Opex Analytics, a Chicago-based artificial intelligence and consulting startup, has been scooped up by an Ann Arbor, Mich., logistics tech company.
Opex, co-founded by Northwestern University adjunct professor Michael Watson in 2013, was acquired for an undisclosed amount by LLamasoft, the companies announced Tuesday. LLamasoft, one of Ann Arbor’s biggest tech employers, makes supply chain and logistics software.
The acquisition allows LLamasoft to use Opex’s AI tech to help supply chain clients identify and analyze problems faster, said LLamasoft CEO Razat Gaurav.
“More and more, we found that customers were looking at how to monetize data, how to gain insights from data and how to create differentiation in how they were making decisions,” Gaurav said. “So we felt the need to really accelerate our AI and machine learning capabilities and … [Opex] really helps us leapfrog in terms of AI, machine learning and data science."
Opex will still operate under its own name and brand, but Gaurav will lead the combined companies, while Watson and his co-founder Ganesh Ramakrishna lead the Opex Analytics business unit within LLamasoft. Gaurav became LLamasoft’s CEO last year after taking over for the company’s co-founder Donald Hicks, who is now chairman of the board.
Besides AI capabilities, the acquisition also gives LLamasoft the ability to have a large Chicago presence and an office to hire new talent.
“Now with Opex, we get access to the Chicago market, where there’s a rich talent pool particularly around data science,” Gaurav said.
Opex, which has been completely bootstrapped, also has large offices in Atlanta and India. Across all its offices, Opex employed more than 140 people before the acquisition. The combined companies now employ about 750 people, Gaurav said.
Since its founding in 2003, LLamasoft has raised about $250 million in venture capital funding and amassed more than 700 clients, including Ikea, General Motors and Caterpillar. Gaurav wouldn’t disclose revenue figures but said the company’s subscription revenue has been growing 35 percent year over year.
Opex isn’t the first startup LLamasoft has acquired. In 2015, LLamasoft acquired South Africa-based Barloworld’s supply chain software division and IBM’s LogicTools supply chain business unit.
“We’re really excited about this,” Gaurav said. “There’s a lot hype around AI and it means different things to different people, but what I love about Opex Analytics is … there’s a practical, pragmatic view of how to apply AI technologies to create value for our customers.”
