Munich The Munich start-up Kinexon has won Deutsche Telekom and BMW as strategic investors and wants to massively expand its business with industrial automation. “There is a gigantic market potential that we want to develop together,” said Kinexon co-founder Oliver Trinchera of the Handelsblatt.
In its largest round of financing to date, Kinexon has now raised an additional $130 million. The round is led by private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners (THL). The venture capital companies BMW and Telekom are also new investors on board.
Kinexon supplies cloud software in combination with sensors and networked devices that record, optimize and automate processes in production, logistics and sports. The company recently became better known through a partnership with the world football association Fifa for analysis software and smart sensors.
Kinexon chips can be integrated into jerseys, for example. The technology then provides coaches and broadcasters with real-time information using analytics software. In this way, they could then receive information about the routes of the players, for example.
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A new match ball with a built-in chip from Kinexon will also be used in the Portuguese soccer league from May. The sensor transmits data about shot speed, pass paths and flight altitude. The start-up’s customers also include football clubs such as Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig and numerous clubs in the US professional leagues NFL and NBA.
>> Read also: digitalization of football: Fifa cooperates with German start-up Kinexon
But Kinexon’s industrial segment is even larger. On the one hand, sensors can also be used here. For example, it can be determined in a production where a forklift is located, and robots and driverless transport vehicles can be controlled.
Most importantly, the company has developed a cloud-based “Internet of Things” operating system. All machines and things that move can be connected to it.
The production can be displayed and optimized in a so-called digital twin. Microservices and easily programmable apps make it possible to visualize, optimize and automate the processes.
The production can be displayed and optimized in a so-called digital twin
(Photo: Kinexon)
Kinexon is thus competing in some areas against industrial automation companies such as Siemens with its Mindsphere platform, Bosch IoT or PTC Thingworx. “The smartest ecosystem will win,” says Kinexion co-founder Oliver Trinchera.
BMW and Telekom are already cooperating with Kinexon
Like Continental, for example, BMW has been a customer and development partner of the company for a long time. The carmaker has established the system as a standard in all of its factories. “With our stake in Kinexon, we are now intensifying our long-standing and well-established partnership,” said BMW Board Member for Production Milan Nedeljković. Kinexon forms “the backbone for the complete digitization of production”. Together they want to “set new standards in digital production control”.
Kinexon also already had cooperations with Telekom. In Corona times, an anti-Covid bracelet was jointly developed that controlled the distance during sports or at work. There are also numerous possibilities for cooperation in the factory halls when it comes to automation.
“Deutsche Telekom’s strategic investment in Kinexon strengthens the IoT partnership between our two companies,” said Dennis Nikles, who leads Telekom’s Internet of Things (IoT) applications business. The 5G competencies of the Dax group in particular opened up new development opportunities.
>> Read also: RAG Foundation forms robot network: United Robotics takes over “Pepper”
Kinexon, which was founded by Trinchera and Alexander Hüttenbrink in 2012, has always been considered one of the most promising German start-ups. In a financing round in 2018, the company was already valued at a three-digit million amount – at that time, sales were just in the single-digit million range.
According to industry estimates, Kinexon is now heading for three-digit million sales. “We are growing very strongly in both the sports and industrial sectors,” says Trinchera simply.
Your company Kinexion has always been considered one of the most promising German start-ups.
(Photo: Kinexon)
In the new round of financing, the investor THL is investing in Kinexon via its automation fund. According to its own statements, it is the first private equity fund to specialize in automation-related companies. Michael Kaczmarek and Jim Carlisle will join the Kinexon Board of Directors for THL. Ex-BMW board member Carl-Peter Forster and Michael Suess, President of the Oerlikon Board of Directors, are already sitting there.
Michael K. Kaczmarek, Managing Director at THL, said, “Our investment will help ensure the company’s ability to scale the business globally and meet the demand for intelligent automation solutions from both industrial companies and sports.” Kinexon is an “innovative company with enormous global market potential”.
Experts predict high growth rates
With the proceeds from the financing round, Kinexon intends to accelerate the development of its automation technology and to drive expansion in North America and Europe. “We have the opportunity to form a leading global player in industrial automation from Germany,” said Trinchera.
Experts predict high growth rates in the industrial automation market for the coming years. According to the analysts from Mordor Intelligence, for example, the area with the corresponding software is likely to grow by more than eight percent a year on average until 2026. According to a survey by the IT association Bitkom, 43 percent of German companies are already using an IoT platform in production. 32 percent plan to do so – the proportion has increased during the pandemic.
This is also due to the fact that companies are increasingly thinking about bringing production closer to home again in view of the interrupted supply chains in Corona times and the global upheavals. “Due to the high personnel costs and the shortage of skilled workers,” says Trinchera, “this is only possible with greater automation.”
This is also a key lever for more sustainability. “Our customers are already replacing tons of paper with e-paper displays and apps for automated material flow. Printers and paper are a thing of the past,” says Trinchera.
Kinexon now wants to set production standards together with BMW. It wants to remain independent. “Our mission is not yet complete,” says Kinexon co-founder Alexander Hüttenbrink.
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