ColdLight’s Neuron to serve as PTC’s platform for automated predictive analytics

NEEDHAM, Mass. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — May 5, 2015 — LiveWorx 2015. It’s On! – PTC (Nasdaq: PTC) today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire ColdLight, a visionary in big data machine learning and predictive analytics, for approximately $105 million. The acquisition of ColdLight’s Neuron automated predictive analytics platform will enrich PTC’s technology portfolio and extend PTC’s position as a leader in the Internet of Things (IoT) market.

ColdLight will serve as PTC’s core data analytics platform to deliver new value to markets both companies serve today – manufacturing, healthcare, media and retail – as well drive growth across new markets. When combined with PTC’s ThingWorx® IoT platform, ColdLight’s Neuron will automate the analysis of data from things to address a range of important challenges. These challenges include detecting failure patterns from data, modeling correlations, predicting failures, prescribing remedies and prioritizing recommendations against cost constraints. ColdLight’s Neuron platform addresses these challenges by using artificial intelligence and machine learning technology to automatically and continuously learn from data, discover patterns, build validated predictive models and send information to virtually any type of application or technology.

The ability to predict outcomes has incredible value, especially in the context of ensuring product performance and preventing product failure and downtime. PTC believes it will be particularly useful to improving after-sales service, which PTC believes is a major industrial application that drives business value in the IoT. Companies today have an overwhelming need to gain insights from massive amounts of data. To meet that demand, companies are competing for a scarce new resource – data scientists. ColdLight’s Neuron platform automates deep data discovery and predictive modeling, speeding time to market and reducing the dependency on expert data scientists.

“Our business strategy has been centered on helping companies transform how they create, connect, operate and service products,” said Jim Heppelmann, President and CEO, PTC. “Sensor data by itself creates value, but that value is magnified dramatically when companies use predictive analytics to process that data into many forms of actionable knowledge that can transform the way they do business. With this acquisition, PTC will possess an innovative advanced analytics platform that will allow us to accelerate how we help our customers capitalize on the explosive growth potential of this rich new resource.”

The Internet of Things unleashes a massive new source of real-time information – smart, connected products. These “things” have a lot of important insights to share, but they’re speaking in a code that typically only data scientists understand. Companies need a new generation of big data analytics tools to make sense of, and create value from, all this new data.

As part of PTC, the combination of Neuron and the ThingWorx® IoT platform will enable rapid development of more advanced IoT applications that leverage Neuron’s machine learning capabilities. Just as ThingWorx is able to reduce time, cost and risk associated with IoT applications, ColdLight does the same with advanced and predictive analytics. ColdLight technology simplifies how predictive models are defined and maintained, removing the largest hurdle to a quick and broad adoption of advanced and predictive analytics for IoT. The key to unlocking real value is in actionability of those outcomes. By combining Neuron with ThingWorx, results and corrective actions will be able to be delivered to people or directly to machines and devices.

Additionally, ColdLight will be the cornerstone of PTC’s big data and analytics strategy which will embrace both in-house and partner-based solutions to provide PTC’s customers with a wide range of choices to maximize business value across the analytics market.

PTC will use the ColdLight platform to speed the creation of advanced and predictive analytics applications that support manufacturers’ service strategies, such as predictive maintenance and system monitoring, in complement to PTC’s existing service lifecycle management (SLM) and extended product lifecycle management (PLM) solution portfolio.

"We share PTC's vision for the need to improve how data is captured, analyzed, understood and acted upon in order to help organizations drive more impactful IoT strategy," said Ryan Caplan, CEO, ColdLight. "We believe all industries, but especially manufacturing, can benefit from a data analytics strategy in the Internet of Things era. We are excited to pursue this broad set of opportunities with the resources and proven IoT technology portfolio that PTC provides.”

This acquisition is expected to close in May 2015, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions. From a financial perspective, ColdLight run-rate subscription revenue is approximately $2 million per quarter. Based on cost synergies and investment plans for ColdLight, if acquired, PTC does not expect a material impact on its FY’ 15 non-GAAP EPS.

Additional Resources

• Acquisition Resource Page
• LiveWorx 2015 Live Stream
• LiveWorx 2015 Social Media Page
• ThingWorx IoT Platform
• “ How Smart, Connected Products are Transforming Business ” Harvard Business Review article