When Alex Hawkinson was CEO of SmartThings, a consumer connected device company he co-founded and sold to Samsung for about $200 million, he realized that Internet of Things (IoT) technology could potentially solve bigger problems. I kept thinking that maybe it was.
He left SmartThings in 2018 to understand where connected devices can have the greatest impact. He co-founded IoT company BrightAI in 2019 with Nathan Hanks, Douglas Berman, and Robert Parker. When the pandemic hit in 2020, Hawkinson, who is now CEO, said it became clear that infrastructure was where BrightAI's focus should be.
“Experiencing that downtime during the pandemic has forced us to really think about what are the truly critical services that modern life depends on. It's kind of shocking how outdated they are,” Hawkinson told TechCrunch.
Solving critical infrastructure problems using connected devices was the foundation for BrightAI. Hawkinson described BrightAI today as a “physical AI” company. BrightAI provides an end-to-end technology platform that enables enterprises to monitor physical assets using sensors. BrightAI's sensors constantly feed data to AI algorithms that process it, helping to catch and predict potential problems before they occur.
For example, pest control company Pelsis uses BrightAI's sensors to remotely monitor light traps installed at food and pharmaceutical production facilities. BrightAI can identify and alert Pelsis when its light traps capture new pest species in between manual inspections, allowing Pelsis to deploy necessary treatments sooner.
“Even when there's no one around, you're always leaving an inspector out there,” Hawkinson said. “This gives us real-time visibility into our sites and assets. You're always there, collecting data that humans have never done before. [you] Use AI to see those patterns and actually move from being reactive to being proactive. ”
BrightAI launched its platform in stealth in 2023. We currently have seven large enterprise customers across six industries, including HVAC, waste management, and power. To date, the company has deployed more than 250,000 sensors and reached $80 million in revenue, without raising external capital and maintaining stealth mode.
The company is coming out of stealth today, having just raised a $15 million seed round fully funded by Upfront Ventures. Hawkinson said he decided to accept venture funding now because he needed capital for the next level of growth. He added that BrightAI has more customer interest than it can currently accommodate.
BrightAI's seed round funding will be used to expand the company's technology capabilities. Hawkinson said he wants BrightAI's technology to be able to use data collected by sensors to help field workers be better informed on how to solve problems.
There are a number of startups taking a similar approach to AI and sensor technology that are more vertical than BrightAI. Sensorita is a Norwegian startup that uses sensors and AI to help monitor and manage construction waste. WaveLogix is another company that uses sensors to test the strength and health of concrete. Hawkinson acknowledged that they could probably move faster by building in one vertical, but added that they didn't want to limit the overall addressable market.
“By limiting ourselves to one area, we felt like there was still a lot of untapped potential,” Hawkinson says. “So for me, it's not about moving quickly or anything, it's just about building a great business. That's kind of how we can maximize the impact that we can have on the world.”
BrightAI's technology can also help companies improve accuracy, Hawkinson added. Rather than having to spray solutions everywhere, pest control companies can use BrightAI's sensor data to become more targeted. If water companies already know which pipes need maintenance, they don't need to send out as many trucks with employees to monitor pipes.
“This is a beautiful thing because it frees up productivity, it frees up capital efficiency, and it makes the services that we depend on even better,” Hawkinson said. “We'll be able to reach even more. But it's also really cool to do it in a way that reduces waste significantly.”