The startup has created the first DataOps solution purpose-built for industrial environments.

HighByte, an industrial software company based in Portland, Maine, closed on its pre-seed round funded by angel investors and early-stage venture capitalists. Investors included Maine Venture Fund and Momenta Ventures. (Yahoo! Finance)

HighByte raised a total of $ 875,000 comprising $ 625,000 in convertible debt and a long-term, low-interest loan of $ 250,000 from Maine Technology Institute (MTI).

MTI previously awarded the start-up a grant of $ 100,000. Also, the start-up received founder contributions.

DataOps solution

HighByte designs industrial software falling in the category of DataOps solutions. The start-up recognized the problem that industrial establishments had enormous amounts of data but were unable to use it efficiently.

“The data is in the wrong place; it is in the wrong format; it has no context, and it lacks consistency, observes Tony Paine, Co-Founder & CEO of HighByte.

The HighByte Intelligence Hub has been developed to solve such data integration, as well as security problems. Through beta development, the company identified various application goals for its software:

• Data preparation for subsequent analysis – standardize, normalize and contextualize the data from disparate sources
• Achieve a multi-plant view – consolidate key information from various plants for a birds-eye view
• Streamline data for onward integration into new systems
• Reduce cloud storage costs
• Make machines smarter by generating data in the format required by the customer

The new field of Operations Technology (OT) has benefited from the company’s launch in January 2020 of its HighByte Intelligence Hub version 1.0 for general availability.

The redefinition of collaboration between OT and IT

“It is the first DataOps solution purpose-built for industrial environments,” the company said in a statement. “HighByte Intelligence Hub enables Operations Technology (OT) to securely connect, model, and flow valuable industrial data throughout the enterprise, providing the critical data infrastructure for Industry 4.0.”

“We are hyper-focused on accelerating digital industry disrupters,” said Ken Forster, Momenta’s Executive Director. “We’re investing in HighByte because we believe the company will help redefine collaboration between OT and IT and bring about the digitalization of traditional operating technology systems. The founders have an intimate knowledge of industrial data from their time at Kepware and have a proven ability to operationalize.”

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