Tuning in to the language of machines — Tractian’s vision for transforming industrial maintenance
By Debjit Mukerji, Partner, Next47
Machines can talk. In their unique mixed language of vibration, temperature and electrical signals, motors, compressors, pumps, and gearboxes can reveal insights about their instantaneous state and convey signs about their future behavior. Their vernacular is universal; these physical assets are widespread in industrial and enterprise facilities around the world.
As machines communicate their stories, advances in software and hardware enable us to understand them better than ever before. Unprecedented volumes of time-series data, usually sampled at high frequency, can be collected via smart connected sensors. These streams can be signal-processed and run through AI algorithms to correlate detected patterns with known machine states and operating events. The translation of machine signals leads to direct insights into discrete high-alert modes such as misalignments, stresses, internal damage, and resonance; and over time, comprehensive asset health. This intelligence empowers maintenance teams to optimize the care and replacement of their equipment — preventing unplanned failures and downtime, boosting efficiency, and enhancing safety.
To date, this type of sophisticated real-time assessment — the underpinnings of condition monitoring and predictive maintenance — has been reserved for large enterprises with expansive maintenance budgets. While sensor instrumentation and diagnostics are common on expensive primary machines valued at $100,000 or more, smaller high-priority assets remain dark.
Startups have attempted to democratize digital monitoring but struggled. Despite advances in sensing, compute and connectivity, hardware has remained prohibitively expensive. The seemingly mundane challenges of on-site installation — securing IT access, setting up power and cabling, dialing in optimal mounting and more — have emerged as bottlenecks. And on the backend interpretation front, many companies fall short on algorithm accuracy or recruit expensive engineers to perform bespoke signal interpretation in customer support functions, which has not proven scalable.
At Next47 we have been following the continuous machine monitoring space for years, meeting outstanding teams and reviewing incredible technology along the way. But we felt the code had yet to be cracked on high performance monitoring-and-analytics at a price point attractive enough to unlock the underserved medium enterprise opportunity.
Enter Tractian. The company serves the most fundamental needs of maintenance teams with elegant but robust solutions. Its sensor suite is plug-and-play with customer self-installation — no third parties needed — in as little as 15 minutes. Tractian’s AI-driven analytics software, presented in mobile-first format, delivers deep insights while keeping false alarms — anathema to frontline workers who are constantly triaging — to class-leading minimums. Their recently launched comprehensive CMMS (computerized maintenance management system) allows crews to organize asset and spare parts inventory, generate checklists and record best practices, and coordinate work orders and scheduling. Tractian’s start-to-finish offering promises to be a single pane of glass for daily maintenance operations.
The personal stories of the Tractian founders are also compelling. We first met Igor Marinelli and Gabriel Lameirinhas during their seed financing. Excited by their energy and passion to transform the way machines are managed and serviced — both hail from family backgrounds in maintenance operations — we promised to keep in touch. Several months later, we were amazed. Not only had Igor and Gabriel beaten their revenue targets handily — we initially questioned their projections in part because of global supply chain challenges — but also created products that we hadn’t dreamed of. We noticed something special in how deeply they engaged with customers, innovated around the most urgent needs, and iterated quickly on new ideas.
Today, we at Next47 are thrilled to lead Tractian’s $15 Series A round. We join them at a special moment. At what feels like lightning pace, Tractian has deployed thousands of sensors across a diverse base of nearly 200 customers, mostly in South America. As part of its Series A, the founders are eyeing the global stage. Commercial operations are underway in Mexico with launch planned in the United States later this year.
Tractian’s ambition to take a proven, high-velocity product and sales playbook and translate to new multi-billion-dollar markets has drawn us in. Next47 is excited to team up with Tractian and fuel growth on its ambitious journey — to help its customers tune into their machines and take their operations to a whole new level. It all begins with listening.
