Israeli startup vHive, which has developed a software system to create digital twins of field data in physical assets using drones, has announced the completion of a $25 million financing round that will speed up its planned global expansion. This brings to $36.5 million the amount raised by the company. According to market sources, vHive completed the round at a company valuation of $150 million.
Based in Herzliya Pituah, vHive was founded in 2016 by CEO Yariv Geller and CTO Tomer Daniel. The company's aim was to allow organizations to use drones to gather data from the field so that they could better understand their assets.
Geller told "Globes" "We see growth in the digital twins sector. The meaning of these twins is to connect between the physical world and the digital world in the best way. This is expressed by the fact that we can take a physical object and present it faithfully in a digital way. This field was boosted during the Covid period because it was more difficult for people to physically reach places with their staff. They preferred interaction with a digital asset rather than a physical one."
The financing round was led by US equity firm PSG, together with previous investors Octopus Ventures and Telekom Innovation Pool (TIP), Deutsche Telekom’s strategic investment fund. PSG managing director Ronen Nir has joined vHive’s board of directors.
Geller added, "We raised the money at the exact valuation that we wanted. The company already has a list of significant customers and we are in a growth stage, so we are raising around genuine business activities and less future dreams."
vHive has developed a system that collects the data through an autonomous process using drones and builds 2D and 3D-models of assets like buildings, communications towers and cranes. In the second stage vHive integrated artificial intelligence (AI) and the ability to process and analyze the digital twin to produce business and operational insights, such as savings in expenses and potential new revenue streams.
vHive has 20 employees in Israel and 10 the US and Europe and the new funding will allow expansion to the Asian and African markets. The company plans doubling its work force in Israel to 40 over the next year.
vHive has 20 customers including Deutsche Telekom and Verizon.
Geller said that vHive can take its success and replicate it in other markets such as insurance and renewable energy.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on April 5, 2022.
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