SewerAI, a provider of AI computer vision and cloud computing sewer condition assessment software, recently announced that Bentley Systems, Inc., participated in SewerAI’s $1.5 million venture round through the Bentley iTwin Ventures Fund. Bentley joined Burnt Island Ventures, Builders VC and EPIC Ventures among others in this round.
SewerAI uses artificial intelligence and computer vision to inspect, identify and analyze sewer infrastructure defects. According to the company, SewerAI’s cloud-based software AutoCode “significantly enhances and accelerates sewer infrastructure inspections.” SewerAI was established by sewer infrastructure inspection technology veterans Matthew Rosenthal, SewerAI’s CEO, and Billy Gillmartin, SewerAI’s CRO. The company says its goal is to address the massive problem of aging pipe infrastructure, adding that U.S. municipalities alone spend about $50 billion each year maintaining underground infrastructure, mainly using manual inspections, data delivered via physical disks, and desktop-based software.
According to the company, SewerAI harnesses the power of artificial intelligence and computer vision, along with a cloud workflow platform to automatically detect pipeline defects, allowing sewer inspections to be completed in a fraction of the time with increased accuracy. SewerAI’s machine learning training dataset consists of millions of feet of labeled video inspection data, growing daily, all manually reviewed and validated. Since the launch of SewerAI’s Pioneer platform in late Q1 of 2021, its users have uploaded more than 1.5 million feet of inspection data and watched more than 1,000 hours of video footage. To date SewerAI says it has helped save more than 45,000 engineering hours and millions of dollars for their customers.
SewerAI also says the acquisition of funds from the Bentley iTwin Venture will expand its capabilities in the wastewater space.
“SewerAI is thrilled to welcome Bentley Systems as an investor in our growing company,” says Rosenthal. At SewerAI we are automating and modernizing the traditionally cumbersome, slow, and costly process of inspecting and maintaining sewer pipes. We’re also excited by developments in the market, as one of the largest sewer utilities in North America, the City of Houston, has recently chosen SewerAI to implement critical aspects of its obligations under the Clean Water Act, enabling this utility to eliminate environmentally damaging sewer overflow events which pose risks to public health. With Bentley Systems’ support and their iTwin platform, SewerAI will continue to develop best-in-class solutions across the entire wastewater infrastructure life cycle. Having Bentley as part of our investment and advisory team will help guide SewerAI to deliver the highest possible value to both our customers and our shareholders.”
Bentley’s Chief Acceleration Officer, Santanu Das added, “Matt and Billy bring a unique combination of technical capabilities and operational expertise in the sewer industry, each having spent more than 10 years in the space. This experience shows in how quickly they have progressed the SewerAI platform and team. SewerAI is targeting a profound operational challenge in water infrastructure – prompt, accurate and cost-effective inspections. We envision that SewerAI would leverage Bentley’s iTwin platform to enable sewer digital twins to be evergreen by augmenting them with real time defect classification through AI on sewer pipe videos.”
“We are excited to be supporting and joining Matt, Billy and the entire SewerAI team as they improve water infrastructure management,” said Tom Kurke, Vice President of Bentley Systems’ iTwin Ventures. Kurke continued, “We appreciate the opportunity to join this round and excited to be investing alongside a fantastic syndicate. We invite companies like SewerAI which are developing transformative infrastructure digital twin solutions to reach out so that we can start a conversation.”
SewerAI is based in Walnut Creek, Calif., and leverages its cloud inspection management platform (Pioneer™) and AI Computer Vision tools (AutoCode) to help wastewater professionals to accelerate productivity, increase accuracy, and reduce the cost to maintain and renew aging collection systems.
