Sixth Sense

One thing is guaranteed as a participant in the Sixth Sense programme: You'll do great things, even after the challenge ends. Check out a selection of our startups' achievements from the last 30 days alone. Top work team 💪 Flexxbotics | RVmagnetics | Augmentir | Dessia Technologies #StartUps #StartUpStories

Following our first case study for #WorldEnvironmentDay on Tuesday, we’re highlighting a second initiative which shows how technology can help us step further towards a circular economy. According to the World Economic Forum, one-fifth of the world’s carbon emissions come from manufacturing and production, so intelligent initiatives are needed if we are serious about reducing the environmental impact of our industry. To do that, sustainability needs to be a strategic priority, not just a box-ticking exercise. An example of a genuinely clever initiative comes from Skanska. They used Hexagon’s Leica BLK2GO handheld scanner technology to begin demolition plans for a 23-story office building in Warsaw. This reality capture technology created a BIM-based inventory and a 3D model of the building. By utilising digital technology in the construction and demolition planning phase, Skanska ensured waste and extra materials were accounted for and used, contributing to the circular manufacturing model. Read the full case study below. #Manufacturing #SustainableManufacturing #Demolition

“We are at a turning point in humanity because there is more awareness of the actual impact we have had on our planet. We are at that moment where we either act now or it will be too late.” 🌍 We couldn't have said it better than Eva Carranza, Head of Sustainability at Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence. Every year, #WorldEnvironmentDay prompts our industry to think about how it can help to solve the sustainability riddle. This week, we’ll be spotlighting two case studies of environmentally-focused initiatives in our sector that have made a real impact. First, is Tragsatec's use of digital twins following the collapse of the Menor Sea in 2016. They had one goal: figure out what led to the region’s decline and propose a plan of action. They created a digital twin of the entire region and used Vadstena, one of Hexagon's technologies, to process and visualise the data to enhance environmental protection of the Campo de Cartagena region. Read more about their approach in the link in the comments. Let us know what you think: Will digital twins play a key role in answering the environmental questions we otherwise aren’t able to? ⬇️ #DigitalTwins #CleanTech #GreenTech

Some awesome news post Cohort 3.

🔍 Last year, VC funding hit a five-year low across sectors, with manufacturing faring better than average but still seeing a decline. Is this the new normal? We recently sat down with Jean-Laurent Pelissier, Managing Director & Head of Enterprise Software at HSBC Innovation Banking UK, to discuss the current fundraising landscape for startups and what to expect in the year ahead. 📈 Read our latest blog in the comments below to hear his perspectives on: How companies can adapt to new valuations, with a focus on efficiency. The role of AI, frontier tech, and climate tech in attracting investors. Strategies for startups to build the right network and secure funding. 💡What trends have you seen in VC funding? Will 2024 be a brighter year for scaling startups? What are the challenges you are facing securing funding? #StartUps #ScaleUps #VCFunding 

Congratulations CASTOR, one of our alumni from Cohort Two, for their recent acceptance into the Google AI Startups Fund. This new $4 million fund by Google is specifically designed to accelerate the growth of promising AI startups, and CASTOR’s inclusion is a testament to their commitment to pushing boundaries and transforming the industry with cutting-edge solutions. We can’t wait to see what’s next on your horizon. 🚀 #SixthSense #AIStartups #Innovation #FutureOfManufacturing

💡 AI: It was the flavour of the summit at #HannoverMesse but it's clear we need to see tangible examples to truly feel its benefits across the industrial tech space. Our cohort three runner-up Acerta provides predictive quality tools that leverage purpose-built AI and ML algorithms to solve production problems. Their solution enables manufacturers to spread attention to quality more evenly throughout the process and support early defect detection. What applications of #AI have you seen recently that will genuinely transform our industry? #Manufacturing #Production 

This month, Head of Sixth Sense Milan Kocic ventured to Washington DC for the VC #StartUp conference hosted by Anzu Partners and HTVD | HIGHTECH VENTURE DAYS. HTVD is a matching program for startups, venture capital investors, and corporates, focusing purely on IP-based, B2B, industrial technologies and hardware. This was HTVD's first conference in the US - check out the view from the event below ⬇️ It offered the chance to connect with other corporate programmes that operate in a similar way to Sixth Sense, including Magna International, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and HENSOLDT Ventures, alongside the startups themselves. It was great to see one of Anzu Partners' portfolio companies and winner of Cohort Two, GelSight, pitching to over 40 VCs and CVCs. The focus of the pitch was how their technology is transforming mobile metrology by providing the ability to measure any material, anywhere. Did you attend? What advice would you give to a startup pitching their idea to VCs for the first time? #HTVD #StartUp #Manufacturing

🚀 Reflecting on some of the highlights from this year’s Hannover Messe.  We sat down with Milan Kocic - Head of Sixth Sense - to get his insights on the event that brought over 130,000 visitors, 4000 companies and 300 startups together to showcase the latest technologies and solutions for a high-performance and sustainable industry. Here are his key takeaways: 🤝 Two of our cohort three startups Zaptic, the winner, and our runner-up Acerta joined us at the Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence booth to present the solutions they developed during our third challenge. This is one of the hidden benefits of participating in our challenges: you get a steady flow of opportunities to spread your message and attract investors. 🧑💻 AI has arrived in Industrial Tech and there was lots of talk of how it will increase productivity and optimise operations. But what tangible applications are we seeing now? Zaptic produced an interesting solution during Sixth Sense challenge three, where #ChatGPT was used to read documents and automatically create workflows that address problems. Clever workarounds like these will be the key to positive outcomes across our industry. 💡 The #StartUp community was strong, and we caught up with RVmagnetics and Rafinex from our third cohort and Threedy GmbH - instant3Dhub from cohort two. They exhibited their unique micro-sensors, AI-assisted topology optimization and industrial 3D solutions respectively. The beauty of Hannover Messe is its ability to provide a platform that connects startups with customers and corporations looking to invest. Stay tuned for more insights over the next few weeks. In the meantime, share your thoughts! What solutions did you see at #HannoverMesse2024 that will impact our industry? #HannoverMesse 

Why do #StartUp incubators drive value for early-stage companies in the manufacturing industry? Tigran Hovhannisyan from RVmagnetics - who was a part of Sixth Sense's third cohort - summed it up nicely in a conversation with Cate Lawrence of Tech.eu last week, when he explained: "[Sixth Sense] allowed us to find and talk to the right people. These people and this accelerated program provided us with an opportunity to find the specific problems that only we can solve. And once we solve it, a whole new market is unlocked." RVmagnetics is a #DeepTech start-up building ground-breaking technologies using its proprietary technology, MicroWires: the world’s smallest passive sensors. Unique technology like this – that catches a range of usually undetectable physical data from inaccessible spaces – is gold dust in the rapidly evolving manufacturing environment, but these highly innovative technologies require a tailored approach to drive scale. We're getting ready to announce our next cohort very soon. What support would you like to see in scaling your business? #Manufacturing #Technology #StartUps