The Engineering and Construction (E&C) industry sits on large pools of data and the volume and velocity of construction data is expanding rapidly – through digitized planning and design, embedded sensors, visual imagery and project control systems. Unfortunately, the vast and varied volume of data is often in disparate systems and siloed among different stakeholders.
Uptake, a predictive analytics software company founded in 2014 by Groupon co-founders Brad Keywell and Eric Lefkofsky in Chicago, set out to help its clients harness this data. It provides predictive analytics solutions for fixed and mobile assets, covering industries including rail, mining, aviation, agriculture, energy and construction, increasing equipment efficiency and develop new service offerings.
We are choosing to be disruptive with an industrial partner who has a strong edge, rather than disrupt the old-fashioned way from the outside.
Brad Keywell, co-founder and CEO
Uptake’s unique business model revolves around strategic partnerships with leading industrial companies, in order to access large data sources, industry expertise and installed base. Uptake leverages strategic partners’ expertise to identify industry challenges and develop relevant solutions. Solutions that address partners’ specific pain points and enable new data-driven business models and revenue sources. This industry partnership approach to building software.
The functioning of its platform can be divided into three steps:
- Data ingestion and integration: Data inputs from disparate data systems (SAP, CAD, weather, geography, etc.) are screened, harmonized into a common language and fed into the platform
- Data analysis: The common language enables real-time analysis and rapid iterations to generate insights
- Workflow integration: The actionable insights are translated back into the initial system language and integrated into workflows – for example alerting equipment operators
Uptake’s platform is OEM-agnostic and built on a single code base to integrates insights across different industries – for instance learning from mining and agriculture for construction. Using machine-learning algorithm the platform is continuously improved.
E&C companies benefit from increasing efficiency and extending the working life of their equipment through real-time performance monitoring, improved maintenance cycles or forecasting disruptions. Looking at the huge potential of its software solution, it comes as no surprise that Forbes Magazine ranked the company as 2015 hottest startup and investors now value Uptake at more than $2 billion, the fastest ever to that valuation according to Pitchbook.
Read the full case study to learn more about their value proposition to the construction industry as well as how they managed to overcome initial resistance by clients, gained access to data and make sense of the diverse data sources.