Technology firm Fluence Analytics has been busy in recent weeks with a move to the Houston region, a financing round and a new partnership for expanded product distribution.
Fluence, which relocated from New Orleans to Stafford earlier in August, this week announced raising $7.5 million and forming a new business agreement with Tokyo, Japan-based Yokogawa Electric Corp., which has a presence in the Houston market. Yokogawa Electric participated in the $7.5 million round, and other investors included Energy Innovation Capital, JSR Corp. and Diamond Edge Ventures, the U.S. venture capital arm for Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp.
Fluence Analytics develops products for manufacturers to use to collect data and analyze polymers and material properties. The firm's ACOMP product — which stands for Automatic Continuous Online Monitoring of Polymerization Reactions — can generate data streams on polymer properties and material reactions. With these data insights, Fluence says it can give customers greater yields and improved product quality.
Under Fluence's agreement with Yokogawa Electric, Yokogawa will exclusively distribute Fluence ACOMP products to customers in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, the firms announced.
"Yokogawa's global leadership in measurement and process control technologies will be a major asset, enabling us to scale up operations, augment field engineering efforts and expand our installed base throughout the world," said Alex Reed, CEO of Fluence Analytics.
Yokogawa's North American headquarters, Yokogawa Corp. of America, is at 12530 W. Airport Blvd. in Sugar Land. The company also has an office in The Woodlands. Yokogawa Corp. of America has other locations in Georgia, Utah, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Canada and Mexico.
Using proceeds from the $7.5 million raise, Fluence plans to fuel the design and production of its next-generation ACOMP device with additional analysis algorithms, automated measurement output and more. The Stafford-based firm also plans to increase its headcount in conjunction with the fundraising, Fluence said.
Fluence was founded in 2015 as Advanced Polymer Monitoring Technologies (APMT), a spin-out company with technology licensed from Tulane University in New Orleans. APMT rebranded to Fluence Analytics in 2017.