InferSens, a Machine Learning-based sensor business described as ‘ground-breaking’, has attracted substantial new investment to ‘set it up for success’ in the FM and building services sectors.
RO Capital Partners, the venture capital arm of commercial property specialist, RO Group, recently led the investment round in InferSens, alongside the Oxford Innovation EIS Growth Fund and Bruce Melizan, the former MD of Interserve’s Support Services Division. ROCP’s contribution comprises £309,000 of the total £870,000 raised, which will be used as growth capital and to bring to market the ‘new and unique’ InferSens product – essentially a small sensor device that can be attached to any pipe, which non-invasively monitors the flow and temperature of any liquid. RO Capital Partners said: “The product generates meaningful, live, and easily accessible data at a cost substantially below comparable existing technology. That makes it of real interest to building owners and managers and service-providers who are required to scrutinise the flow of water in properties for Legionella. Historically, checking for Legionella has involved the manual monitoring of water outlets, a laborious, environmentally wasteful process. InferSens offers a significantly more efficient and effective process, with a fixed monthly fee charged per sensor.”
RO Capital Partners says the InferSens product can be deployed on any sized pipe, potentially including national infrastructure,’ providing a clear growth path for the business’. It added: “it neatly intersects Machine Learning, the Internet of Things (IoT) and ‘cleantech’.
Richard Cooper, MD of Oxford Innovation Finance, said: “The Oxford Innovation EIS Growth Fund was delighted to add InferSens to our portfolio. We saw huge potential in the product for both Legionella and future applications, and for a team we believe can deliver the ambitious business plan. The environmental benefits and difference to society this technology can make made it an ideal fit for the fund.”
Investor, Bruce Melizan, commented: “I’m extremely impressed by the InferSens team and their exceptional invention. Huge transformational opportunities are being unleashed by the power of AI and the IoT, and InferSens has grasped the full practical potential and developed a tiny and highly affordable smart sensor which has the power to massively improve the cost, efficiency, and compliance of a vital aspect of day-to-day FM operations - the control of Legionella bacteria in engineered water systems. I am very much looking forward to being a part of InferSens’ exciting journey.”