Developing Machine Monitoring for Smart Factories
In 2016, Northwestern University seniors Akshat Thirani, Phil House, and Sachin Lal wanted to solve problems related to factory machine monitoring in their spare time. Each had backgrounds in manufacturing and computer science. Together they created Amper, a FactoryOS to help factories monitor and manage every aspect of their operations and supply chain.
Amper’s first product is a retrofit sensor system that provides factory managers with insights on how each machine is performing. The solution installs within an hour and leverages algorithms that convert the electrical signals into meaningful machine metrics. By measuring only electricity, the sensor works on any piece of equipment and data is quickly presented on an app. Within the year, the team got accepted to a HAX hardware accelerator program and earned pre-seed capital. They won the 2016 MIT Clean Energy Prize competition’s energy efficiency prize, and received grants from the Northwestern University Sustainability fund. After graduating, they took part in the HAX and Alchemist Accelerators, but returned to Chicago and joined mHUB in late 2017, citing Chicago’s leadership in manufacturing.
Amper’s product is currently in beta with ten customers, two of which are multibillion dollar corporations. They just raised their seed round of funding, led by Slow Ventures and the founders of AppDynamics, Fieldglass, and Mailbox, with Amper's next product launching in February 2018. They were recently a Startup of the Year finalist for the inaugural Fourth Revolution Awards, hosted by mHUB, IMEC, and UI Labs. By the end of the year, the company will have grown to six people.
"The mHUB network we now have access to is invaluable in getting feedback and developing our product."-Akshat Thirani, CEO.
