- UWINLOC’s battery-less asset location solution provides a major breakthrough for the Industry & Logistics 4.0
- Latest round of investment will allow UWINLOC to ramp-up its presence in North America and Asia
- UWINLOC solution is now used by more than 30 large companies in 6 countries, including in the United States
- The funds will also boost Industrialization and R&D efforts as UWINLOC expands its offer.
Toulouse, France (April 27th, 2018) – UWINLOC has closed a 4.5M€ funding round that will contribute to accelerate its international growth. The funds will also focus on advancing its unique expertise and develop new disruptive offers to transform businesses.
The startup, founded in 2015, counts over 40 employees today with 50% of its staff focused on R&D. UWINLOC is in the transition phase from successful pilots to large industrial deployments. Today, UWINLOC’s patented solution is targeting the Manufacturing and Logistics sectors, and is about to expand to retail and healthcare. Being the first and unique battery-less technology of its kind, UWINLOC is seeking to change the market paradigm to become the world’s new tracking standard for Industry & Logistics 4.0. The solution is particularly suited for tools management, work in progress monitoring & warehouse dynamic management.
“Digital transformation is a major challenge for all sectors. By supplying our customers with our innovative solution, we love to see them progress towards excellence in their manufacturing and logistics operations. Furthermore, we put a big emphasis on our international development and industrialization. We’re moving forward with deployments in the U.S. along with our first projects in Asia,” says Eric Cariou – CEO and Co-founder.
Elaia Partners, a leading European VC firm specializing in deep tech ventures with global ambition led the round. Three additional funds joined the round: ACE, GALIA Gestion and M-Capital Partners. “We are really pleased with the pool of investors selected. Their mix of expertise, entrepreneurial DNA and financial breadth will contribute to accelerate UWINLOC international development”.
In addition to funding partners, new board members have joined the group this year. “These industry experts, including André Benhamou, were carefully selected to help UWINLOC’s exponential development while focusing on its core value of excellence,” adds Eric Cariou.
Marc Rougier, Partner at Elaia, says “Asset tracking is a major stake of the Industry 4.0 revolution. UWINLOC’s unique and patented battery-less technology will be a game changer, as confirmed by the formidable traction they already generated with clients and prospects form the manufacturing and logistic industries”.
Fabien Rizzi, Investment Director at ACE Management adds “This operation is in line with the plan that we established with Eric and his team in 2017. We’re pleased to welcome new added value partners and to keep on supporting UWINLOC development, especially on aerospace and industrial markets.”
CONTRIBUTORS
Managers: Eric Cariou, Jan Mennekens, Thomas Sangouard
Investors:
- Elaia Partners: Marc Rougier, Alexis Frentz
- ACE Management: Fabien Rizzi, Mathieu Sibra
- GALIA Gestion: Claudia Daugan
- M Capital: Alexandre Scherrer
Advisors:
- Legal (investors): Jones Day (Jean-Gabriel Griboul, Jérémie Noël)
- Finance (investors): 2CFinance (Benjamin Bitton, Jacques Haccoun)
- Legal (company): Vaughan
About ACE Management
ACE Management is an investment management firm which has focused for nearly 25 years on private equity investments in innovative and industrial companies. They manage 3 families of funds accounting for €500M of capital: Aerofund (aerospace), Brienne (Defense and Security) and Atalaya (Maritime). Operating since 2013, Aerofund III (3rd generation of Aerofund funds) has an investment strategy targeting technological growth companies and the consolidation of aerospace companies. http://www.acemanagement.fr/
About ELAIA Partners
Elaia Partners now manages over €250M, invests in high-growth, deep tech startups offering ground-breaking technologies, products and services, from the initial financing rounds through to their emergence as global leaders and supports its best performers to reach a massive scale. For more information: www.elaia.com.
About GALIA Gestion
GALIA Gestion is one of the leading players in regional private equity in South West of France. They provide financing to innovative startups GALIA has raised over €160 million since its creation and is an affiliate of Alliance Entreprendre (Natixis Investment Managers). Based in Bordeaux, they manage a portfolio of 50 companies and invest up to €4 million per operation. Visit: www.galia-gestion.com
About M Capital
M Capital is a rapidly growing private equity firm with over 360 million euros under management. We invest in the development of new technologies in early stage ventures and fast growing mid-size companies across a wide range of industrial and service sectors. The firm typically invests in companies based in France and Europe. M Capital was founded in 2002 and is based out of Toulouse with offices in Paris, Lyon, and Marseilles. For more information visit www.mcapitalpartners.fr