Randon and ArcelorMittal go from clients to companions at Sirros IoT

Sirros’ business model can be called Haas (hardware as a service). With the use of small devices, Sirros helps monitor temperature, relative humidity, noise levels, luminosity and CO2 levels inside its customers’ plants. The main solution, however, is the digitization of the machinery, which allows for real-time efficiency control. Today, 95% of the Brazilian industry still operates with data out of date by at least one day. In some cases, with a delay of weeks.

“We are being very selective in choosing partners. Since August 2021, when we started operating the fund, more than 600 startups have already been evaluated”, says Rodrigo Carazolli, general manager of innovation and new business at ArcelorMittal. “We have been looking for startups that operate in sectors aligned with our investment thesis and, above all, that have good entrepreneurs and the ability to be leveraged with the company’s support. This is the case with Sirros IoT, our second investment by Açolab Ventures.”

Until today, the startup founded by five partners in 2016, in the city of Novo Hamburgo — a large industrial center that stands out for the production of shoes — has operated in bootstrapping. With an initial focus on medium-sized local factories, the company realized that it could solve the same problem for giants, with a higher average ticket and more structural support for R&D. Since then, it has conquered clients from different sectors, including Suzano and BRF. Currently, it operates in 50 plants in the country.

“This is yet another round that shows that co-investment works well, remains strong as a trend and is good for the market”, says Orlando Cintra, founder and CEO of BR Angels. “With the executives we have in our ecosystem, we can open doors with Klabin, Rio Doce, Vale. There are many match possibilities.”

The investment will help to optimize the IoT platform in the cloud, accelerating the onboarding process – which is already one of the fastest in the country. Another focus of investments will be the expansion of the commercial team. Sirros currently has only 32 employees in all its sectors. In addition to the office in Novo Hamburgo, employees are divided between a service station in Porto Alegre and another in Caxias do Sul. Other units should be inaugurated soon in São Paulo and Belo Horizonte, to better serve mining and steelmaking customers.

“We have always been keen to attract investors who could contribute not only with money. We were looking for funds with smart money and we found not only a group of angels with expertise in the sector, but also industries focused on our area”, Diego Schlindwein, co-founder and COO of Sirros IoT. “This partnership will allow the improvement of products and make the solution more robust and intelligent.”

Source: Value Pipeline