Yesterday we announced DataProphet's $6m Series A funding round, with Knife Capital leading the round joined by Norican and the IDC.

In an industry that is often obscured from view, relationships are key - I am incredibly enthusiastic to welcome Norican Group and the IDC as investors in this round. With this investment, our partnership with Norican continues to strengthen as we demonstrated the combination of Norican's deep experience in metal pouring solutions combined with DataProphet's experience with implementing practical AI results in the delivery of clear value to customers while navigating the complexities of introducing this new technology to the industry. I also deeply appreciate the recognition by the IDC of our technology as a keystone technology in 4IR and the support they provide through the investment and breadth of their knowledge. 

The continued investment, and more importantly support, from Knife Capital, cannot be understated. Since their initial investment in DataProphet in 2018 - Knife Capital has continued to demonstrate their commitment to bringing South African startups to the global stage and this has been fundamental to us achieving and continuing to achieve our global ambitions. This announcement would not be complete without special thanks to Andrea Böhmert - who has been working closely alongside the DataProphet team and myself through this raise, Andrea put an immense amount of effort towards helping us achieve this - and strongly demonstrates that who you work with is the most important aspect in the journey.

Knowing the strength of the talent in the DataProphet team, and experience on the board, I am very excited about DataProphet's future. This investment allows us to take the work we do in implementing bleeding-edge, practical AI to the manufacturing floor to a wider international market than we have before. Thank you, everyone, who has supported us - I am looking forward to continuing the good work we do!