Mobile enterprise collaboration startup Librestream Technologies Inc. announced today it has raised $24 million in new funding to accelerate customer acquisition, hire more people and expand its global reach.

The Series D round was led by the Canadian Business Growth Fund and included Pender Fund, Emerald Technology Ventures, Volvo Group, Export Development Canada and a number of existing investors.

Founded in 2003, Librestream offers mobile video collaboration solutions for enterprises that it says extend traditional videoconferencing and collaborative services to previously unreachable locations such as offshore oil rigs and manufacturing plant floors.

Videoconferencing services are a dime a dozen, but Librestream differentiates itself by also offering what the company calls the Onsight Augmented Reality Service Platform. Onsight is built for workers to collaborate virtually and access content from the world’s toughest environments. It’s said to deliver measurable business outcomes such as increased aircraft availability, since it’s designed to work on airplanes, along with accelerated product delivery and faster issue resolution.

It wouldn’t be 2020 without a mention of the COVID-19 pandemic and it comes as no surprise that a videoconferencing company such as Librestream is seeing a surge in business. The company says it has seen its user numbers increase by 433% during the pandemic as enterprises. That’s thanks to the need for physically remote workforces, as oppsoed to people sitting at home a few miles from their company head office in Silicon Valley, to be connected.

“Digital transformation initiatives traditionally focused on digitizing systems and assets, often leaving people out of the equation,” John Bishop, chief executive officer at Librestream, said in a statement. “Librestream’s focus on providing workers with a digital connection to information enables safe, effective performance – whether on an oil rig, a manufacturing floor or in an aircraft hangar.”

Along with the funding announcement, Librestream also announced a new telehealth solution in conjunction with augmented reality firm Vuzix Corp. The new service offers thermal body temperature screening for worker safety across market segments.

Including the new funding, Librestream has raised $44.3 million to date.

Image: Librestream