electrification and automation specialist, ABB, is investing in a strategic partnership with Pratexo, an edge-to-cloud acceleration platform company.
The partnership involves a minority investment in Pratexo through ABB’s venture capital unit, ABB Technology Ventures (ATV). Financial details of the investment were not disclosed.
Pratexo’s technology platform supports IoT and artificial intelligence initiatives which demand compute power at the edge. The company’s technology enables the rapid set up of systems that can process huge amounts of data generated by IoT sensors and run advanced analytics in real time close to the location of the device, rather than in the cloud.
ABB’s Electrification Service will leverage Pratexo’s industry-leading, no-code development platform, Pratexo Studio, to accelerate and revolutionise how edge-to-cloud digital solutions are designed for customers, allowing them to make better decisions for future operations.
The collaboration with Pratexo will help ABB’s customers deploy edge-based networks and solution architectures that provide real time insights, with the added benefits of reduced cloud data transfer volumes, improved data privacy and security, and the ability to run even when not connected to the internet.
One example is customised, decentralised software solutions that allow distribution grid operators to manage, monitor and assess electrical systems in real time, identify what could potentially be causing machine faults, and optimise at the most local level to adjust to rapidly changing circumstances such as identifying and responding to changes in power availability and consumption.
Stuart Thompson, president of ABB’s Electrification Service Division, said: “We are in a unique position to support customers in their digital transformation regardless of what stage they are at. Investing in and partnering with innovative startups like Pratexo advances our technological services capabilities to provide enhanced industry 4.0 business outcomes to our customers. With the open technology stack from Pratexo, we can deploy and scale the transition seamlessly, securely and in a bespoke manner.”
Blaine Mathieu, CEO of Pratexo, said: “The last 20 years of IT have been mostly about centralising computing into the cloud. The next 10 will be about balancing that with a hybrid edge-to-cloud approach – doing the right compute at the right place and at the right level. Our close collaboration with ABB will further enable and accelerate that transition.”
Pratexo, a member of the ABB SynerLeap innovation growth hub, was one of three winners of ABB Electrification’s 2022 Startup Challenge, a global competition for innovators to develop pioneering concepts that support the world’s safe, smart and sustainable shift towards electrification.
Mads Moeller, head of ABB Technology Ventures for Electrification, said: “With the increased focus on IT security and privacy, companies are moving away from centralised cloud to edge and micro cloud based IoT solutions to retain resilience, flexibility and scalability.
“This partnership will fast-track the development of software technology for ABB’s customers to perform real-time, causal analysis for electrical faults, allowing for improved operations.”
The partnership is ABB’s sixth venture capital investment of 2023 and helps expand the company’s ecosystem of innovation partners developing solutions that support decarbonisation. Since its formation in 2009, ABB’s venture capital unit ATV has invested around $300 million into startups that are aligned with its electrification, robotics, automation and motion portfolio.
ABB is a technology leader in electrification and automation, enabling a more sustainable and resource efficient future. The company’s solutions connect engineering know-how and software to optimise how things are manufactured, moved, powered and operated. Building on more than 130 years of excellence, ABB’s ~105,000 employees are committed to driving innovations that accelerate industrial transformation. www.abb.com
Pratexo was founded in 2019 based on two decades of experience helping to build some of the most scalable and performant computing systems in the world for organisations including PayPal and NASA. Pratexo’s technology platform supports IoT and artificial intelligence strategies and initiatives which demand compute power at the edge, such as near sensors or cameras placed in remote locations. Ideally suited for industries such as electrification, energy, utilities, defense, and smart buildings/cities, Pratexo uses open and proven technologies to configure the most appropriate architecture for a particular type of edge application.
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