Optelos

Optelos provides patented cloud-based software that helps enterprises streamline their asset inspection process.

This software is used by some of the largest companies in industries including energy, oil & gas, telecommunications, and manufacturing. Notable customers include:

• Georgia-Pacific: A manufacturing company acquired by Koch Industries in 2005 for $21 billion.

• EOG Resources: A company focused on hydrocarbon exploration whose market cap is $30 billion.

• AT&T: An American telecommunications company with a market cap of more than $200 billion.

Optelos has more than half a dozen strategic partners, including Microsoft and Accenture. The company is a Microsoft One Commercial Partner and has engaged in collaborative projects with Accenture. Notably, Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has acquired nearly 200 companies, including a company similar to Optelos -- Context Information Security, for $140 million in March 2020.

Optelos is focused on helping its customers transform their asset inspection process. And this has become big business.

According to a 2019 report from GE Capital, companies spend $40 billion a year on asset inspections. These inspections involve capturing images and video of things like cell towers, fuel stacks, and manufacturing facilities and equipment.

The problem is that these inspections are risky, costly, and time-consuming. For example:

Georgia-Pacific reports it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, and more than two weeks, to manually inspect its facilities. And EOG Resources reports it loses $1 million a day in potential revenue during its inspection process.

These inspections are critical to a company’s success. In many cases, they’re required, as companies need to meet regulatory, compliance, and safety standards.

That’s why companies are seeking ways to modernize the asset inspection and data management processes. And they’re spending big bucks as a result.

Companies spend $13 billion on asset performance management software. The problem is that these solutions don’t provide insights into visual data. Furthermore, the content that is gathered from these inspections — e.g. photos and videos of assets — is unstructured and random.

Optelos provides a solution. Essentially, it transforms the high volume of data into an information model. And it creates a fully searchable, shareable digital asset repository of everything that’s captured.

To do this, the company provides its software-as-a-service, which it calls its Enterprise Asset Advisor.

This software captures, stores, and processes visual data. It then creates 3D models and uses Artificial Intelligence to automatically identify issues. These results are provided through an immersive set of data visualization tools, dashboards, and reports to help customers resolve issues quickly and safely.

Similar software is offered by competitors Kespry and PrecisionHawk. Kespry has raised more than $60 million from investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Salesforce Ventures, and Shell Technology Ventures. And PrecisionHawk has raised more than $100 million from Third Point Ventures, Comcast Ventures, and Intel Capital.

What separates Optelos from the competition is its patented data processing technology. This enables it to analyze data gathered from any source (as opposed to a single source — data captured from a drone, for instance — as is the case with the competitors).

Optelos’ software eliminates the hassle and costs of relying on multiple systems to manage and label data. Furthermore, users can create Artificial Intelligence models without coding, and users can deploy Optelos’ software into their existing inspection workflows without the need for Information Technology services.

As mentioned, Optelos’ software is used by several corporations. When AT&T noticed that the performance of its 5G cellular network was being impacted by signal interference, it collected data to diagnose the issue.

With the help of Optelos’ software, AT&T was able to inspect the cell tower, create 3D models, identify structural issues, and fix the problem. Most importantly, the software reduced the time and cost needed to identify and fix the issue by 50%.

Optelos charges subscriptions for its software. One-time setup fees cost between $10,000 and $35,000, while customers also pay monthly fees ranging between $8,000 and $20,000, depending on the features they need.

Optelos generates additional revenue by licensing its Artificial Intelligence technology. This includes an initial fee of up to $100,000 and monthly recurring revenue of up to $9,000.

Optelos has generated $750,000 in revenue so far in 2020. This represents a nearly 900% increase since sales began in 2017.

In 2019, the company was accepted into Capital Factory’s VIP Accelerator program. This program has guided more than 150 startups, 16 of which have achieved successful “exits.”

Team Background

Kevin McKeand - Vice Chairman

In addition to his role with Optelos, Kevin is Vice President of Business Development with QuadPay, a digital payments platform.

Most recently, he was Vice President of Business Development with BigCommerce, a computer software company. Prior to that, he was Vice President of Sales with Tabbedout, a mobile payments company.

Earlier in his career, Kevin was Vice President of Account Sales for AT&T. Before that, he was Vice President of Operations for Wayport, a broadband internet company that became AT&T.

He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Management from Bellevue University.

David Tran - Co-Founder & CEO

David started Optelos after spending 16 years with Fluke Networks, a subsidiary of Fortive Corporation (NYSE: FTV), a leading manufacturing company. While there, he served as Senior Product Marketing Manager and a business unit manager.

Before that, he was Senior Manager for Software Engineering with CTC, a telecommunications company acquired by Fluke in 2000. He began his career as a software manager with MCI, a telecommunications company.

David earned a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M University and an MBA from Southern Methodist University.

David Collmann - Co-Founder & CFO

David has spent the last 30 years with TesCom, a telecommunications company.

He started as a sales rep, then became a manager, Vice President of Service, and finally CEO and President. He earned an MBA from the University of Texas.

Co-Investors