ABB announced the completion of a second strategic investment in U.S.-based technology company Pratexo, an edge-to-cloud software solution provider. The collaboration between both organizations comes as companies continue to shift from centralized cloud-to-edge computing and hybrid edge-to-cloud solutions for better operational technology management.
Financial details of the investment were not disclosed.
ABB’s second investment in Pratexo will see the co-creation of digital solutions that enable the early detection of potential issues, preventing unexpected failures, reducing downtime and extending the lifespan of critical assets. Through this, customers across utilities, industry and infrastructure sectors will be able to better balance energy supply and demand for efficient energy distribution in real-time.
As part of the investment, ABB will now take a full board seat at Pratexo to be held by Eric Deschenes, Head of Global Marketing & Sales for ABB Electrification Service.
Pratexo, a member of the ABB SynerLeap innovation growth hub, was one of three winners of ABB Electrification’s 2022 Startup Challenge, a global competition for innovators to develop pioneering concepts that support the world’s safe, smart and sustainable shift towards electrification.
The partnership is ABB’s seventh follow-on venture capital investment of 2024 in addition to six new deals and helps expand the company’s ecosystem of innovation partners developing solutions that support productivity, efficiency and sustainability. Since its formation in 2009, ABB’s venture capital unit, ABB Ventures, has invested around $450 million into startups that are aligned with its electrification, robotics, automation and motion portfolio.