Entrepreneur First is the place where the ambitious come together to build globally important technology companies. Through our platform running in 6 cities across 3 continents, we invest in high-potential individuals to help them meet their co-founder, develop their ideas and secure funding from leading investors in the shortest possible time.   We have built over 300 companies from scratch; have over 5000 alumni worldwide; and our portfolio is valued at over $5bn. EF companies include Tractable (Computer Vision, currently valued at $1bn as of June 2021), Magic Pony Technology (AI, acquired by Twitter for a reported $150m), Represent (social commerce, acquired by CustomInk), BloomsburyAI (acquired by Facebook), Cleo (fintech), OpenCosmos (space), CloudNC (manufacturing), Transcelestial (satellite communications) and many more. We're backed by some of the world's best tech founders and investors, including Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn), Greylock Partners, Founders Fund, Demis Hassabis (Google Deepmind) and Taavet Hinrikus (Wise). For more information about Entrepreneur First, visit www.joinef.com.

Entrepreneur First

Martlet Capital is an early-stage investor based in Cambridge, providing patient capital to deep technology and life science startups with high growth potential. They seek to support entrepreneurs with value beyond capital. They have experience of helping companies scale from first-round through to exit. Visit their website to take a look at how we work and their investment focus.

Martlet Capital

Scalar North Capital is a specialist, independent early stage investor. Behind Scalar North Capital sits a group of entrepreneurs who have built, scaled and sold businesses and are looking to support founders and young start-ups on their journey. The team at Scalar North Capital have a particular expertise in solutions across Real Estate and the Built World. Established in 2015, our team have invested in and supported over 20 early stage start-ups. Having been on a similar journey, we know what it takes to build a successful market-leading business from scratch.   We back ambitious and entrepreneurial management teams with high-growth, scalable ideas capable of international expansion between Pre-seed and Series A. Beyond our investment, we support our portfolio companies with operational expertise and unparalleled access across our global network. Over many years, our team have built a diverse network of strategic investor partners, ranging from large institutional investors to independent family offices and HNWIs who combine to provide a unique investment eco-system.

Scalar North Capital

Converge

Converge is building the next generation of wireless sensor networks for the industrial internet of things by augmenting existing sensors to help large industries replace manual monitoring with automated, continuous data collection and analytics.

UK-based Converge has developed AI- and cloud-based construction technology ConcreteDNA to create digital twins of projects, portfolios and enterprises. The company aims at reducing cement content in concrete by 15% and thereby reducing global emissions. In addition, the company claims its concreteDNA twin is able to speed up construction by up to 30%.

Using real-time data to create dynamic virtual representations of the real world

Digital Twin

Company-creation programme Converge pushes button on scaled-up 2022 offering

UK-based Converge has developed AI- and cloud-based construction technology ConcreteDNA to create digital twins of projects, portfolios and enterprises. The company aims at reducing cement content in concrete by 15% and thereby reducing global emissions. In addition, the company claims its concreteDNA twin is able to speed up construction by up to 30%.It uses two types of sensors to capture and contextualize data to obtain actionable insights: 1) Converge Signal sensors, which are embedded to wirelessly measure concrete temperature and strength data and 2) Mesh System, which provides continuous real-time concrete data through a cable thermal probe.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsIn April 2024, it partnered with Tarmac, a UK-based construction materials provider, to offer its concrete monitoring sensors to Tarmac’s customers. Funding and financialsIn May 2022, the company raised GBP 15 million (USD 18.75 million) in a Series A funding round led by OGCI. The new funds were allocated toward advancing its platform.

Norway-based Cognite is a provider of digital twin modeling software for an entire operation through complex industrial data. With machine learning and physics simulators, companies are able to use these for predictive maintenance, production optimization, and better decision-making.&nbsp;Its main solution Cognite Data Fusion offers an open industrial digital twin by integrating IT, operational, and engineering data from sources such as ERPs, MES, and IoT platforms. The data is cleaned and contextualized into a single location and turned into insights for actionable advice, which then is used to build and automate workflows. The company claimed to be the first company to <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17445">achieve DNV-RP-A204 compliance </a>for its core product, Cognite Data Fusion.&nbsp;In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16217">February 2023</a>, the company advanced with new data-modeling capabilities to accelerate (up to 10–25x) deployments of industrial digital solutions and reduce cost and complexity for users. In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/25399">January 2024</a>, the company launched the beta version of a GenAI remote operations control room at the Celanese facility to deliver real-time operational transparency.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsThe company provides its solution mainly to the oil and gas, power and utilities, and manufacturing sectors. Its key customers include Siemens and Rockwell Automation.&nbsp;The company had partnered with Microsoft in January 2024 to integrate Cognite Data Fusion with Microsoft Fabric and deliver an AI-powered industrial data operations solution. In June 2022, Cognite formed a joint venture, CNTXT, with Saudi Aramco to provide its digitization services in the Middle East region for the private and public sectors. Also, in October 2022, the company partnered with industrial automation company Rockwell Automation to develop an industrial data hub for the manufacturing sector by combining Rockwell’s software, FactoryTalk, and the Cognite Data Fusion.Furthermore, in September 2022, the company partnered with Schlumberger to integrate the Cognite Data Fusion to Schlumberger’s Enterprise Data Solution to contextualize data in an interoperable platform.&nbsp;Funding and financialsThe company raised USD 150 million in May 2021 in an equity funding round from TCV, which brought the valuation of the company to USD 1.6 billion. The funds were allocated toward expanding its platform to global industries.&nbsp;Furthermore, in January 2022, petroleum and gas company Saudi Aramco purchased 100% of Aker BP's shares in Cognite to own a majority stake of 7.4% at a value of USD 183 million.

