Mnubo, a Montreal-based Internet of Things (IoT) and AI company, has been acquired by Aspen Technology (AspenTech), an asset optimization software firm, for $102 million CAD.
“This is truly a success story of a Montreal AI company finding commercial success globally.”
AspenTech said Mnubo’s technology will be used to accelerate its asset optimization solutions, which will combine deep process expertise with AI and machine learning. The acquisition of Mnubo was announced alongside the acquisition of Sabisu, a UK-based enterprise solutions company.
“With the current pressures on margins, our customers need to yield higher outputs and drive higher efficiencies with existing assets,” said Antonio Pietri, president and CEO of AspenTech. “When expertly applied, AI offers a significant competitive advantage in managing operations to the limits of performance without compromising safety. By bringing the deep domain expertise of AspenTech together with Mnubo’s AI-driven IoT expertise and Sabisu visualization, we can deliver innovation that helps our customers drive value from their existing at scale.”
Mnubo’s platform was designed to allow users to receive insights from IoT data captured from sensors, devices, machines, and equipment. Through its platform, users can view, manipulate, and analyze IoT data to build insights by training AI and machine learning models, using its IoT-specific libraries, and productizing results using the platform’s API and user interface.
“The global adoption of AI and IoT technologies is powering the next wave of industrial-digital enterprises,” said Frédéric Bastien, co-founder and CEO of Mnubo. “The Mnubo AI and analytics infrastructure were purpose-built to accelerate the digital transformation of traditional industries by democratizing the power of artificial intelligence and machine learning.”
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In 2014, Mnubo acquired its first customer, Connected Design, a Hong Kong-based smartwatch manufacturer. One year later, it raised a $6 million Series A, led by White Star Capital, after seeing a 400 percent increase in the number of connected devices on its platform in three years. In January 2018, the company raised a $16.5 million Series B round led by Munich Re’s HSB Group, which also then engaged in a strategic commercial partnership with the company.
“Mnubo’s four Montreal-based entrepreneurs have committed to give back to the Quebec ecosystem.”
“Our location in Montreal’s world-class AI ecosystem enables AspenTech to establish a centre of excellence for these cutting-edge technologies, and to attract some of the best talent in this space,” said Bastien. “We are very excited to continue to develop innovative AI solutions that target the industrial internet of things at enterprise scale, under the AspenTech umbrella.”
Mnubo has previously partnered with companies like IoT firms Ayla Networks and Soracom, as well as data acquisition organizations like Dawex. Some of its customers include Hortau, Buzz Connect, and Grain Systems, for whom Mnubo brought IoT services to various industries like agriculture. In July 2018, the company extended its commitment to the Japanese market, by opening an office in Tokyo.
Mnubo has also plans to keep its team based in Montreal, while AspenTech is going to make the city its R&D centre. This is Mnubo co-founder Bastien’s second acquisition; In 2010, he sold a data management Blueslice Networks for approximately $45 million CAD ($35 million USD) to telecom company Tekelec, which itself later sold to Oracle in 2013.
“This is truly a success story of a Montreal AI company finding commercial success globally, as the announcement is a testament to White Star Capital’s commitment to the Quebec tech ecosystem,” said Jean-François Marcoux, White Star Capital managing partner and co-founder, in a company blog post.
“Mnubo’s four Montreal-based entrepreneurs have committed to give back to the Quebec ecosystem by keeping the company team local and augmenting it with the financial backing of AspenTech. The acquirer will use this acquisition to make Montreal its R&D center further injecting growth into Quebec’s world-leading AI and Big Data ecosystem,” he stated.
Image courtesy Mnubo
