Industrial IoT Startup Seeq Confirms $24 Million Round Led By Saudi Aramco

'Seeq is providing an important improvement in software for customers in process industries to accelerate insights, action, and impact on their production and business outcomes,' a Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures executive says of the industrial IoT analytics startup.

Industrial IoT analytics startup Seeq confirmed that it has raised a $24 million Series B round led by the corporate venture arm of Saudi Aramco, otherwise known as the Saudi Arabian Oil Company.

The Seattle-based startup announced the new financing Tuesday after initially disclosing the round in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in late December, as reported by CRN. As indicated in the filing, the startup said it expects to raise an additional $6 million for the Series B.

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The round was led by Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, with participation from return investors Altira Group, Chevron Technology Ventures and Second Avenue Partners, among others. The startup said it will use the new funding to expand development, sales and marketing resources as well as its international presence.

Seeq's software provides advanced analytics for manufacturing data that companies are already collecting from sensors and machines, giving them the ability to diagnose problems, monitor systems in real time, and predict when systems will fail or require maintenance.

"Seeq is providing an important improvement in software for customers in process industries to accelerate insights, action, and impact on their production and business outcomes," James Sledzik, venture executive at Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, said in a statement. "We are pleased to be leading the effort enabling Seeq’s continued growth."

The startup said the round comes as it has racked up more than 50 channel partners and customers across more than 40 countries, which includes British-Dutch oil and gas giant Royal Dutch Shell PLC as well as pharmaceutical heavyweights Merck and Roche.

"With the backing of [Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures] and our existing investors, Seeq is positioned to continue its rapid growth by addressing market demand for advanced analytics innovation," Steve Sliwa, co-founder and CEO of Seeq, said in a statement.

The startup has also expanded its reach to the cloud through availability on Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure through their respective marketplaces. For on-premises deployments, the startup partners with numerous process automation vendors, including GE, Siemens, Honeywell and OSIsoft.

Seeq previously raised a $23 million Series B funding round in 2018 that was led by the Altira Group, a Denver-based venture capital firm supported by large independent oil and gas operators.

According to a Wall Street Journal story published in early December, Seeq has more than 100 employees across the world. In August, the company was ranked No. 369 on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. The company's 2018 revenue was $3.1 million, a 1,240 percent increase over the previous three years, according to its Inc. 5000 listing.