of clean mobile energy solutions, such as batteries, hydrogen solutions, solar generators, all over Europe.
The AI-powered solution allows customers to select the energy system best suited to their needs, before measuring precisely their energy consumption in order to evaluate the CO2 savings achieved.
This Series A was led by Blue Bear Capital, with participation from the Dutch Graduate Entrepreneur Fund. Other investors include Damen Shipyards (the oldest family-owned shipping services company in the Netherlands) and Rabobank.
German startup Concular raises €2.7 million to develop circularity in the construction industry
Back in 2012, the German company Concular launched Restado, which describes itself as the largest European marketplace for recycled building materials. It has since developed an entire ecosystem promoting reuse in construction, by combining specific product information, technological solutions and a marketplace.
Ten years later, Concular is raising seed funds to accelerate its activity in favour of a circular economy: the company has just received a €2.7 million investment from various construction industry players, including the Austrian construction leader STRABAG, as well as Hagedorn Unternehmensgruppe, Landmarken AG and KVL Group.
The company currently has a workforce of 65 employees and is based in Stuttgart, Berlin and Düsseldorf. The new funds will go towards developing its IT systems, in particularly to improve its platform for monitoring a material’s life cycle.
There’s more…
Estonian startup Bisly raises €3.6 million to help real estate developers meet their carbon emission targets – Read more on EU-Startups
Dutch startup Overstory raises €25 million for its natural resources monitoring solution – Read more on TechFundingNews
US project management platform OnSiteAq raises $14 million – Read more on Commercial Observer
Indonesian startup Stilt Studios raises €10 million for its modular construction solution – Read more on Asia Tech Daily
