AROUND THE NETWORK: Blackhorn Ventures Leads the $10M Series A Funding for Datch: Empowering the Industrial Workforce Through Voice and AI

- Posted on

Longtime BuiltWorlds member Blackhorn Ventures recently announced their latest investment in Voice AI startup Datch, with participation from existing investors Blue Bear Capital and Stage Venture Partners and joining existing investors Boeing HorizonX, Predictive Venture Partners, Lorimer Ventures, Forum Ventures, Rannapo Partners, Icehouse Ventures, Right Side Capital Management, and Plug and Play Tech Center. Using a highly adaptable artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP) engine to allow field employees to complete workflows and capture field observations in real-time using voice, Datch offers on-the-fly data collection for industrial workers across utilities, energy, manufacturing, mining and aviation.

With this investment, Blackhorn is further deepening their commitment to companies making groundbreaking developments in resource optimization and efficiency. Datch allows frontline workers to speed up their processes by 90%, and is adaptive across an array of workflows, from maintenance management through to safety, quality, operations, and business intelligence. Using simple integrations to connect to existing in-house systems, Datch identifies and obtains high-quality, structured knowledge data, driving higher uptime, increased productivity and top line revenue for an industrial workforce under increasing pressure.

The Problem

In today’s industrial environment, deskless workers use outdated technology (pen and paper for most & laptop terminals for the lucky few) to collect data – and as a result, the quality of data captured by frontline workers can be low-quality, inaccurate, quickly outdated and unactionable. Companies are faced with day-to-day challenges related to the lack of structured data (Accenture estimates that ~80% of enterprise data is unstructured) which inherently limit broader AI adoption. In an attempt to solve for this, frontline workforces are being asked to become digital workers, but they lack the requisite time and skills to keep up with these demands. Deskless workers make up 80% of the world’s workforce, and need digital solutions that enhance data collection without disrupting their hands-on, day-to-day work.

The Solution

Datch has built an AI voice interface that allows workers to talk through their jobs conversationally and in real-time, while structuring and routing that information to their system records. The Datch platform is powered by a highly adaptable natural language processing (NLP) engine. This provides frontline workers with a digital workspace that allows them to capture and transmit information securely and syndicate it appropriately for the highest and best use case. Using Datch’s platform, deskless workers who typically spend 1-2 hours per day on digital processes can reduce that time spent by 75-90%. Teams using Datch’s optimized voice user experience (VUX) are able to capture 180-400% more data, meaning more detail and clarity in reports.

Blackhorn Ventures will have two representatives speaking at next month’s BuiltWorlds Americas Summit. Ray Levitt, Operating Partner, will lead a panel on the importance of sustainability metrics and reporting methods. His colleague and Managing Partner at Blackhorn Ventures, Melissa Cheong, will also be on the panel to provide perspectives meant to give companies a better understanding of the criteria that venture funds leverage during evaluations.

ABOUT AROUND THE NETWORK BRIEFS:

BuiltWorlds “Around the Network” Briefings offer BuiltWorlds Members an opportunity to keep the Community informed of their own initiatives, resource offerings, and other things they are excited to share about or collaborate around. We generally pull these posts as “highlights” from Member Company Pages, Innovation Exchange Posts, and other places our members share with us what they are up to.

ABOUT BUILTWORLDS:

BuiltWorlds is the buildings and infrastructure industry’s leading professional network for open innovation, keeping companies in the worlds of engineering, construction and related fields informed and connected, and helping them find avenues to collaborate for their own strategic success and for the betterment of the industry, as whole. For more information about BuiltWorlds, visit the BuiltWorlds Network  or sign up for the BuiltWorlds Newsletter to stay connected to the Community for free.