4.5 million euros for akeno in seed round
The Hamburg-based startup akeno has received seed funding totalling 4.5 million euros for its production planning software. Among other things, akeno intends to use the money to triple the size of its team and drive forward its internationalisation. The company has already entered the Chinese market, with North America and other Asian markets next on the agenda.
akeno optimises production plans with AI
The round is led by Cusp Capital, with TS Ventures and another.vc also participating. The software solution is primarily aimed at industries with complex processes, such as chemicals, food, pharmaceuticals and metal processing. Customers include BASF Coatings, SunChemical and the Beckers Group. akeno was founded in 2021 by Alexander Ebbrecht, Dmitrij Direktor and Steffen Ramm, at that time still under the name Data Lighthouse. The idea was to develop a production planning system that is intelligent, automated and adaptable.
In many companies, production plans are no longer up-to-date after just a few days. This is due to unforeseen events such as machine breakdowns, delays or material bottlenecks. Traditional planning tools often react too late to such changes - at considerable cost. akeno has developed software that accesses current production data in real time, recognises disruptions at an early stage and automatically reschedules processes. The system does not work with fixed time targets, but calculates probable processes based on machine status, material availability and other factors. Thanks to artificial intelligence, the algorithms learn with each application and create adaptive production plans that are more precise and flexible than conventional planning approaches.
