SmartUQ Raises $1.8M For Simulation Analytics tool
Jeff Engel
December 17, 2014
SmartUQ, a Madison, WI-primarily based startup that has developed tool to hurry up the design of quite a lot of products, has raised nearly $ 1.8 million in seed funding, in step with a new submitting with the SEC. the money comes from 21 Wisconsin buyers, most of them folks, in step with the file and the corporate. SmartUQ, previously known as Metamodeling Analytics, used to be based this yr by means of Peter Qian, a college of Wisconsin-Madison facts professor. the corporate’s tool performs what Qian calls “simulation analytics.” basically, it may well impulsively run complex tests with more than one variables for patrons that want assist designing products or making business selections. The device might allow an automaker, for example, to fast—in seconds or minutes—run simulations to better edition a brand new phase, or may lend a hand an architect predict the energy consumption of a proposed constructing with the aid of modeling the thermodynamics, Qian says. “Simulation can be time-ingesting and very costly,” along with now not at all times being correct, Qian says of existing methods. but SmartUQ’s instrument can competently run those sorts of tests quick and inexpensively, while also including a layer of analytics, he says. In February, SmartUQ used to be selected as a recipient for a brand new program that offers six Wisconsin startups and established companies get right of entry to to the nonprofit Milwaukee Institute’s excessive-performance computing and knowledge storage tools, along with a grant of between $ 10,000 and $ 50,000 each. the program was once funded by way of $ 250,000 each and every from the Wisconsin financial development Corp. (WEDC) and Milwaukee private fairness firm Mason Wells. four months later, SmartUQ participated in the inaugural Madworks accelerator application in Madison, also backed with the aid of WEDC, which provided collaborating companies a provide of up to $ 10,000, 10 weeks of mentorship and training, place of job area, and get right of entry to to services like image design and felony tips. regardless of some early validation of its thought, SmartUQ remains to be a young company with lots to prove. It has “multiple customers” at this time, Qian says, but subsequent 12 months he needs to grow the number of customers world wide. The startup should also convince doable customers across a vast group of sectors, from aerospace to pharmaceuticals, that its tool might be helpful for them. The seed cash must provide SmartUQ with a lift as it tackles these goals. the company presently employs eight folks, Qian says, and he intends to hire some other three or 4 within the near future. the money may even go towards gross sales and marketing and further developing SmartUQ’s tool, Qian says.
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