Industrial IoT Provider Guardhat in Detroit Draws $40M in Total Funding

Guardhat in Detroit, a leader and pioneer in Internet of Things (IoT) safety technology for industrial workforces, today announced an undisclosed Series B round led jointly by General Catalyst, Durable Capital Partners, and Annox Capital.
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Guardhat products
Guardhat, which makes Internet of Things safety technology for industrial workforces, has announced a Series B round. // Image courtesy of Guardhat

Guardhat in Detroit, a leader and pioneer in Internet of Things (IoT) safety technology for industrial workforces, today announced an undisclosed Series B round led jointly by General Catalyst, Durable Capital Partners, and Annox Capital.

The round brings Guardhat’s total funding north of $40 million since inception, the company states. Caterpillar, Sallyport Investments, and Southfield-based Barton Malow Co. also participated in the round, joining existing investors Mesh Ventures, Detroit Venture Partners, 3M Ventures, and RTP Ventures, among others.

Guardhat said its revenue has increased at roughly 3x year-over-year, and the firm plans to double its team size by the end of 2021. The provider of infrastructure, software, and wearable technology will use the investment to support its continued growth. Strategic hires are to be made in sales, product management, marketing, human resources, deployment, and engineering.

“This past year was a testament from both the customer side and investor side that making frontline workers safer and more productive is foundational,” says Saikat Dey, CEO of Guardhat. “We are humbled by the caliber of partnerships we’ve forged and hope more will join us on this journey of defining what a connected worker solution should be.”

Additionally, Guardhat today announced that Bob Mylod has joined its board. Mylod is managing partner at Annox Capital and serves as chairperson of the board for both Booking Holdings Inc. and Vroom, having overseen the latter’s IPO in June 2020. He also sits on the boards of several companies including Dropbox, Redfin, and Bloomscape. Mylod has experience as a venture capital investor, senior financial executive, and strategic virtuoso.

Mylod says the Guardhat investment “is an opportunity to invest in one of the great mega-trends that I see unfolding: the founding and scaling of technology companies outside of Silicon Valley, most notably in the Midwest in general and Detroit in particular. More importantly, evaluating Guardhat during the peak of the pandemic exposed the grave health risks that factory workers endure on a daily basis.

“The majority of adults do not have the luxury of sheltering at home in front of computer while still working. Guardhat’s technology and product offerings make every manufacturing work environment safer.”

Guardhat was recently honored by TIME magazine with the inclusion of the HC1 Communicator hard hat in the TIME 100 Greatest Inventions 2020.

The company also debuted the HG1 and HG2 Smart Glasses in partnership with Vuzix and formed collaborative partnerships with Caterpillar and Westinghouse Electric Company. In addition, Guardhat received Frost & Sullivan’s 2020 Global Company of the Year Award based on their excellence in growth, innovation, and field implementation.

Guardhat, which specializes in developing wearables, infrastructure, and software platforms to provide a safer and more productive work environment for frontline industrial workers in heavy manufacturing industries, was founded in October 2014.

Based out of its headquarters in downtown Detroit, Guardhat operates offices in Boulder, Colo.; Chicago; Bangalore, India; and Paris. Guardhat holds eight patents across areas of connected worker, real time location systems, and wearable solutions. For more information, visit www.guardhat.com.