DeTect raises $3.3 million from SAIF Partners, others
2 min read . Updated: 21 Nov 2018, 06:56 AM IST
PremiumChennai-based robotics startup DeTect will use the funds to double employee count and expand in the UK and Europe
Bengaluru: Chennai-based robotics startup DeTect Technologies Tuesday said it has raised $3.3 million in a Series A funding round from a clutch of investors led by SAIF Partners as it seeks to double its workforce and expand in the UK and Europe.
Existing investors Bharath Innovation Fund, Axilor Ventures and BlueHill Capital Pvt. Ltd also took part in the latest round, DeTect said in a statement.
The company currently has around 50 full-time employees.
DeTect previously raised a seed round from Indian Institute of Technology(IIT), Madras where it was incubated in 2016.
“Our major growth will come from the market outside India," Daniel Raj David, chief executive and co-founder of DeTect, said in an interview.
The company is in talks with clients from Singapore, Malaysia, the US, and Canada, he added.
DeTect has two major products—Gumps, a sensor that detects leakages and corrosion in oil or gas pipelines, and Noctua, an industrial drone that inspects large-volume assets like boilers and stacks. The Gumps sensor can also generate real-time reports.
“Our goal here at DeTect Technologies is to leverage high-end engineering talent, build deep technology, design cutting-edge infrastructure and create high-end patented solutions for asset risk monitoring and also estimating their life predictions," said David.
“By developing sensor technology, drone technology, image processing and machine learning algorithms here in India, our technologies are focused on improving operational efficiencies for industries at large by helping them enhance monitoring and increase safety and accuracy," he added.
The sensor and the drone reduce human efforts and can cut daily losses of a company by about ₹ 6 crore, David claimed.
The company was incorporated in 2016 by David, his three IIT batchmates, Harikrishnan A.S., Karthik R., Tarun Mishra, and their professor Krishnan Balasubramanian.
DeTect provides services to companies including Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd, Tata Steel Ltd, and Reliance Industries Ltd.
“We are very excited to partner with the DeTect team as they bring a rare combination of deep domain expertise, global market opportunity and high entrepreneurial energy," said Mridul Arora, managing director, SAIF Partners.
“Global oil and gas majors have flocked to DeTect to take advantage of DeTect’s asset monitoring and inspection solutions and we’re confident that the team will continue to expand its global footprint. The SAIF team is proud to support the ambitions of deep tech Indian startups such as DeTect," he said.
SAIF Partners invests in early stage and late stage companies. The venture capital firm has invested in many Indian startups including Swiggy, Paytm and BookMyShow.
“We are all techies who conceptualized this technology back in 2013. I can say that there is no one else offering the same quality of technology that we are offering," said David.
“The usual sensors can operate in maximum 150 degrees but our sensor can function in temperatures as high 280 degrees," he added.
