South African Startup, DataProphet Receives $10m Series A round to Scale
DataProphet, a South African startup that utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) to help manufacturers automate their processes, has finished raising its US$10 million Series A round to speed up its international expansion.
When Frans Cronje and Daniel Schwartzkopff, two friends from the University of Cape Town, decided to use their expertise in artificial intelligence to launch their own company, DataProphet was born in 2014.
The company’s AI-as-a-service, DataProphet PRESCRIBE, has grown into an outstanding part of that business, proactive prescribing modifications to a manufacturing plant’s control plans to constantly optimize production without the usual need for expert human analysis.
Back in 2020, the startup revealed that it had raised the first US$6 million of its Series A round from IDC and Norican. Today, it has announced that the round has closed at US$10 million, with additional funding coming from Knife Capital, who initially invested in DataProphet in 2018.
The funding gives DataProphet the resources it needs to continue making improvements to its award-winning industrial AI product suite while enabling focused expansion in particular manufacturing industries and geographical areas. In addition to the Americas, Europe, and Asia, the company’s customer base has already grown, and with new capital, its expansion will be much faster.
“I am thrilled about the ongoing support that Knife Capital has provided to DataProphet. With this additional capital, we will be able to expand quickly into new markets, forge new alliances that support our machine building strategy, and broaden our reach internationally. To capitalize on this momentum, hiring top personnel is a crucial pillar, according to Cronje, CEO of DataProphet.
It is “wonderful,” according to Andrea Böhmert, partner at Knife Capital and executive chair of DataProphet, that the firm is now able to support DataProphet in its quest to become the foremost supplier of effective AI solutions for the manufacturing sector.
In the context of smart manufacturing, manufacturing performance optimization is still in the early stages of implementation. The DataProphet team is top-notch, as evidenced by the third-party recognition it receives, and as such is well-positioned to solidify its position as the industry leader in this quickly expanding field, according to her.
