Chennai, NFAPost: The Chennai Angels (TCA), one of India’s leading angel investment groups, has invested Rs 3 crore in Jidoka, a company involved in automation of visual defects and audio testing, based out of Chennai. A follow-on investment of Rs 3 crore has also been committed for a second tranche, later this year.
Jidoka specialises in automating the detection of visual defects and audio testing – processes that are highly subjective by nature across industries such as automotive, packaging, pharmaceuticals, electronics, FMCG and general manufacturing.
After establishing a Product-Market Fit in India across industries, Jidoka will invest funds to enhance their product for international markets and grow to North America and subsequently to Europe.
Jidoka Technologies make the digital transformation journey in quality control seamless for manufacturers by aligning to Industry 4.0. The goal is that manufacturing companies should work smarter, not harder when it comes to inspection activities. In other words, manufacturing companies should use their expertise to manage exceptions and not waste it on mundane repetitive tasks.
Jidoka Technologies Cofounder & CEO Sekar Udayamurthy said the company has been approaching multiple VCs over the last quarter.
“Rather than it being Q&A grilling sessions, TCA have been a partner in our journey of fund raising. They not only helped us position ourselves better with Angel investors but are also starting to help us structure our forward-looking business plan and help us with challenges that we will see in the next stage of growth of the company,” said Jidoka Technologies Cofounder & CEO Sekar Udayamurthy.
He also expressed sincere thanks to TCA and its experienced leadership for their mentorship and commitment.
“We are excited and looking forward to the continued journey with them. We also would like to thank Sathish, Kabita, Sunitha for their thoughtful guidance during the funding process,” said Jidoka Technologies Cofounder & CEO Sekar Udayamurthy.
Cavinkare Pvt Ltd (Lead Investor from TCA) Director and CEO Venkatesh Vijayaraghavan said Jidoka operates in a space that is of critical relevance to most companies today.
“The team has built a good array of technology-based product & services solutions that help achieve benchmark quality in manufacturing. We do believe that they can scale up globally as well. At TCA, we look forward to partnering with them in this progress and help them scale greater heights,” said Cavinkare Pvt Ltd (Lead Investor from TCA) Director and CEO Venkatesh Vijayaraghavan.
Cognizant ex-vice chairman and ex-CEO and Chairman of ICT Academy Lakshmi Narayanan said pursuit of excellence in manufacturing quality, that sets world standards, is the chosen path of many young manufacturing leaders in India.
“Helping them in this process are two innovators, with education from IIT, BITS and Cornell and experience in deep technology applications, through their venture Jidoka. Impeccable quality of delivered products using high speed and accurate Machine vision hardware and software is the future of zero-defect delivery,” said Cognizant ex-vice chairman and ex-CEO and Chairman of ICT Academy Lakshmi Narayanan.
He said Krishna Iyengar, Vinodh Venkatesh and Sekar Udayamurthy believe that automated process rigour with deep tech product inspection alone can deliver safe and secure products to consumers, be it a tablet of medicine or a component in an electric vehicle. A belief that The Chennai Angels are aligned with.
About Jidoka
Jidoka, a principle that advocates “intelligent automation”, is at the heart of the company. The products of Jidoka Technologies – combine artificial intelligence with industrial automation to deliver automation of cognitive inspection of defects in manufacturing. Their solutions enhance quality, efficiency at scale and enable customers to go beyond conventional machine vision and achieve accuracy rates of 99% and more.
The Chennai Angels
The Chennai Angels (TCA, www.thechennaiangels.com) is one of India’s most active angel investing groups. Founded in the year 2007, it is comprised of successful entrepreneurs and business leaders with a track record of starting and scaling large enterprises. Additionally, several seed and venture capital firms hold institutional membership in the group.
Though it is located in Chennai, TCA’s investing members and portfolio investments are not limited by geography. Unusually for an angel investing group, TCA has a diversified portfolio that goes well beyond a restrictive tech focus, reflecting the diversity of its members’ interests. TCA portfolio companies benefit from the collective expertise and rolodex of its members.
