IntelliSense.io (Cambridge, England) and BASF Venture Capital GmbH (BVC; Ludwigshafen, Germany) today announced that BVC is leading a strategic investment round in IntelliSense.io with follow-on participation from a group of U.K.-based technology angel investors, including Steve Garnett and Stephen Kelly. IntelliSense.io is a leading provider of artificial intelligence (AI)-based solutions for the global mining industry. Its customers include mining majors and diversified mining groups.
To extract metals from the mined ores, mining companies must overcome two main challenges: First, today’s known ore deposits are increasingly difficult to mine, with declining ore grades and greater environmental challenges. Second, the composition of the orebody is not known with high accuracy. This variability impacts operational conditions and control, as well as plant performance and throughput. This is where IntelliSense.io’s technology comes in.
IntelliSense.io has combined the disciplines of mining expertise with software engineering and data science, enabling products to be designed by industry experts for end-users in the mining industry. The result is a unified technology platform, including a portfolio of process optimization applications spanning the entire mining value chain, from the mine to the plant and the markets. This is unique in the industry due to its breadth, scope and scale and it helps mining operations to become more efficient, sustainable and safe with accelerated value delivery. The platform also includes built-in simulation tools that can be used to test alternative operating conditions, train staff and run non-intrusive “what if” scenarios.
BASF has a broad portfolio of mineral processing chemicals and technologies to improve process efficiencies and aid the economic extraction of valuable resources while offering global technical support to mining customers. In addition to the investment by BASF Venture Capital, BASF Mining Solutions has entered into an exclusive partnership with IntelliSense.io, bringing together their expertise in mineral processing, ore beneficiation chemistry and industrial artificial intelligence technology. The joint offering is called “BASF Intelligent Mine powered by IntelliSense.io” and delivers artificial intelligence solutions embedded with BASF mineral processing and chemical expertise.
“The world is becoming increasingly digital and artificial intelligence can make a vital contribution in many areas,” says Markus Solibieda, managing director of BASF Venture Capital. “The IntelliSense.io team offers a flexible and future-proof system which can help to optimize the metal lifecycle from extraction to processing to disposal. We believe in the IntelliSense.io team and the potential of this technology, and we are happy to support the further development and distribution of this innovative solution with our investment.”
Sam G. Bose, founder and CEO of IntelliSense.io, comments: “Our fast-establishing leadership in industrial AI is driven by vertical industry-specific applications that require partnerships combining decades of industrial experience with emerging technologies. In the BASF group we are humbled to have found such a partner. We are delighted to have BVC’s support in building a category-leading industrial AI company and the capital raised will be deployed to increase our applications portfolio and support distribution capacity globally.”