Insider Brief
- Oden Technologies secures $28.5 million in Series B funding led by Nordstjernan Growth to accelerate AI product development for the manufacturing industry, with new investors including the founder of Klarna and INX International Ink Co.
- The funding will enhance AI capabilities to solve manufacturing challenges like productivity plateaus, improving data accuracy, knowledge distribution, and expanding recommendation features using Oden’s turnkey data engine.
- Oden’s Process AI product has significantly improved operator efficiency and line speeds, addressing the labor productivity issue in manufacturing, with high adoption rates and substantial increases in production outputs at customer sites.
PRESS RELEASE — NEW YORK/April 10, 2024 (Newswire.com) — Oden Technologies (“Oden”), the leading data and AI software company servicing the manufacturing industry, announced today the close of a $28.5 million Series B round, led by Nordstjernan Growth. The funding will primarily be used to further accelerate the development of AI products for the manufacturing industry.
New investors in the round include Klarna founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski’s investment company, Flat Capital, Oden customer INX International Ink Co., and Recurring Capital Partners, with participation from almost all existing investors, including Atomico and EQT Ventures. Ebba Lilliehöök, from Nordstjernan Growth, and Anders Berggren, an independent manufacturing executive, will join Oden’s board as part of the round.
Manufacturers such as Sonoco, Southwire, and Viakable have worked with Oden to improve productivity and reduce waste at scale by putting their most complex and useful data to work. The company has doubled recurring revenue year over year for the last two years.
Oden will use the new capital to accelerate the development of AI products that solve pressing manufacturing pain points that have led to an industry wide productivity plateau. Immediate objectives include further improving data accuracy, the capture and distribution of domain knowledge, and expanding recommendation capabilities, all of which are possible due to Oden’s proven, turnkey data engine.
This round of funding comes on the heels of the huge success of Process AI, Oden’s machine-operator centric product. Process AI gives operators the information they need to optimize their runs for cost savings, increased output, or other corporate objectives in real-time through prescriptive process recommendations and predicted outcomes.
These capabilities enable new operators to perform like experienced ones, which solves a major labor productivity challenge caused by an average 50% three-month retention rate for operators, and a time to productivity of more than two years on the line. Operator adoption has been outstanding, with over 80% of runs utilizing the recommendations within enabled lines; which has increased line speeds by more than 40% at some customers.
“The labor and productivity challenges facing manufacturers are existential,” says Willem Sundblad, CEO and co-founder of Oden Technologies. “Operators are the most critical part of the process, but are the most underserved. With our AI applications, we’re able to give the front-line the tools to be the heroes of this industrial revolution.”
Despite turbulent market conditions, Oden has continued to grow. This growth has enabled the company to choose partners that can support the business for the long-term.
“Oden is an exciting and innovative company with a lot of potential in a large market. We are impressed by their work so far and we look forward to supporting Oden long-term” — Torbjörn Folkesson, Head of Nordstjernan Growth.
Oden customer INX International Ink Co. joined this funding round because of the value generated by Oden’s solutions and the company’s vision for the future of manufacturing.
“We learned Oden provides significant value through real time manufacturing data,” said Jim Kochanny, INX chief operating officer. “We are already seeing value and increased performance on the front-line from features related to machine learning and AI.”
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About Oden Technologies
Oden Technologies is the leading provider of AI-driven solutions for manufacturers, transforming billions of complex data points into action for the front-line every day.
Process AI, Oden’s premier software offering, turns inexperienced operators into high performers in one click. With real-time process recommendations and predicted outcomes served directly to operators, Process AI ensures front-line workers have the exact information they need — when they need it — to achieve peak production. Learn more at Oden.io.
