The funding came from SFC and Innovate UK, the government’s innovation arm that provides funding and support for organisations commercialising new products and services

Industrial internet of things (IoT) startup FourJaw has raised £1m ($1.27m) in early-stage funding for its hardware and data platform used to monitor manufacturing machines.

The Sheffield-based company, which has been dubbed ‘Fitbit for manufacturers’, provides device-agnostic sensors that plug into factory equipment.

The IoT device connects to the shop-floor Wi-Fi network and then provides machine analytics via a tablet device.

The platform can be applied to a variety of manufacturing equipment without requiring specialist knowledge, the company said. Manufacturing data is stored on the cloud and can be accessed from any device, with the aim to boost productivity in the manufacturing process.

FourJaw’s funding came from early-stage investment firm SFC and Innovate UK, the government’s innovation arm that provides funding and support for organisations commercialising new products and services.

The startup was founded as a spinout from the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre by Chris Iveson and Robin Hartley.

FourJaw co-founder and CEO Chris Iveson said: This new round of funding empowers us to strengthen our team, accelerate growth, and deliver our exciting product roadmap as we forge ahead on our journey to change the world of manufacturing productivity.

SFC Capital CEO Stephen Page said: We knew FourJaw had created a game-changing technology that would break through the sector’s scepticism surrounding Industry 4.0.

Their data-driven technology is right for its time, helping drive a manufacturing renaissance for post-Brexit, post-Covid Britain where productivity and competitiveness are essential to the economy, Stephen Page said.

The company’s platform is being deployed across the UK to engineering supply chains across sectors such as aerospace, energy, medtech, defence, automotive and consumer goods.