Simplifying the process of linking data, simulations, and AI, Quaisr raises $3.1 million

London-based Quaisr has raised $3.1 million in a pre-seed funding round. The ​​Imperial College London and Alan Turing Institute spinout is building the building blocks of digital twins with a particular focus on the heavy industry space. The funding is expected to help the company expand its team size, focusing on business development and engineering positions.

Quaisr’s $3.1 million pre-seed round was led by Crane Venture Partners with Acequia Capital and angel investors including Hybris Founder, Carsten Thoma, and Encord Founder Eric Landau participating.

According to IBM a digital twin is defined as:

“A digital twin is a virtual representation of an object or system that spans its lifecycle, is updated from real-time data, and uses simulation, machine learning and reasoning to help decision making”

While there’s certainly no shortage of companies working on their own flavour of how and where digital twin technologies can best be used, a great number of them are relying on abundant amounts of real-world data to achieve their intended outcome.

However, when you have a look at heavy-industry engineering projects, the aforementioned sources for real-world data can prove difficult if not impossible to find. To harness the potential of digital twins in this realm, today’s modus operandi involves a time-intensive exercise involving multiple teams working on custom scripting, API building, and application deployment. Not exactly the most conducive atmosphere for experimentation and innovation.

Quaisr’s offer is that via its platform, a single engineer can execute this exercise all without the need to upskill.

“Many techniques that have seen universal uptake in tech companies, for example, DevOps and MLOps, are now making their way into the heavy industries where process simulation is critical – manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and consumer goods,” explained Quaisr CEO Lachlan Mason. “We see a SimOps category, combining simulation with operational data, as the natural progression, and Quaisr is pioneering the first set of end-to-end tooling for engineers and research scientists to automate their processes at scale, and in a self-service fashion.”

The company is a member of Boeing-based Aerospace Xelerated's fourth cohort and has most recently announced a partnership with QinetiQ, a UK-based provider of services and solutions to the defense industry that’s aimed at the discovery of new materials.

"Over the previous decade,we have invested in tooling that enables us to deliver cutting-edge innovation. The Quaisr technology brings multiplicative value by empowering our teams to build scalable experiences around these existing tools,” commented QinetiQ’s Lead of Advanced Materials and Devices, Charles Footer.