Today, we at Sparkcognition are thrilled to announce that we have closed an initial $32.5 million series B funding round. The investment is led by Verizon Ventures with key participation from The Boeing Company, through its Boeing HorizonX unit.

“SparkCognition has pioneered the use of artificial intelligence to bring unparalleled advancements to many of the world’s Fortune 1000 companies,” said Vijay Doradla, Director at Verizon Ventures. “We are thrilled to invest in SparkCognition again, and look forward to supporting the company as it continues to transform markets and the businesses of tomorrow.”

Ranked #20 in the 2017 CNBC Disruptor 50 list, SparkCognition has established itself as a machine learning technology leader with business-critical solutions in place for customers in energy, oil and gas, manufacturing, finance, aerospace, defense, telecommunications, and security. Led by CEO Amir Husain, Austin’s 2016 Top Technology Entrepreneur, SparkCognition is successfully deploying a cognitive, data-driven analytics platform for the safety, security, and reliability of IT, OT, and IIoT environments. The funding will support the company’s rapid expansion, customer demand, and enable deeper deployment of its machine learning solutions into oil and gas, utility, manufacturing, financial services, aerospace, and national security sectors.

“SparkCognition is at the forefront of a technological shift in machine learning and artificial intelligence which will revolutionize every aspect of industry. They are leaders in AI, and they are pursuing the types of technologies that are critical to our future products and services,” said Greg Hyslop, Boeing chief technology officer and senior vice president, Engineering, Test & Technology.

“Having industry stalwarts, Verizon and Boeing, support our existing investors in funding this new round of growth serves as tremendous validation of our technology and track record. There is massive demand for our category-leading AI solutions,” says Amir Husain, Founder and CEO of SparkCognition. “The world is well on its way to an AI-powered revolution – where cognitive systems will truly augment human capabilities, but at machine speed and big data scale. Our real world deployments and on the ground successes speak to the broad applicability of SparkCognition’s AI technology, and the tremendous promise of AI in general.”

Husain believes that this is just the first step forward towards a bright future for both SparkCognition and AI technology. “SparkCognition was founded on the idea that the time has come for machines to think independently, solve problems and augment human potential,” he says. “I believe that intelligent systems hold tremendous promise for the human race and may in fact present the only practical avenue to rid us of many of the ills that have plagued us since the dawn of our own consciousness — poverty, hunger, disease, and fear.”

With this new funding, it is clear just how many others have come to believe in Husain’s vision. As SparkCognition looks to further expand its operations and scope, the possibilities are endless.

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