Perth-based startup VROC has completed a capital raise, following up from major milestones including growing customer traction internationally and establishing strategic partnerships with global engineering companies.
The investment round was led by Adelaide-based advisory firm, Venture Corporate Advisory.
Established in 2016, VROC works with companies in oil and gas, mining, renewables, agriculture and utilities. The platform is designed to seamlessly integrate with existing infrastructure and to empower Subject Matter Experts with self-service data science capabilities to build AI models without the need for programming or coding experience.
Aiming to tackle the biggest challenges in machine learning adoption, the majority of the funding will be used to strengthen VROC’s business development team to accelerate growth into process heavy industries.
Furthermore, the company will be looking to develop their Smart City/Smart Facilities offering.
Their platform will allow local governments to better view how council assets function, providing insights to help increase sustainability, efficiency and livability (potential uses include waste management, water treatment and usage, building management, smart parking and lighting).
Vital for companies to utilise machine learning
VROC Group CEO and Co-founder Trevor Bloch explained that as automation and big data processing rapidly advances, companies cannot afford to be spending a significant amount of time and money implementing industrial AI.
VROC was established with the guiding principle to help companies utilise machine learning to become truly efficient by seeing their organisation as a whole, looking at their assets holistically, and by breaking down information silos.
On behalf of the investor consortium, Sean Ebert and Simon Tscharke expressed their excitement at the future growth outlook of VROC, seeing the company as a disrupter in the traditional application of AI in industry.
“We believe the recent demand seen from global engineering players and multinational industrial customers for VROC’s predictive AI platform as a significant step forward to take the business into these global markets. We look forward to being a strategic capital partner and supporting the growth of the company on its journey.”