Guardhat Raises Series B and Names Bob Mylod to Board of Directors

DETROIT, Jan. 5. 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Guardhat, the industry leader and pioneer in Internet of Things (IoT) safety technology for the global industrial workforce, today announced an undisclosed Series B round led jointly by General Catalyst, Durable Capital Partners LP and Annox Capital. The round brings Guardhat's total funding north of $40 million since inception. Caterpillar, Sallyport Investments, LLC, and Barton Malow also participated in the round, joining existing investors Mesh Ventures, Detroit Venture Partners, 3M Ventures and RTP Ventures, among others.

"Workplace safety is a global challenge with millions of people injured on the job every year. It's an economic issue but more importantly, it's a human and quality of life issue," said Brian Ru, investor at General Catalyst. "The team at Guardhat is developing technology-based solutions that draw on their deep industrial experience to improve outcomes for just about any workplace in which safety and productivity intersect. It's an important mission and we're honored to be working with them."

Guardhat's revenue has increased at roughly 3x year-over-year, and the firm plans to double its team size by the end of 2021. The US Midwest-based provider of infrastructure, software, and wearable technology will use the investment to support its continued growth. Strategic hires are to be made in sales, product management, marketing, human resources, deployment and engineering.

"This past year was a testament from both the customer side and investor side that making frontline workers safer and more productive is foundational," said Saikat Dey, CEO of Guardhat. "We are humbled by the caliber of partnerships we've forged and hope more will join us on this journey of defining what a connected worker solution should be."

Additionally, Guardhat today announced that Bob Mylod has joined its Board of Directors. Mylod is Managing Partner at Annox Capital and serves as Chairperson of the Board for both Booking Holdings Inc. and Vroom, having overseen the latter's IPO in June 2020. He also sits on the boards of several companies including Dropbox, Redfin and Bloomscape. Mylod brings to Guardhat's board unmatched experience as a venture capital investor, senior financial executive and strategic virtuoso.

"Guardhat is truly a special investment for me and my firm," said Mylod. "First, it is an opportunity to invest in one of the great mega-trends that I see unfolding: the founding and scaling of technology companies outside of Silicon Valley, most notably in the Midwest in general and Detroit in particular. More importantly, evaluating Guardhat during the peak of the pandemic exposed the grave health risks that factory workers endure on a daily basis. The majority of adults do not have the luxury of sheltering at home in front of a computer while still working. Guardhat's technology and product offerings make every manufacturing work environment safer. It is rare that I get to back a company that literally saves lives. I look forward to helping establish Guardhat as the indispensable safety and protection standard for every factory."

Guardhat was recently honored by TIME magazine with the inclusion of the HC1 Communicator hard hat in the TIME 100 Greatest Inventions 2020. The company also debuted the HG1 and HG2 Smart Glasses in partnership with Vuzix and formed collaborative partnerships with Caterpillar and Westinghouse Electric Company. Guardhat also received Frost & Sullivan's 2020 Global Company of the Year Award based on their excellence in growth, innovation and field implementation.

About Guardhat: 
Detroit-based Guardhat is a leading Industrial IoT technology company specialized in developing wearables, infrastructure and software platforms to provide a safer and more productive work environment for frontline industrial workers in heavy manufacturing industries. Founded in October 2014 by industry veterans and former steel & mining CEO Saikat Dey, Guardhat's mission is to modernize safety and enhance last mile connectivity in the industrial workplace. By combining cutting-edge, wearable technology with advanced proprietary software, Guardhat is able to proactively monitor a user's location, health and work environment. The software platform collects and analyzes on-the-job data which is used to enhance industrial worker safety and productivity programs. Based out of its headquarters in Detroit, Michigan, Guardhat operates globally with offices in Boulder, Colorado; Chicago, Illinois; Bangalore, India; and Paris, France. Guardhat holds 8 patents across areas of Connected Worker, Real Time Location Systems and Wearable Solutions. For more information, visit www.guardhat.com.

CONTACT:
Jaclyn Ermoyan
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SOURCE Guardhat