Industrial IoT startup Flutura gets $7.5 mn from Vertex Ventures, others

Bengaluru-based industrial internet of things (IIoT) startup Flutura Decision Sciences and Analytics, run by Flutura Business Solutions Pvt. Ltd, has raised $7.5 million (around Rs 50.2 crore) in funding led by Vertex Ventures.

Lumis Partners as well as existing investor and Big Data startup fund The Hive also put money in the round, the company said in a statement.

The firm will use the funding for expanding geographically, launching products and building its team, it said.

"The industrial sector is at an inflection point where digitalisation is disrupting fundamental process/product design and transforming business models. At Flutura, we are positioned to help our customers thrive in this situation. Having experienced and strategic global partners like Vertex and Lumis will help us focus on our core sectors, energy and engineering," said Krishnan Raman, co-founder and CEO, Flutura.

Flutura was launched in February 2012 by Derick Jose, Raman and Srikanth Muralidhara. The company's flagship software platform, Cerebra, provides diagnostics and prognostics through machine learning and artificial intelligence, to unlock value for engineering and energy customers.

Flutura runs operations in Palo Alto and Houston (the US), Tokyo (Japan) and Bangalore. Its clients include Henkel, Stewart and Stevenson and Sodexo, among others.

"Flutura has demonstrated that it can build world-class technology that is adopted by corporations globally. Its ability to compete and win against global behemoths proves its depth of market understanding and focus on innovation. We are excited to work with Krish, Derick and Srikanth in this bold endeavor," said Ben Mathias, managing director of Vertex Ventures.

Flutura, which was accelerated by Microsoft Ventures in the Hi-Po Scale-up program, has established partnerships with firms including Intel and Hitachi for product and market access support.

In November 2013, the company had raised an undisclosed amount in funding from The Hive.

Vertex Ventures is the venture capital arm of Singapore state investment firm Temasek Holdings. It invests in early-stage IT and healthcare opportunities in China, Silicon Valley, India, Israel, and Southeast Asia. The VC firm has already made investments in FirstCry and Yatra.

In September 2016, Vertex Ventures invested in SaaS-based customer experience management platform CloudCherry in a $6 million Series A funding round alongside Cisco Investments and IDG Ventures India.