Chicago -- April 16, 2018
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Chicago-based artificial technology company Uptake announced Monday that it has acquired Asset Performance Technologies, the Albuquerque-based technology company that provides industrial customers like power plants and oil companies with machine failure data.
Founded in 2004, Asset Performance Technologies has built a comprehensive library of equipment failure data, which companies in power, petrochemical, oil and gas, steel and other industries use to develop preventive machine maintenance strategies. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. This is Uptake’s second acquisition; it acquired Canadian software company CanAm in 2016.
Uptake, led by Groupon co-founder Brad Keywell, launched in 2014 and has become one of Chicago’s fastest-growing startups. Uptake, which uses predictive analytics to help companies know when their machines are likely to break down, has raised around $230 million to date and is valued at more than $2 billion.
APT’s six employees, including the company’s co-founders David Worledge and Glenn Hinchcliffe, are joining Uptake.
APT has repeatedly been an Albuquerque Business First Fastest-Growing Companies honoree and in December was an inaugural Fast Tech finalist. The company's revenue grew nearly 90 percent from 2014 to 2016, according to Business First's Fastest-Growing Companies ranking.
The company said its biggest challenge when it came to rapid growth was training customers.
APT CEO Mark Benak went to Stanford, served on the board of the Sandia Foundation and is part of the family that owns Los Poblanos.
"Adding AI is the natural next step in the evolution of our technology," said Benak, in a statement. "We look forward to working with Uptake to help our customers achieve new levels of operating efficiency and safely managing risk."
Uptake said the acquisition will allow it to expand its customer base, particularly in power, oil and gas and chemical industries. APT’s customers include US Steel, SABIC IP, Suncor Energy and the Palo Verde nuclear plant in Arizona.
APT’s library of machine fail data has information on nearly 800 equipment types and is used in a range of products in the market today. Meridium, which is owned by GE Digital, uses the data as part of its software suite.