Predictive maintenance technology startup Novity Inc. said today it’s hoping to expand into the chemicals, manufacturing, and water and environmental industries after closing on a $7.8 million round of funding.

The round was led by WERU Investment and saw participation from other investors including Myriad Venture Partners and Metawater Co. Ltd.

Novity is the creator of the TruPrognostics AI platform that leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities to enhance predictive maintenance by accurately forecasting when and where industrial machinery will need preventive maintenance to prevent downtime.

The company explains that it’s solving a real problem in the industrial manufacturing industry, where unplanned downtime costs more than $1 trillion per year, according to the latest True Cost of Downtime report by Siemens AG.

Predictive maintenance has long been established as the best solution to such incidents, but the problem for manufacturers is knowing exactly when is the most optimal time to carry out such work, since even planned downtime can cost manufacturers money. Although AI models have obvious potential to help in this regard, one of the difficulties of creating systems that can accurately predict when machinery is likely to need repairs is the need for highly relevant historical data. It’s often thin on the ground in industrial environments, particularly where newer machines are concerned.

Novity’s TruPrognostics AI platform gets around these issues using a combination of machine learning, physics-based models of common machine faults and internet of things sensors. According to the startup, this unique combination enables it to predict failures and downtime with an accuracy of 85% in production scenarios. The startup says its platform is fully configurable and can take into account the specific way in which customers run their machines.

Markus Larsson, co-founder and chief executive officer of Novity, said the funding round is a significant milestone for the company and reaffirms the value of its unique approach. “The results from our commercial installations are extremely encouraging,” he said. “We are proud of the commercial traction we have already achieved and look forward to using this funding to continue innovating.”

The startup claims to be serving a growing number of Fortune 500 clients in the manufacturing, oil and gas and chemicals industries. It says it has been instrumental in helping those customers to reduce their unplanned downtime, minimize operational disruption and bring down the costs of maintenance.

The investors in Novity’s round will all bring a different set of expertise to the table and help the startup to grow. WERU has a portfolio of investments in industrially critical deep tech, while Myriad supports an extensive network of large industrial firms in the U.S., and Metawater has expertise in the water and environmental industries. According to Novity, its backers will help it expand into these industries and grow its business.

Myriad Partner Chris Fisher said some factories lose billions of dollars annually as a result of unplanned downtime, so cost reduction has become a matter of critical importance. “Myriad seeks out visionary companies strategically positioned to drive meaningful change in critical sectors,” he said.

Novity said the money from today’s round will be used to fund the ongoing development of its TruPrognostics AI platform and acquire new customers.

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