Upskill closes in on $17.2M from investors

Upskill has announces that it has raised $17.2 million in new capital to support increased growth and product development. The funding round adds new investors including Accenture and Cisco Investments, as well as continued participation from Boeing HorizonX, GE Ventures, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), and other industrial-focused investors.

This latest financing builds on the momentum of the past 12 months for Upskill, where the company grew its multinational client base by more than 300 percent. In addition, last year the company introduced a new release of its flagship Skylight AR platform which added self-service AR workflow creation and data integration features, expanded its ease of use and interoperability with enterprise IT architectures, and helped accelerate adoption to a six-fold increase in usage across its client base.

Upskill’s list of strategic investors, including GE Ventures and Boeing HorizonX, now joined by Accenture and Cisco Investments, points to the increasing importance of AR technology in the market, the connected worker and the Internet of Things ecosystem.

“We saw substantial growth in the last year further amplified by the launch of our new product release. That acceleration is what led our investors to participate in this new funding round,” said Brian Ballard, co-founder and CEO, Upskill. “Upskill’s group of investors now include leaders from all parts of the industrial augmented reality ecosystem, which is an important signal in the market and speaks to how we collectively contribute to digital transformation.”

Upskill and Accenture also announced today the formation of a strategic alliance which will help Accenture further expand the capabilities of the Accenture Extended Reality and Accenture Industry X.0 groups.

The funding round comes as the enterprise AR market heats up, as 2018 is expected to be a pivotal year for the technology. Gartner forecasts “By 2020, augmented reality solutions will be adopted across multiple business functions in 30% of large enterprises as part of their digital transformation.” Related, ABI Research estimates smart glass shipments will grow to 32 million in 2022 with a 171 percent CAGR. 

With the new capital, Upskill is continuing to build its team and worldwide presence to meet the needs of its Global 2000 industrial customer base. The company will also invest in additional product development as the industry continues to evolve and attract companies seeking the full spectrum of AR experiences to drive performance improvements across their operations.