Innogy and Shell Back Predictive Digital Twin Pioneer with $10 Million Investment

Predictive digital twin pioneer, Akselos, has announced the completion of a $10 million financing round led by innogy Ventures, with Shell Ventures as Co-Investor. The new round of financing will be used to help increase the sustainability of critical assets in the energy sector, by empowering predictive maintenance with structural analysis software, big data analytics and machine learning.

Thomas Leurent, Akselos co-founder and CEO, said, “Our technology will not only help maximize efficiency and returns in the oil and gas industry in an increasingly competitive market, but it also has a crucial role to play in accelerating the energy transition. To tackle the many challenges humanity is facing, we need to think beyond incremental innovation and move towards next generation extreme engineering – that’s what Akselos is all about.”

Akselos, spun out from MIT, brings emerging digital tech to the market through an exclusive license with MIT. The technology, over 15 years in the making, was further developed at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. The start-up is based in Lausanne, Switzerland, with offices in the United States and Asia.

The technology simulates exact virtual replicas – or digital twins – of large mechanical assets, using data to create accurate living, learning and predictive twins. It’s the first technology of its kind to be compatible with the IoT and digital solutions such as sensors, big data analytics and machine learning.

The solution, which is 1,000 faster and more accurate than the industry standard when modelling large scale assets, will offer operators real-time access to the condition of the asset from anywhere and at any time, and allow a move towards predictive maintenance.

Already, Akselos is participating in a Joint Industry Project with Shell, the results of which will be available early next year. Peter van Giessel, Investment Director for Shell Ventures said, “Akselos allows us to better monitor the integrity of our most complex assets – be it production vessels or wind turbines. With this technology, engineers can now run analysis almost at the speed of thought. When integrated with real life sensors on the assets, the technology creates a responsive system, enabling cost reduction and enhanced safety.”

Felix Krause, Investment Partner for innogy Ventures said, “Akselos has a fantastic, highly skilled team with extraordinary market understanding. Their unrivalled expertise in simulation technology has led them to commercialize something that has overcome the limitations of the current industry solution.”

In addition to its work with the energy industry, Akselos is currently involved in a number of high-level R&D projects with world-class technology institutes to accelerate the energy transition and space exploration.