• Thingtrax is a SaaS-based manufacturing performance platform that enables manufacturers to increase operational efficiency and reduce costs.
• It captures data insights across manufacturing operations by engaging personnel at all levels to enhance operational excellence.
• 94 percent of factories globally need digital solutions to connect with other facilities and improve operations.
• The funding round was co-led by Concentric, Superseed and Puma Private Equity.
• The investment will support Thingtrax’s growth through developing strategic partnerships, scaling the team and expanding its customer base in Europe and the US.

London, United Kingdom. 08.00 AM BST 20th July 2023: IoT SaaS startup Thingtrax has raised £4.3M in a Pre-Series A round co-led by Concentric, Superseed and Puma Private Equity. The investment was also supported by Haatch, Portfolio Ventures, Vinci Venture Capital and several well-known angel investors, including super angel Charlie Songhurst. The funding will fuel expansion by developing strategic partnerships, scaling the team, and broadening the customer base across Europe and the US.

Thingtrax was established to accelerate the evolution of the industrial sector by helping CEOs activate a digitally enabled performance platform that improves operational excellence and reduces costs. It was founded in 2015 by Aman Gupta, a seasoned professional in solution architecture, agile methodologies, and business analysis, along with Imran Shafqat, a specialist in enterprise software development. The company is led today by CEO Paul Reader.

Today’s CEOs don’t have an easy way to understand the limitations of their factories and improve performance. Thingtrax solves this through one integrated platform, using cloud computing, robotics, industrial Internet of things (IIoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and computer vision to convert factories into intelligent manufacturing hubs.

Thingtrax can monitor 100 percent of production activity on the manufacturing floor within a single system with real-time visibility into daily management practices to help businesses perform better. Recently, RGE, a high-value plastic injection moulding company, adopted the Thingtrax Vision System to monitor its entire factory floor efficiently. This transition led to an impressive 70 percent reduction in downtime and significant cost operation savings. As a direct result of these advancements, RGE was also able to increase its team size by 50 per cent and further strengthen its position.

Speaking on the funding Paul Reader, CEO of Thingtrax said, “Out of 10m factories worldwide, 94 per cent are looking for digital solutions that can connect multiple factories globally, standardise processes and improve efficiency. Thingtrax goes beyond data collection and provides leaders with in-depth analysis and actionable insights for improved efficiency and behaviour change across the workforce. We give manufacturers the tools and knowledge that they need to accelerate progress on their digitisation journey and the attainment of operational excellence.”

Reader added, “With limited resources, we have built a fantastic product and attracted prominent customers. This funding will enable us to bolster the quality of our service, prioritise strategic partnerships and focus on expanding our customer base with an emphasis on Europe and the United States.”

Speaking further on the investment, Alex Stroud, Investor at Concentric said, “We have a strong belief that the industrial technology space is at an inflection point. In a high inflation, labour scarce environment, industrial CEOs are realising that technology is one of the only levers left to optimise their P&L. We’re excited to support Thingtrax, who have a compelling platform product and the right sales approach to scale within their target sub-sectors.”

In 2020, Thingtrax raised $1M in a seed round led by SuperSeed alongside industrial specialist Sumaria. Since then, the company has had an impressive growth rate, growing 550 percent in 2021, followed by a remarkable growth of 230 percent in 2022. It also holds preferred partner status with Microsoft and is an official AI partner in the Edge Solution category for Intel. Thingtrax is supporting clients such as Berry, Carlco, RGE Group and Southern Champion, who are located across the UK, Europe, Asia, Africa and North America within various industries, including plastics, food & beverage, consumer packaged goods and automotive.

Mads Jensen, Founder & Managing Partner, Superseed added, “We specialise in helping early-stage businesses navigate from zero revenue to their first million. We appreciate the very large market that Thingtrax’s solution serves, backing the founders at the pre-seed stage when they had their initial product. It has been fantastic to witness and support their rapid growth over the last couple of years and we are excited about what they will achieve with this new round of funding.”

Ben Leslie, Investment Director, Puma Private Equity said, “Thingtrax can help the vast number of factories that need digital solutions, and support them in becoming more efficient and fit for the future. In the current environment, it’s more important than ever to maximise efficiencies, and we’re therefore pleased to invest in the business’s development. Thingtrax has a strong track record, healthy customer base, and has consistently grown in the last few years. This investment will enable it to scale further, and we look forward to working closely with the team to achieve their goals.”

In the past few years, Thingtrax has witnessed a remarkable growth spurt with expansions in both operations and team size. Today, the company has grown to a strength of 60 talented individuals spanning across the United Kingdom, United States and Pakistan. As part of the growth phase execution, Thingtrax has already made a number of strategic new hires including a VP of Sales, VP of Marketing and VP of People to ensure it has the right talent to successfully propel its vision of becoming the leading manufacturing performance platform.

