Parsable raises $40 million to help companies embark on their Industry 4.0 digital transformation journey

About 3 days ago, we reported about Drishti, an artificial intelligence startup, that aims extend factory workers’ capabilities and address the massive massive blind spot for Industry4.0. Industry 4.0, commonly referred to as the fourth industrial revolution, is the new name for the current trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies. It includes cyber-physical systems, the Internet of things, cloud computing and cognitive computing.

One of the giants in the Industry 4.0 space is Parsable. The company provides a Connected Worker platform so employees can collaboratively execute their work using paperless, modern, and digital work instructions on modern mobile devices. In addition to measuring every step and action, employees can raise issues and provide feedback so that every process is quickly analyzed and improved. Today, the company announced it has finalized a $40 million Series C investment round to bring its Connected Worker platform to more global enterprises. The funding is led by Future Fund.

Parsable’s enterprise SaaS platform already powers new agile business processes for some of the world’s industrial giants, including Corteva (formerly Pioneer DowDupont), Ecolab, Schlumberger, Silgan and Shell. The platform, currently used in over 50 countries, combines “drag and drop” process authoring, integrated “consumer-like” collaboration, intuitive enterprise-grade mobile work execution, and a powerful analytics and insights engine. Work can be triggered by other systems or it can be scheduled. Through the platform, users execute sequential processes and collect data inline as they work. Supervisors and managers can measure work and hand-offs, minimize time gaps in execution, eliminate bottlenecks and identify best practices. Additionally, rich collaboration allows work teams to always be connected to both experts and to one another. By collaborating with chat, pictures, video, and group video calls, time delays in executing work are reduced and jobs are done correctly by veterans and new employees alike.

For many years, knowledge workers have had access to applications and business process software to eliminate paper, make them more productive, and optimize work. Yet, deskless workers across all industries continue to be stuck with paper-based workflows where data may never be available for analysis. As work processes move towards continuous optimization with data-driven decision making, data needs to be decision ready for every KPI. Parsable’s Connected Worker platform makes it easy for work teams, in concert with machines, to work effectively together. These “human + machine” teams can deliver their best every time and management can understand what changes need to be made to improve even further.

“We are now seeing an inflection point in how industrial companies approach their work,” said Lawrence Whittle, CEO of Parsable. “For the last 40 years, big batch orders and a focus on massive economies of scale was the norm. Existing enterprise software had aligned with this level of scale and complexity. However, we’re now seeing smart manufacturers pivot to a more agile approach, moving towards smaller batches and rapid production. Enterprise software needs to become mobile first and more agile to meet these changing demands. Smart, empowered and productive workers are the key to maintaining margins and competitiveness for our customers. This new funding will allow us to help many more companies embark on their Industry 4.0 digital transformation. We are the first truly enterprise-class platform that enables the breakthrough performance companies can achieve when humans and machines work in harmony.”

Investor support for growing the footprint of Parsable’s operations to serve more customers was strong, with existing Series B investors taking their full allocation and new Series C investors bullish on the growth of the Connected Worker space.

“Our approach as an investor is to identify a clear theme enabled by technology that is changing large sectors of society,” said Barry Eggers, founder and managing director of Lightspeed Venture Partners as well as Series B and C investor at Parsable. “We identified the digital transformation of industry — both human and machine processes, known as Industry 4.0, as a clearly inevitable societal trend. Parsable has been a standout for us in its ability to grow rapidly and serve a constantly expanding need. We are delighted to support their next phase of growth.”

Existing industrial investors such as Airbus and Saudi Aramco also participated in the round. Additionally, B37 Ventures, a global fund backed by industrial corporations in 60 countries around the world, joined the round.

“B37 invested in Parsable because they provide a path for companies to harness the value of the Connected Worker in an environment where digitized work has become a requirement,” said David Hite, managing partner at B37 Ventures. “In essence, every employee using Parsable is a ‘connected IoT sensor’, ensuring that quality, compliance, and efficiency is built into the work itself.”

Fueled by the market forces of Digital Transformation and Industry 4.0, the “Connected Worker” space is rapidly becoming a recognized software category.

Below is a Parsable infographic of how connected workers drive Industry 4.0