Cognite

Nexar is a developer of smart dash cams that gathers real-time street footage to create a digital twin of the physical world and provide data to users for decision-making. As of June 2024, the company had covered over 1.5 billion miles of imagery and holds 4T images in a neural library.&nbsp;Using AI and computer vision, captured images and videos from cars are localized on a map to detect any changes in roads to provide actionable changed data across the platform CityStream and Nexar network. The platform provides features such as detecting changes on the road (such as road blockages, potholes, and construction), driver behavioral maps, autonomous vehicles systems, and compute and connectivity optimization.&nbsp;In August 2022, the company acquired Portugal-based Veniam to combine its data with Veniam’s communications technology and provide real-time mapping for mobility applications.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsThe company operates a B2B business model providing its services to enterprises and institutions in the logistics, road construction, and insurance industries. Its key customers include the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, which partnered with Nexar in May 2021 to improve road management in Las Vegas. Also, in August 2021, the company partnered with Black Car Fund to provide cameras for Black car operators (rideshare drivers) in New York to protect Black Car Fund members in the case of accident or assault.&nbsp;It also partnered with AWS to deploy images, videos, and AI detections using AWS.&nbsp;Funding and financialsThe company raised USD 53 million in November 2021 in a Series D funding round led by Qumra Capital. The funds were used to scale its digital twin service using dash cam footage for automotive OEMs and cities.

Nexar

Seeq is a provider of data analytics enabling insights, predictions, and collaboration for better production and business outcomes.The company’s product portfolio includes softwares for data analytics including 1) Seeq Workbench for advanced analytics, 2) Seeq Organizer for publishing reports and dashboards, 3) Seeq Data Lab for accessing Python libraries, and 4) Seeq Cortex for IT governance, data connectivity, and calculation features. Furthermore, the company provides deployment via cloud, SaaS solutions, and on premise depending on the customer’s system.Key customers and partnershipsThe company provides its services in more than 40 countries focusing on process manufacturing industries, including oil and gas, pharmaceutical, chemical, energy, mining, and food and beverage. In June 2024, Seeq partnered with Equinor, an international energy company, to leverage Seeq's platform across Equinor's global assets.Seeq’s software is built on long-term vendor partnerships such as SIsoft, Honeywell (since 2017), and Siemens (since 2017). Seeq has also partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure to develop features specific to their offerings, recognizing Seeq's expertise in providing cloud solutions for the manufacturing and industrial sector. Other partners include Schneider Electric and Inductive Automation.

Seeq

Q Bio provides a predictive assessment platform to analyse existential risk in an individual’s health. The company claims its platform, Gemini Digital Twin, is the fastest and safest scanner, which takes 15 minutes for the whole body to be scanned.&nbsp;The company provides the Q Exam, which gathers millions of data points from the individual’s body, such as blood, saliva, and vitals, and sends results via a web-based Q Dashboard to the individual’s physicians. Data is facilitated via the Gemini platform that captures whole body patient vitals in a non-invasive manner.&nbsp;&nbsp;The company operates a B2B2C business model offering services via employers and to individuals. It charges membership plans for one year at USD 3,495 for one exam and USD 6,495 for two exams.&nbsp;Q Bio's is developing the Mark I scanner which uses proprietary tensor field mapping technology to offer full-body scans with 3,000 anatomical measurements in just 10 minutes, creating digital twins and large biological models for health insights. In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/31878">July 2024</a>, Q Bio secured USD 27 million in strategic funding to propel the Mark I scanner toward market launch.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsIn May 2021, the company partnered with Amazon Web Services to provide Q Bio’s services on its cloud platform.

Q Bio

Israel-based Locusview has developed a digital construction management platform to allow companies to manage projects from start to end. The platform is supported by technological capabilities in physical assets, such as plastic and steel pipes, to enable a digital thread (information of an asset such as model or size) and for supply chain and asset traceability.&nbsp;The platform provides features to manage construction projects in and off the field including GPS and sensor-based data collection, fieldwork validations, cloud-based deployment and scaling, real-time progress tracking, online approvals, and built-in reports. Furthermore, companies can lease the complete solution or get a consultation for a customized solution.The company operates a B2B business model, providing its services mainly to the energy, utilities, and telecom industries.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsThe company’s customer base includes more than 30 leading energy utilities and telecom companies. The company has a market presence in India, the US, Australia, Mexico, the UK, and Israel.&nbsp;The company had partnered with Esri to offer a complete end-to-end solution for Esri-based utilities. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Funding and financialsThe company raised USD 64 million in April 2021 in a Series A funding round led by Israel Growth Partners. The funds were used to expand the platform capabilities and for market expansion.

Locusview

Companies that facilitate the creation of digital twins to monitor and maintain assets, including buildings and network infrastructure.

Platforms that facilitate digital twin modeling by either collectively or individually offering any combination of data capture and analytics solutions.

Companies offering digital twins to gain insights for use in commercial planning, logistics and distribution, and other supply chain processes.

Companies that offer digital twins to assess risks and recommend solutions in areas such as disaster management, DNA testing, clinical trials (to simulate effects of treatments), etc.

Used to design and build components contributing to smart cities, roads, airports, public transportation systems, etc.

Digital twins are the primary enabling technology for the digital twin industry

Startups can create digital twins of cities; enables modeling/simulation to improve efficiency/quality of life

Digital twins can be applied in the telecommunications industry for remote monitoring of communication towers

Startups can use digital twins to automate and proactively monitor industrial production lines and facilities

Uses edge computing for cost-effective and real-time data processing by reducing transmission costs

Uses AI/ML for the creation of digital twins and when running simulations

Digital twin startups use IoT for remote data collection from sensors to create digital twins

Converge

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