Foresight Group (Foresight), an infrastructure and private equity investment manager listed on the London Stock Exchange, and Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE) have made a GBP1 million follow-on investment in INSPHERE Limited.
INSPHERE is a manufacturer of advanced measurement technologies that bridge the gap between metrology and automation, and enable manufacturers to transition to smarter “Industry 4.0” systems.
Measurement technologies currently only check completed parts at the end of the production line. Faults can occur when a robot is not set up correctly or drifts even slightly out of position. The resulting defective parts are either scrapped or require expensive re-work. IONA is a measurement system that monitors and controls the manufacturing process itself, automatically measuring in real-time, rather than simply checking parts after they have been produced. This not only avoids downtime but also reduces waste, improves productivity and ultimately, profitability for manufacturers.
Foresight Williams Technology’s initial investment in July 2019 supported the development of the Company’s IONA product line. Now successfully launched, this additional funding will continue to support the Company to further commercialise IONA and secure more clients.
Stephen Gueorguiev, Investment Director, Foresight, says: “INSPHERE has made excellent progress towards developing the next generation IONA robot monitoring and control system for ‘smart’ factories. With this investment, we’re pleased to be able to support the rollout of IONA into commercial applications.”
Matthew Burke, Head of Technology Ventures, Williams Advanced Engineering, says: “Since our initial investment, Ben and the INSPHERE team have done a great job taking the IONA concept forward to production readiness. This investment demonstrates the continued confidence we have in the team and our belief in the IONA product, which is already generating interest amongst WAE’s partners and customers.”
Ben Adeline, CEO INSPHERE, adds: “We have continued development of the revolutionary IONA system, a scalable network of sensors, which for the first time enables the provision of metrology-grade positional data on automated manufacturing processes. INSPHERE look forward to executing on the “go to market” strategy with the help of this investment round.”
