One of Chicago's fastest growing startups just got a $40 million boost from Steve Case and Ted Leonsis' VC firm Revolution Growth.
Uptake, a predictive analytics startup founded by Groupon founders Brad Keywell and Eric Lefkofsky, announced Wednesday that it has raised $40 million from Revolution. Uptake, which is one of a handful of Illinois unicorn companies valued at $1 billion or more, previously raised a $45 million round from GreatPoint Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, Caterpillar and Lightbank.
The new round of investment now values Uptake at $2 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.
As part of the investment, Leonsis--a Revolution co-founder and the owner of several professional DC sports teams--will join Uptake’s board of directors.
“Uptake is partnering with iconic industrial companies that have yet to fully integrate data analytics to improve business operations,” Leonsis said in a statement. “This type of revolutionary data science will create real value for industrial companies by helping them monetize their data, improve safety and more.”
Uptake was founded in 2014 and began working with Caterpillar to use machine learning and predictive analytics to help the construction giant know when machines would fail before that actually broke down. Uptake has expanded its platform into industries like mining, rail, energy, aviation and retail, the company said.
For example, similar to construction, Uptake's technology works with locomotive companies by predicting and preventing major system failures.
“Uptake has created a new category of enterprise software called ‘outcomes as a service’, and by delivering actionable insights, we are committing to results and to positive impact for our customers,” Uptake CEO Brad Keywell said in a statement. “We build products on our platform that create measurable value, and we have eliminated integration challenges that have hindered the traditional approach of selling enterprise software.”
