Independent research and advisory firm Lux Research positions C3.ai at the top of its list of companies that raised significant funding in 2016. As Lux explains‚ “While total funding may be slowing down‚ the size of the individual rounds is‚ if anything‚ ramping up. Investors threw huge piles of cash at several companies developing innovative technologies centered on devices‚ connectivity‚ applications‚ and analytics – these companies target a wide range of use cases‚ including energy‚ manufacturing‚ commercial buildings‚ and connected products.”
According to Lux:
C3.ai – $70 million Series D / September 2016 – Founded in 2009 by software veteran Thomas Siebel‚ originally focused on application and analytics platforms for energy organizations‚ C3.ai recently rebranded to focus more broadly on the IoT. The firm has developed a platform for connecting sensors‚ IoT devices‚ and enterprise systems to an environment that offers pre-built AI and machine learning applications‚ an application development environment‚ and analytics tools. This round‚ led by TPG Capital‚ brings the firm’s total funding up to $131 million. In addition to attracting this investment‚ C3.ai won some big deals in 2016‚ including enterprise contracts with Engie and the U.S. State Department.
