No-code AI platform for industrial engineers Intelecy has raised $3.5 million to expand development. Designed for plant operators and industrial engineers, Intelecy provides a no-code method to rapidly creating AI models to optimise production processes and reduce waste, energy, emissions, consumption and costs.

The investment round was led by Yara, with participation from GC Rieber, Aidiom, and Investinor.

One of the investors, GC Rieber, is a customer of Intelecy and uses AI to optimise and digitalise the production of nutraceuticals. “Our local factory workers use Intelecy to optimise the production of high-end omega-3 concentrates and to develop critical digital skills as part of the process. Intelecy has enabled us to embrace AI, making the factory smart and production more sustainable. We are very impressed by the ease-of-use of the Intelecy solution”, said Fredrik Harloff, CIO at GC Rieber.

Industry leaders often cite a lack of talent as the critical barrier to adopting AI. Advances in AI represent a huge value-creation potential for the process industry. But many AI projects still fail, with a perceived skills gap in manufacturing often blamed. No-code AI is an approach to side-stepping this skills gap.

“We invest because Intelecy helps solving the skills gap in manufacturing by enabling the existing workforce to use AI”, said Jon Øyvind Eriksen, CEO at Aidiom and the chair of the board at Intelecy.”

“We have received very strong recommendations from Intelecy’s industrial customers. Yara invests in Intelecy since we consider it a strategic priority to participate in the development of AI for the industry”, said Ulf Berg, SVP Portfolio Development in Yara International ASA and chair of the board at Yara Growth Ventures.

“Yara is the world’s leading crop nutrition company and a global provider of environmental and agricultural solutions. We consider the investment from Yara Growth Ventures a great validation of our vision, which is to help factory workers make industrial production more sustainable by optimising production, reducing waste and energy consumption, and eliminating harmful emissions”, said Bertil Helseth, CEO of Intelecy and founder.

“At Investinor, we’re investing in the businesses of tomorrow, and few sectors hold as much promise as artificial intelligence and machine learning. Intelecy stands out in the industrial AI space by offering businesses easily implementable tools for optimising efficiency. Intelecy is well-positioned to meet the growing demand for intelligent and sustainable manufacturing solutions”, said Investment Manager Egil Garberg at Investinor.

The new funding will be used to strengthen marketing, sales, and product development. Erkki Altonen, CEO of Yara Growth Ventures, and Egil Garberg, investment director of Investinor, join the board of directors.