EthonAI raises 15 million Swiss francs

The start-up EthonAI from Zurich has secured investment of 15 million Swiss francs after closing a Series A financing round. Founded as a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH), the company has developed a platform for digital quality management that functions on the basis of Artificial Intelligence (AI). According to a press release, the financing round was led by Index Ventures, with existing investors including General Catalyst, Earlybird and Founderful all also taking part.

The newly presented Manufacturing Analytics System from EthonAI harnesses the power of AI to offer engineers and managers a “sixth sense” about what is happening on the factory floor. This helps them to uncover defects, identify process inefficiencies, improve quality and reduce waste by as much as 50 percent.

“Manufacturing is at a critical juncture, and companies that fail to adapt with AI risk falling behind. Factories are producing mountains of data and AI is the key to unlocking insights to drive operational excellence”, comments Julian Senoner, CEO of EthonAI, in the press release, before adding: “We’re in the throes of a global rethinking of how manufacturing is done - with digitalization, data and AI at the center. That’s exactly where EthonAI is positioned”.

The Manufacturing Analytics System is a multi-layered platform that brings together all existing data sources in the factory, such as sensor measurements, order information and computer vision images. The MAS creates a real-time picture of what is going on, can analyze the origins of problems and is able to predict what can be done to solve them, as EthonAI explains in the press release. ce/gba