Shepherd Network, a provider of cloud-based analytics platforms and sensor-monitoring services, has completed its Series A funding round.
Earthworm, an investor focused exclusively on sustainable projects, has invested £2m in the business to enable it to grow. This milestone has coincided with the appointment of Stephen Chadwick as its chief executive officer, replacing Will Brocklebank, the company’s founder.
Earthworm supports projects that have a positive social and environmental impact on the world. Its investment portfolio spans sustainable power, waste, food and property projects.
Shepherd Network Ltd is a cloud-based analytics platform which reduces the inefficiency in our built environment by analysing energy usage, asset performance and environmental benchmarks. Through an intelligent alerting and risk scoring system, Shepherd turns data into maintenance actions which reduce losses and breakdowns.
Taking the company forward from its research and development roots to a more commercial organisation has been the mission of Will Brocklebank, who will remain as the company’s executive chairman.
Ben Prior, CEO of Earthworm, said: “The deal with Shepherd is one of our first investments into asset management AI. The Shepherd risk management platform proactively prevents harm to the environment and health from leaks, failures and sub-standard asset performance. It has huge potential as a commercial offering.”
Stephen Chadwick, CEO of Shepherd, said: “When someone comes to you and says: I have a great IoT product, with real machine-learning capability and vast potential, but I need someone to turn this into a successful enterprise – well, you have to jump at the chance.
“For decades now, I’ve worked for huge companies, heavily focused on delivering value for shareholders and managing hundreds of people. To be able to take that enterprise-level experience and match it with a drive to grow something from the ground up, delivering a sophisticated product that really matters, is a rare opportunity. I’m thrilled to be part of the Shepherd journey.”
Shepherd will broaden its sales teams and build on the enterprise relationships it has formed for social housing, insurance, environmental services, hospitality and education clients. This funding will also allow further refinement of its machine-learning capabilities, and an increase in the advanced analytics which detect inefficiencies and predict failures.