MTR Lab has announced its strategic investment in Ensonic, a Mainland Chinese start-up that is pioneering AI-powered acoustic detection technology in industrial, power, smart city and transportation applications. This strategic investment in Ensonic marks MTR Lab's first investment in Mainland China. The funding will drive ongoing research and development of Ensonic’s technology and products, while MTR Lab will also support the start-up in further developing solutions that meet international standards to facilitate overseas expansion.
Ensonic is an industrial AI technology provider specialising in cutting-edge acoustic detection and analysis. Through its proprietary microphone arrays, signal processing technology, data and algorithm-driven solutions, it offers acoustic fault diagnosis for predictive maintenance, hence enhancing productivity and overall service performance in manufacturing, energy, power, and transportation.
Ensonic’s solutions are used in a wide range of applications, including power grid transformers, lifts, escalators, hydro power plants, wind power equipment and data centres. By monitoring the latest health status and real-time data of critical components within these systems, operational teams can quickly and accurately identify potential faults or problems, plus issue alerts for any early-stage malfunction. This enables engineers to perform targeted and preventive maintenance to address potential issues in advance, while optimising maintenance or replacement costs as well as corrective maintenance and extending the service life of key components and improving energy efficiency. This aligns with MTR Lab’s focus of investing in technologies that advance smart city development and sustainability.
The fast-growing start-up has previously attracted investment from renowned investors including Vertex Ventures China, China Mobile Equity Investment, and Lenovo Capital.
Data-driven solutions provide predictive maintenance and resolve industry pain points
AI acoustic detection is a novel approach which significantly enhances current equipment maintenance methods, enabling optimising of maintenance staff deployment and data-driven maintenance practices that result in reducing downtime and uplifting quality control in equipment maintenance. Ensonic’s advanced products and sophisticated data processing capabilities can detect equipment malfunctions early by matching sound samples from its co-developed industrial acoustic database, offering precise solutions for predictive maintenance.
In addition, Ensonic’s proprietary signal collection microphone arrays can operate in highly complex and risky environments, improving safety for technicians. The arrays better enable spatial localisation, active noise reduction, echo cancellation and blind signal separation.
Driving “new quality productive forces”
As an international investor, MTR Lab’s investment portfolio includes startups from Hong Kong and Europe. Under this first investment in an advanced acoustic AI solutions provider from Mainland China, MTR Lab continues to provide a collaborative platform connecting like-minded partners to co-create a smarter, greener future by advancing innovation and technology.
“We are excited to participate in Ensonic’s growth story”, said Mr Michael Chan, Managing Director of MTR Lab. “This partnership is more than just an investment, it is a commitment to collaboration and impact aimed at advancing innovation, through fostering the R&D and application of acoustic detection AI technology. Our goal is to accelerate advancements in technology that enhance high-quality productivity and efficiency across multiple sectors, aligning with the national strategy of developing 'new quality productive forces' (新質生產力). We hope the partnership with Ensonic can support the continuous enhancement of its technology solutions for overseas expansion, enabling wider applications.”
Huge growth potential in domestic equipment maintenance market
“We are delighted to welcome MTR Lab as a new investor and partner”, said Mr Dong Liang Ding, Founder and CEO of Ensonic. "The potential for AI-driven acoustic inspection in Mainland China is significant. With the domestic equipment maintenance market experiencing rapid growth and expected to reach 200 - 300 billion yuan, there are exciting opportunities for innovators like Ensonic. We are already working with some of China’s biggest companies, such as State Grid, China Southern Power Grid, China Railway, China Mobile, and China Coal Technology & Engineering Group."
MTR Lab supporting Chinese home-grown technology to meet international standards
MTR Lab’s investment and partnership can help support Ensonic when developing solutions that meet international standards. Ensonic is currently co-developing a proof of concept (PoC) to enable the use of its acoustic monitoring solutions in international settings, while being geared to meet global standards.
MTR Lab is committed to powering smart city development and sustainability through investing in innovation and technology that can optimise efficiency, boost digitalisation, enhance reliability, reduce energy consumption and lower carbon emissions. In line with this commitment, the investment in Ensonic builds upon MTR Lab’s track record of innovation and technology collaborations, as well as strategic investments in companies such as Ampd Energy, isBIM and WeMaintain.
