- SparkCognition, a company that builds AI technology to advance the most important interests of society, announced it closed $100 million in Series C funding
SparkCognition — a company that builds artificial intelligence technology to advance the most important interests of society — announced it closed $100 million in Series C funding led by March Capital Partners. Since launching in 2013, SparkCognition has raised $175 million in total funding. And now SparkCognition is one of the most valuable startups in Texas and one of the most valuable AI startups in the United States.
What does SparkCognition do? The company builds AI technology for industrial applications that are revolutionizing the way industries — such as oil and gas, defense, utilities, aviation, and financial services — manage such critical functions as efficiency and safety. And SparkCognition has partnerships and engagements with top companies across multiple industries, including The Boeing Company, Hitachi High-Technologies, Aker BP, and several others.
Recently, SparkCognition partnered with Boeing to form SkyGrid — which is a joint venture focused on delivering unmanned aircraft system traffic management solutions through the use of AI and blockchain technologies.
The new investors participating in the Series C close included March Capital and Temasek along with Kerogen Digital Solutions (KDS), Hearst Ventures, Dalus Capital, former CEO and Chairman of The Dow Chemical Company Andrew N. Liveris, Sustainable Technology Ventures, Blue Horizon ex Ventures, Paul Achleitner and Ann-Kristin Achleitner, Founders Equity Partners, Richard Garriott de Cayeux and Laetitia Garriott de Cayeux, former Australian Prime Minister and former managing director of Goldman Sachs Australia Malcolm Turnbull.
Existing investors who joined the round include The Boeing Company through its Boeing HorizonX unit, former CEO and Chairman Emeritus of Cisco and current founder and CEO of JC2 Ventures John Chambers, former President of Goldman Sachs John Thornton, MSD Capital (private investment fund of Michael Dell and family), former EVP and Chief Development Officer of Cisco Pankaj Patel, and Alameda Ventures.
“It is very rewarding to gain such distinguished investors who see our long-term commitment to building the future and have chosen to join us on this path,” said Amir Husain, founder and CEO at SparkCognition. “I am very grateful for the company’s success thus far and look forward to accelerating our mission with the support of our investors.”
Ever since SparkCognition launched in 2013, it has been established as a global leader in artificial intelligence solutions. And with a special interest in advancing the science of artificial intelligence, SparkCognition has produced research papers recognized by top conferences in fields like GECCO. And it published a collection of essays that addresses the current and future role of AI in warfare entitled “Hyperwar: Conflict and Competition in the AI Century.”
“In a short few years, SparkCognition has proven itself to be one of the leading industrial AI companies in the world,” added Sumant Mandal, Managing Director and co-founder of March Capital Partners. “We are proud to lead their Series C round, and look forward to working closely with the company to drive its success even further.”
SparkCognition deploys four main products across multiple industries, including DarwinTM (automated model building product), DeepArmor (AI-built cybersecurity solution), SparkPredict (analytics solution), and DeepNLPTM (natural language processing solution). These products are deployed on major assets such as combustion turbines. And it unlocks insights and makes predictions based on historical maintenance data and logs along with protecting companies from even the most advanced cyber threats.
“SparkCognition’s cutting-edge technology has enabled it to solve some of the toughest problems in the world,” explained Brian Schettler, Managing Director at Boeing HorizonX Ventures. “The company has seen incredible growth, and we at HorizonX are happy to continue our support of SparkCognition’s mission.”
Along with its technology development and research, SparkCognition has invested heavily in AI thought leadership, including its in-house magazine called Cognitive Times and its annual AI and future tech summit called Time Machine. Time Machine 2019 brings together leaders from various industries who are building and deploying technology to shape the future. The Time Machine summit will be taking place over two days on November 13 and 14 in Austin, Texas.
