Steelhead Technologies, a platform for processed-based manufacturers, today announced a $2.2 million seed funding round to expand sales and marketing, technology development and growth of its team.
The seed round includes investment from TIA Ventures and C2 Ventures, among other investors.
Steelhead’s software performs as a plant operating system. The platform modernizes and streamlines production environments through digitization, automation and optimization, while uncovering previously unknown data manufacturers can begin to leverage to drive more efficient processes and profitability. Steelhead’s goal is to improve competitiveness and profits of manufacturing in the U.S.
Jeff Halonen“Today manufacturers are under myriad pressures. From labor turnover, pressure on margins, traceability requirements, and customer service expectations, our customers have provided a roadmap of opportunity for technology in these plants,” said Jeff Halonen, co-founder and CEO of Steelhead Technologies. “From tracking production cost and quality, to training operators, digitizing workflow and paperwork, to automated custom plant reports, we are providing a digital foundation to unlock decades of growth in an ever more digital world with a platform that is flat out easy to use.”
Steelhead serves the surface finishing, heat treatment, and additive manufacturing industries, among others including Anchor Bay Powder Coat, Custom Powder Coating and D&K Powder Coating.
“Steelhead Technologies shows us our strengths and our ability to improve overall efficiencies. It tracks margins for the potential to see millions of dollars per year in profitability,” says Dana Schnepf, owner of D&K Powder Coating. “Not only is the technology powerful, but Steelhead has gone above and beyond to meet our needs, while surpassing our wildest expectations. The relationship we have developed has been instrumental in both teams’ growth and implementation of the program.”
“With U.S. manufacturing productivity growth in decline, and most facilities running on antiquated software and manual processes, Steelhead’s platform provides a powerful tool for managing facility operations, incorporating the latest advances in data science and machine learning, and does so with a consumer-grade user interface mindset,” said Chris Cunningham, founding partner of C2 Ventures, which recently closed its second seed fund, an over-subscribed raise of more than $20 million. “Steelhead’s operator-friendly UI not only dramatically reduces customer onboarding times, it also drives high levels of operator participation, a major deficiency with older MES systems that materially reduced their effectiveness.”
“The manufacturing industry is entering the digital age and Steelhead’s platform is enabling this transition. The company delights customers by meeting their complex needs with highly-intuitive software that drives massive efficiencies, increases profitability and helps them better control and optimize their operations. All this while supporting many of the most essential industries on the planet,” said William Hapworth, partner at TIA Ventures.
Learn more at: https://gosteelhead.com