For more information, visit https://thingtrax.com/

ENDS

Notes to Editors

Additional Investor Quotes

“At Vinci VC, we can understand the pain points manufacturers go through in their digitalization journey as we are strategically backed by İnci Holding, a conglomerate of manufacturing, service and technology businesses predominantly servicing the automotive sector. Thingtrax met representatives from our manufacturing businesses to test and validate its product against the needs of industrial organisations digitization. Our investment will help Thingtrax to further strengthen its product and offer a more comprehensive solution to a broader customer base in the global market, and we are excited to support them on their journey.” – Aylin Girgin Özbiliş, Vinci Venture Capital.

“We are thrilled to be backing Thingtrax at this exciting time alongside SuperSeed and other investors. We were impressed by not only the team but also the performance platform. Nobody else has built the breadth of shop floor digitisation, vertically integrated with C-suite tools and a daily management system that can be implemented as quickly or as affordably. The team has proven their ability to scale the business, winning contracts across the US, EU, India, China and Africa. We look forward to supporting Thingtrax as they scale and grow” – Fred Soneya, Co-founder & Partner at Haatch.

“We are excited for Thingtrax’s next phase of growth. Our community, which is comprised of some of the best angels and operators, pursue investment opportunities into businesses who demonstrate they have the potential to create true value at scale. We believe Thingtrax has this capability.”- Will Brooks, Portfolio Ventures.

Case Study

RGE Group: Established in 1965, RGE Group specialises in precision plastic injection moulding, tooling and product design. They are headquartered in Godmanchester with additional manufacturing sites nearby, plus facilities in China and Lithuania. At RGE, the Thingtrax Vision System monitors the entire factory floor to deliver insights that allow the RGE team to take any necessary action to maximise productivity. This has led to annual savings of £369k and a 70% reduction in downtime.

“The fully tailored dashboard assists with high-level overview management, with many sub menus that support the live finite detail of OEE and scrap and quality analysis. This assists with tight cost control on output and, with the current climate on utilities, close cost intelligence on power consumption supports efficient planning and machine control.” Dave Ancill, UK Operations Director, RGE GROUP

About Thingtrax

Thingtrax’s IoT SaaS solution enables manufacturing businesses to improve efficiency and reduce costs. Integrating with over 300 devices and protocols, Thingtrax captures and analyses manufacturing operations data in real-time to drive productivity and process improvement throughout manufacturing operations.

About Concentric

Concentric is an early-stage European venture fund, supporting sector-defining founders to solve the problems that matter. The core focus is to invest in software start-ups operating in traditional sectors like financial services, real estate, industrial, logistics, and healthcare. Founded in 2013, Concentric now manages a portfolio of 45 companies and is currently deploying from its second fund.

About Haatch

Haatch invests £100k-£500k into the next generation of digital disrupters from our SEIS and EIS tax-efficient funds alongside additional investment from our partnership with British Business Investments, a subsidiary of British Business Bank.

About Portfolio Ventures

Portfolio Ventures invests £100k-500k cheques in UK-based Fintech, Insurtech, B2B SaaS, and Enterprise Software companies raising Pre-Seed to Series A rounds. The PV Angel Fund is backed by a great mix of investors leading UK angels, successful founders, C-level execs, and corporate NEDs who co-invest alongside the fund and provide strategic support to our portfolio companies.

About Puma Private Equity

Puma Private Equity is a leading provider of growth capital to SMEs across all sectors and regions of the UK, delivering investments between £2 million to £10 million. Puma Private Equity takes a highly active approach to value creation, partnering with management teams to help drive up equity value through expansion and professionalisation. Further information on Puma Private Equity can be found at www.PumaPE.co.uk. Puma Private Equity is the private equity division of Puma Capital Group.

About Superseed

SuperSeed is a London-based venture capital firm built by founders for founders. The firm invests in technical teams building business and industrial automation startups at the seed stage and then actively supports them to reach their first £million in sales.
Founded in 2018 by life-long entrepreneurs and tech operators Daniel Bowyer and Mads Jensen, SuperSeed has backed more than 20 high-growth B2B software companies to date.

About Vinci Venture Capital

Vinci invests in early-stage technology companies primarily in Europe with a focus on mobility, supply chain, energy storage/management, and industry 4.0 sectors. With Inci Holding (www.inciholding.com) as its strategic investor, Vinci aims to add value to the ventures in its portfolio as a true strategic partner with its corporate resources and industrial Experience.