Syncrowin raises AUD $3 million in oversubscribed round

Syncrowin has raised AUD $3 million in an oversubscribed funding round led by New York-based Collide Capital.

The round also included San Francisco-based Hustle Fund and POV Ventures, Australia's Co-Ventures and Ventari, and private angel investors. The funding will support further development and deployment of its AI operating system in energy and manufacturing, expansion of its technology roadmap, and new hires in Australia and San Francisco.

The Australian industrial AI company develops software for critical infrastructure operators, focusing on energy and manufacturing sites. Its system is designed to help operators improve efficiency, reliability and output in complex industrial environments.

Syncrowin said the deal was three times larger than the median round size for businesses at the same stage in Australia, placing it in the top quartile of raises this year by deal size. It also described the transaction as the largest raise completed by a female Chief Executive Officer founder at this stage in Australia this year.

Aisshwarya Kansakaar, known as Ash, co-founded the business with Jaideep Upadhyay. Their backgrounds span mechatronics, mechanical and industrial systems, and artificial intelligence.

In a statement on the financing, Kansakaar outlined the investment case for the sector.

"The world is spending trillions planning new industrial capacity, but a significant portion of what we need already exists, it's just not running intelligently. That's the opportunity we're going after, and it's why investors who understand infrastructure at scale have backed us," said Aisshwarya Kansakaar, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Syncrowin.

Collide Capital said the founding team's industry experience was a key factor in its decision to invest.

"What drew us to Syncrowin first was the team. Ash and Jai have spent their careers inside the industrial sites and plants they're now trying to transform, and that shows up in how they build. We're excited to lead this round," said Aaron Samuels, Managing Partner, Collide Capital.

Recent milestones

The fundraising follows a series of milestones for the business as it builds its profile in energy and infrastructure technology. Syncrowin won the Initiate Startup Program pitch competition at DTECH in San Diego, competing against 36 US-based startups.

The programme is aimed at early-stage companies tackling problems in energy and infrastructure. Syncrowin said the result reflected both commercial readiness and technical progress.

The company has also been selected for the EnergyLab Scaleup programme from a pool of more than 600 applicants across Europe, Australia and New Zealand. It is also backed by CSIRO and previously received support from the University of Melbourne's MAP Accelerator.

Industrial focus

Syncrowin is based in Melbourne and also has a presence in San Francisco. Its software is deployed across energy and manufacturing operations, where owners and operators are under pressure to improve output from existing assets while managing reliability and cost.

Upadhyay, the company's Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, said the next shift in industry would increasingly centre on software applied to physical systems.

"The last era of industry was defined by deploying physical assets at extraordinary scale. We believe the next will be defined by the intelligence layered across them and over time, that intelligence becomes as fundamental as the assets themselves," said Jaideep Upadhyay, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Syncrowin.