PANDA starts AI-based root cause analysis and identification in industrial production with € 1.3 million seed financing

PANDA detects the error in the production process with the help of Artificial Intelligence and solves the biggest problems in industrial production. With the Plug & Play product DRIFT, PANDA offers an all-in-one system for minimizing plant downtimes and performance deficits in the production process. The High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), Innovationsstarter Fonds Hamburg (IFH) and Business Angels are investing € 1.3 million in the Industrial AI startup. The capital is invested in product development and the expansion of the team.

The 2018 founded Hamburg-based tech startup puts an end to production breakdowns with its software and hardware solution for root cause analysis and identification of manufacturing problems. Michael Welsch, Co-Founder and CEO of PANDA GmbH, explains:

„Automatic modelling of sensor and machine data provides AI-based knowledge acquisition that makes it possible to determine answers to questions in production processes, e.g. under which conditions bubbles occur or when a strip break happens. This knowledge is usually acquired only laboriously over months and years by engineers, which is why the causes of daily production problems are often not understood.”

With PANDA’s system, this information, extracted from terabytes of data and arbitrary information source, is now available in real time. PANDA uses a self-developed open source software framework to address the specific problems of industrial data, such as the presence of different and unlabeled data sources such as images, sensor data and machine information, but also the need for evidence of significance for auditability. With DRIFT, PANDA offers an all-in-one solution consisting of hardware and software including user interface, which covers all steps from data acquisition to AI-based analysis and visualization for the user.

Fabian Hogrebe, High-Tech Gründerfonds, says:

“PANDA’s business model shows how amazingly easy it is to digitize and monitor production processes and that companies do not need to worry about losing control of their own processes. Because they get a tool that can be used even without expert knowledge. We are pleased to contribute together with PANDA to the competitiveness of industrial production.”

“Many startups claim to be industry 4.0 startups, but often do not offer innovative solutions in the meaning of industry 4.0. We are extremely pleased to be able to support a “real” Industrial AI startup, which has been able to prove through well-known pilot projects that its AI technology is a real Smart Factory solution,” adds Stefanie Höhn, Investment Manager at Innovationsstarter Fonds Hamburg.

Hamburg Senator for Economics Michael Westhagemann states:

“The manufacturing industry is one of the most important pillars of the German economy. PANDA provides the necessary technology to strengthen this essential sector. For Hamburg it is a great advantage to be able to support such a promising tech startup in the heart of Hamburg trough IFB Innovationsstarter GmbH.”

About PANDA GmbH
The PANDA GmbH is an Industrial AI startup founded in July 2018, which has its origin at the Helmut-Schmidt-University/ University of the Federal Armed Forces in Hamburg. The 30-person PANDA team has set itself the goal of revolutionizing process optimization with artificial intelligence and contributing to the competitiveness of German industry. Therefore PANDA develops the most modern AI for the data analysis of industrial processes, which makes it possible to find the causes of production problems data-driven. PANDA has already concluded successful POCs with partners from the automotive, food and mechanical engineering industries as well as with plant manufacturers. The product PANDA | DRIFT is scheduled to be launched  in summer 2020. The company already provides its algorithms as open source code.

Contact
PANDA GmbH
Ingo Kaiser
Willy-Brandt-Straße 23
20457 Hamburg
T.: +49 40 808104120
kaiser@panda-technology
www.panda.technology

About Innovationstarter Fonds Hamburg
The Innovationsstarter Fonds Hamburg invests venture capital in young innovative Hamburg companies in order to strengthen the Hamburg start-up scene and contribute to the development of promising companies. The plan provides for open participations in corporations up to a maximum of EUR 1 million. Investors in the fund are equally divided between the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The fund is managed by IFB Innovationsstarter GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hamburgische Investitions- und Förderbank.

Contact
IFB Innovationsstarter GmbH
Stefanie Höhn
Besenbinderhof 31
20097 Hamburg
+49 40 6579805 92
hoehn@innovationsstarter.com
www.innovationsstarter.com

About High-Tech Gründerfonds
The seed investor High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) finances technology startups with growth potential. With a total volume of 895.5 million euros distributed across three funds and an international partner network, the HTGF has supported more than 560 startups since 2005. Its team of experienced investment managers and startup experts supports the young companies with know-how, entrepreneurial spirit and passion. The focus is on high-tech startups in the software, media and Internet sectors as well as hardware, automation, healthcare, chemistry and life sciences. To date, external investors have invested over 2 billion euros in the HTGF portfolio in more than 1,400 subsequent financing rounds. In addition, the fund has successfully sold shares in more than 100 companies.

Investors in the public-private partnership include the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy, KfW Capital, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and the commercial enterprises ALTANA, BASF, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, B. Braun, Robert Bosch, BÜFA, CEWE, Deutsche Post DHL, Dräger, Drillisch AG, EVONIK, EWE AG, FOND OF, Haniel, Hettich, Knauf, Körber, LANXESS, media + more venture Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG, PHOENIX CONTACT, Postbank, QIAGEN, RWE Generation SE, SAP, Schufa, Schwarz Gruppe, STIHL, Thüga, Vector Informatik, WACKER and Wilh. Werhahn KG.

Contact
High-Tech Gründerfonds Management GmbH
Fabian Hogrebe
Schlegelstraße 2
53113 Bonn
+49 228 82300 189
f.hogrebe@htgf.de
www.htgf.de