XOI raises $ 230 million, acquires a specification for expanding its field service technicians

Field service engineers may not be the first group of customers to come to mind when you think of lucrative opportunities in B2B technology. But the same blind place speaks of the possibility in the space for those who are activated and headed for the “work site”.

One of the players in this space, Pampering – Who builds human support software to click photos and quickly access information about the machines they define – announced on Tuesday that it has collected a new round of $ 230 million from KKR to expand its business.

Xoi will immediately use a piece of this instant growth funding: it buys another company in space, SPECIFX to increase data sets with additional information for about 85,000 additional model families and related data. XOI plans to integrate this data into its existing platform as to provide more device -specific instructions and other data to its users, as well as to build additional data sets to predict maintenance, upgrades and other work.

Xoi does not disclose the price she pays for specific or what her own assessment will be after the new funding. From what we understand, the deal makes KKR a majority owner of Xoi, who has raised less than $ 20 million before now. We also understand that the price of Specifx is less than half of the $ 230 million that KKR exposes. This is the first acquisition of Xoi.

The deal is the most recent turn and development of a company that has existed since 2010 and has started life in a slightly different area than it is today.

Headquartered in Nashville, Xoi was originally called Pairasight and then Xoeye (both of which were presented by TechCrunch over the years). In this embodiment, the company was building hardware – more special 3D glasses initially for Do -yourself enthusiasts and then field technicians to communicate with remote engineers and assistants to customer service to get more information remotely, In real time, as the technicians worked on electrical equipment, water supply, air conditioners, stoves or other machines.

But the hardware is really difficult and this business failed to flourish. The unit prices were too high for the company’s budget customers, and the factors of the form were too cumbersome when they were rough to the level they need to stay in one piece in place.

“If they looked as cool as his glasses,” said CEO and co -founder Aaron Salow, pointing to his investor, KKR partner Jake Heller, “maybe that would work.”

In the meantime, the launch saw the opportunity to create applications that filmed all the same data as glasses, but can be used on the phones and tablets that its target users are beginning to accept.

This has led to Xoeye missing the “eye” for “I”, which Salow says now means “intelligence” and the business takes off.

Companies like XOI and SPECIFX are part of the increasing number of companies that make up the solutions for what is usually listed as “field service“Or”Frontline“A worker, people who do not sit at desks who face customers or outside in the physical environment. What sets them apart from others in the same space is that a large number of applications focus on certain areas, not others.

“Many of them are designed to run business operations, plan, send,” said Salow, “but get to the site and you are ignored. This is an undervalued space. “

It cannot be denied that it can be a challenge to sell data, business intelligence and other less tangible assets in a market that is anchored in very physical work. But as the industry continues to develop and the machines themselves become more sophisticated, it has drawn more customers to companies such as XOI to help engineers do their job.

“This company has a real religion, takes its” laboratory “and puts it in the area, putting it in and on jobs, which in this case are really uncomfortable, difficult to reach places,” Heller said. “The magic in this software is that it provides people who are uncomfortable throughout the day to make the rest of our lives comfortable.”