C-Labs has raised $2.7 million as the industrial-grade software company begins to expand and really scale its business.
Founded in 2009, C-Labs spent its first five years designing custom software one customer at a time. But in 2014 the company brought on former Microsoft and Bsquare veteran John Traynor to help turn all the technology it had developed over the years into a prepackaged solution it could sell to a wider audience.
One year later, Traynor, who is now the company’s COO, says things are starting to really take off for the Redmond, Wash.-based startup.
“We definitely see this as an inflection point,” Traynor said, adding that things should only pickup faster as more factories turn to Internet-connect equipment. “We see a tremendous opportunity.”
The key behind C-Labs offering is the ability to monitor what’s happening on a manufacturing production line from a distance. More and more industrial equipment is becoming Internet-connected and capable of tracking everything from conveyor belt speed to the temperatures insides holding tanks. But, given strict cyber security protocols across the manufacturing industry, it’s not so easy to share that information outside the factory floor.
Traynor said C-Labs is able to do just that while still working within security frameworks, so as not to open any gaps for cyber attacks.
With the $2.7 million cash infusion, Traynor said the five-person startup plans to keep developing its technology and ramp up sales and marketing efforts, especially around the U.S. As of now, the company does about 80 percent of its business in Europe, where more factories have adopted Internet-connected industrial equipment.
Sheet metal manufacturing giant TRUMPF participated in the series A round, while also signing a licensing deal to begin using C-Labs’ technology. No other investors or details pertaining to the funding were made public.
