We can exclusively reveal that Shepherd, an IOT startup based in London, has closed a $870,000 Seed.
Part of Founders Factory’s FinTech accelerator supported by Aviva, Shepherd leverages artificial intelligence to predict machine failures and sends out instant alerts identifying what the issue is.
In doing so, Shepherd enables its customers to save money on pre-emptive engineer checks.
Run by founder and CEO Will Brocklebank, Shepherd will use the new funds to supports its expansion across the UK and continue developing its AI tools.
Brocklebank commented on the raise: “After 10 years in building services I saw the opportunity for Shepherd to bring proven technology to deal with some of the challenges the FM industry faces.
“Use of our technology enables facilities management companies to provide a dramatically faster and more effective service at lower cost. For those companies with regulatory monitoring requirements, Shepherd’s low cost maintenance technology can show compliance 24 hours a day as opposed to reliance on infrequent manual checks.”
The startup says it is working with high-end property management service companies, office building maintenance providers and restaurant groups.
Its maintenance technology is also being used by Aviva’s Digital Garage facilities management team to monitor boilers and circulation pumps.
Nick Ayrton, head of Aviva Futures, added: “Shepherd is the data science engine that enables businesses to take existing and new sources of data and use it to avoid interruptions, lost revenue or disruptive repairs. Together Shepherd & Aviva are providing real insurance that helps the bad stuff not happen in the first place.”
Shepherd raised from undisclosed business angels.
Check out our UK tech investment tracker for the latest industry deals.