Chicago startup Uptake has a new CEO as founder Brad Keywell steps down from the top job.
Uptake announced Tuesday that it named Kayne Grau as its chief executive officer, replacing Keywell, who will transition to executive chairman of the board. Grau joined Uptake a year ago as president.
Keywell, a serial Chicago entrepreneur and the co-founder of Groupon, will "remain active in Uptake’s growth," the company said, working to expand customer and partner relationships.
It's not the first time Grau has taken the CEO role of a company Keywell founded. Grau was previously the chief executive at Chicago-based DRIVIN, a car appraisal and auction service he co-founded in 2015 alongside Keywell. DRIVIN was acquired in 2017 for $43 million.
Uptake, a predictive analytics startup for industrial sectors, has seen its fair share of ups and downs since it was founded in 2014. The company has raised more than $200 million in funding, including a $117 million round in 2017 that reportedly valued the business at $2.3 billion. A series of layoffs shrunk its headcount from a height of 800 to 275 when Grau joined the company in the summer of 2020.
But Grau told Chicago Inno that the company is growing again, with the team now over 300 employees. Revenue is also up this year, though he declined to give specific financial details.
Uptake acquired ShookIOT, a Canadian data startup, earlier this year, and it has new deals with companies like PepsiCo, where it's providing predictive maintenance to the company's delivery fleets.
Uptake's technology helps companies predict and prevent machine failure, with analytics that help large companies know when their systems are going to break down. It works with oil and gas, rail, energy, manufacturing and other industries.
Grau said Uptake also has several federal and local government clients, and plans to expand its public-sector work in the future. Uptake also plans to grow its international business; it already has deployments in 20 countries across the world.
"We found a really great sweet spot in what we’re delivering in the industrial intelligence space," Grau said. "The growth potential in 2022 looks great."
