Irish start-up safety disruptor, Protex AI, has now raised a total of $18m of investment to help launch its product in Europe and the US, led by Notion Capital with participation from Playfair Capital, Elkstone and Firstminute Capital to empower health and safety teams to protect their workforce with AI-powered technology.
Protex AI is an Irish start-up that uses AI technology to give businesses increased visibility of unsafe behaviours in their facilities. Working with blue-chip brands such as leading UK retailer, Marks & Spencer (M&S), Protex AI’s always-on solution is revolutionising how enterprise safety teams make proactive safety decisions. The privacy-preserving AI platform plugs into existing CCTV infrastructure and uses its computer vision technologies to capture unsafe events autonomously and proactively in a variety of settings such as warehouses, manufacturing facilities and ports.
M&S Chairman Archie Norman has welcomed the advancement in safety technology to the franchise saying: “Site safety is critical to our colleagues and Protex AI’s technology brings behavioural visibility to the next level. What we like about the approach is that it uses and interprets real data to enable our teams to adopt a preventative approach reducing risk of injury and keeping our people safe.”
The company has raised $18M in seed and Series-A funding. In addition to lead investment by Notion Capital, several existing and new investors have also participated in this funding round, including firstminute capital and strategic investments from Flexport which recently raised $935 million in a Series E investment round and SCOR Ventures.
Dan Hobbs CEO of Protex AI said “The strategic investment from both Flexport and SCOR Ventures is a clear indicator that there’s a need for technology-based solutions to radically improve safety standards in industry. Protex AI has a compelling proposition to address this need. With the cost of workplace accidents estimated at $171 billion in the US alone due to losses in productivity, insurance, and medical expenses; safety technology is a growing space as companies look to prevent huge losses in costs and time.
“The investment is also a strong endorsement that the technology we’re building at Protex AI is the right solution to revolutionise the way modern safety is practised. I would like to thank our existing shareholders for their support and welcome new investors to our business.”
Ryan Peterson CEO of Flexport said “We’re delighted to back Protex AI and their mission to make every industrial workplace safer. Their unique use of computer vision within existing CCTV systems will save lives.”
Kamil Mieczakowski Principal of Notion Capital said “One of the silver linings of the Covid pandemic has been the increased appreciation for the blue collar workers whose health and safety is now one of the key discussion topics inside the corporate board rooms. Protex are a leader in the proactive safety technology market and have quickly become the go-to platform for the leading enterprises globally wanting to achieve health and safety excellence. The founding team’s deep domain expertise in building computer vision products has already translated into an extraordinary level of traction for a company of their stage and we’re excited to be investing in the business to drive the further development of their platform and to put more resources into marketing, sales and increasing the company’s global footprint.”
Henrik Wetter Sanchez Principal of Playfair Capital said “Protex AI’s product is enabling a generational shift in the industry from reactive to proactive health and safety. This will bring safer, more reliable, and cheaper workplaces to workers and companies around the world, turning EHS teams from cost centres to profit centres.”
Will Thorne, Head of SCOR Ventures said, “Our priority at SCOR Ventures is to build a portfolio of diversified and innovative solutions that control and manage risk”
“Our partnership with Protex helps SCOR’s cedants and specialty insurance clients manage risk in a meaningful and proactive way.”
Alan Merriman Founder of Elkstone said,“Elkstone were fortunate to have had the opportunity to back Dan & Ciaran early on and are delighted to be supporting again in the Series A. Globally, the smart deployment of real time computer vision enabled preventive safety technology is in the very early innings. Protex.AI, aided by the top quality shareholder base they have attracted, has the clear potential to be a global category leader.
