Today, as artificial intelligence fully permeates productivity, the question of how to convert complex industrial instructions into intuitive economic gains has become the core issue of digital transformation in manufacturing. On January 26, 2026, CVector, an industrial AI startup based in New York, officially announced the completion of a $5 million seed round financing.

This round was led by Powerhouse Ventures, with follow-on investments from Fusion Fund, Myriad Venture Partners, and the corporate venture capital division of **Hitachi**.

Core Philosophy: Building a "Brain and Nervous System" for Industry

CVector was founded by Richard Zhang and Tyler Ruggles. They believe that the biggest pain point for large industrial enterprises today is the lack of a tool that can directly translate small operational actions (such as opening a valve) into "how much money this saves me."

Core Business: The company positions its product as a software layer connecting "factory operations" and "actual revenue," known as "Operational Economics."

Cross-disciplinary Talent: CVector has attracted a large number of professionals from the financial technology and hedge fund industries, leveraging their experience in data-driven decision-making to help industrial clients gain financial advantages.

Practical Implementation: From Traditional Industries to Energy Frontiers

Since completing its pre-seed round financing in July 2024, CVector's system has successfully been implemented in multiple areas:

Traditional Manufacturing: At ATEK Metal Technologies, a major metal processing company in Iowa, CVector helped monitor energy efficiency, predict equipment downtime, and track commodity price changes affecting costs.

Public Utilities: In power and chemical production facilities, by precisely controlling key nodes such as valves to optimize overall operational costs.

Energy Startups: Providing support to materials science company Ammobia, helping it reduce the production cost of synthetic ammonia through AI models.

Market Insight: From "AI Taboo" to "Native Pursuit"

Founder Richard Zhang observed a significant shift: a year ago, discussing AI in the industrial sector even carried a "taboo" feel, and customer attitudes toward AI were often split evenly.

But in just the past six months, market trends have changed dramatically:

"The current trend is that everyone is demanding AI-native solutions, even when the return on investment (ROI) calculation is not always clear. This 'adoption boom' is real."