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UtilityAR, which allows technicians and engineers to view real-time information through AR glasses, will use fresh funding to expand the business.
Today (2 December), Irish augmented reality (AR) start-up UtilityAR announced that is has raised €600,000 in seed funding.
The enterprise software company, which offers AR integration solutions to businesses, aims to position itself to compete in the rapidly growing AR industry, which the firm said is currently worth an estimated €13.6bn annually.
Investors in UtilityAR’s seed round include Enterprise Ireland, HBAN and Business Venture Partner (BVP) Investments. The round was led by BVP and HBAN, which contributed a total of €450,000 to the financing, with Enterprise Ireland investing the remaining €150,000.
AR for manufacturing and engineering
The Dublin-based start-up was founded by Patrick Liddy, Séadna Smallwood and Aidan McDonnell. The platform allows technicians and engineers to view real-time information through AR glasses as they carry out complex procedures, allowing them to work faster or request assistance remotely.
Since founding in 2017, the company already has a number of utility and manufacturing-related clients including Gas Networks Ireland, CIX and Gilead, working across Ireland, UK, the Netherlands, Belgium and Israel. There are now six people on the UtilityAR team developing its technology.
With this funding injection, the company plans to expand its product offerings and grow its user base, with the hopes of taking advantage of the growing level of investment in the AR sector.
Commenting on the funding, Liddy said: “We’re delighted to receive this support from our investors Enterprise Ireland, BVP and HBAN as we seek to position ourselves in the rapidly growing market of AR. We now begin the work of refining our product and offerings on our mission to transform how businesses benefit from this groundbreaking technology.”
Elliott Griffin, director of BVP, added: “The team has already demonstrated its new technology to be a success with several high-end customer applications. We look forward to continuing to work with Patrick and his team.”
