Press release

Canvass Analytics closes $6.5 Million Series A Funding Round Led by Yamaha Motor Ventures

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Yamaha Motor Ventures & Laboratory Silicon Valley, Inc. (Yamaha Motor Ventures), the strategic business development and investment arm of Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. (Tokyo: 7272), today announced it led a USD$6.5 million funding round for Canvass Analytics (Canvass), a global leader in industrial Artificial Intelligence (AI) advanced analytics. Leveraging the $100 million Yamaha Motor Exploratory Fund, the Canvass investment represents Yamaha Motor Ventures’ strategic focus on innovative technologies that work to solve global, societal challenges including increasing efficiency to reduce environmental impact.

Canvass’s vision is to transform manufacturing by empowering the workforce of the future. According to IDC, operational data will increase by 2-3x by 2025, but the MAPI Foundation found that 47% of industrial workforces lacked the digital skills needed to derive value from it. Canvass empowers manufacturers to overcome this challenge by providing a no-code platform that puts the benefits of AI in the hands of operators by simplifying the process of building, training, and scaling applied industrial AI in their day-to-day operations.

The Series A funding round will be used to aggressively expand Canvass’s go-to-market efforts, accelerate product development, and support Canvass’s growing customer base of Fortune Global 2000 companies in North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region.

“By putting AI in the hands of industrial engineers, Canvass is transforming plant operations from being reactive to predictive, which is critical for the future of sustainable and profitable operations. This latest round of funding, led by our new investor Yamaha Motor Ventures, fuels our ambition to be the number one player in AI for industrial operations,” commented Humera Malik, CEO of Canvass Analytics.

The Series A funding round was led by Yamaha Motor Ventures with renewed participation from existing investors Real Ventures, BDC, EDC, and Viaduct Ventures, bringing the total investment in Canvass to $13 million.

“Yamaha Motor Ventures has a passion for identifying advanced technologies that are backed by ambitious teams. Canvass ticks both of these boxes as they seek to help manufacturers overcome decades-long operational challenges with the power of AI,” said Anish Patel, partner and lead of mobility investment for Yamaha Motor Ventures. “The addition of Canvass to our portfolio underpins our vision to create the future of industries. We look forward to working with the Canvass team to scale their technology and bring value to additional sectors and markets.”

Canvass’s AI platform is being utilized by some of the world’s largest industrial process manufacturers and Oil and Gas companies, system integrators and through partnerships with Microsoft and OSIsoft.

About Yamaha Motor Ventures & Laboratory Silicon Valley

Yamaha Motor Ventures & Laboratory Silicon Valley, Inc. (Yamaha Motor Ventures) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. (YMC). Founded in 2015 in support of YMC’s long-term goal to contribute to society through business, Yamaha Motor Ventures manages the Yamaha Motor Exploratory Fund, a USD $100 million investment fund with a 10-year lifecycle focused on seed to Series B investments. Headquartered in the home of innovation, Silicon Valley, Calif., Yamaha Motor Ventures offers a wealth of business development resources to startup companies to drive innovation forward in the fields of mobility, sustainability, robotics, food and agriculture, health and wellness, and aviation. For more information visit www.ymvsv.com.

About Canvass

Canvass Analytics is a leading provider of AI industrial software. Its patent-pending technology enables intelligent industrial operations by putting AI directly in the hands of plant operators – empowering them with data-driven insights to improve production processes and optimize assets. Developed specifically for the industrial sector, Fortune 5000 companies use Canvass AI to optimize production processes, generate new revenue streams, and reduce energy and operating costs. Funded by Alphabet’s Gradient Ventures, Canvass’ customers include leading manufacturing and energy companies globally. For more information, visit www.canvass.io.