The Zurich-based company said it will use the funding to grow its engineering and deployment teams and expand beyond the wood industry into recycling, chemical processing, mining, oil and gas, and maritime operations.

Founderful led the funding round for AVIAN, which spent two years operating without outside funding before raising fresh capital.

During that period, the company built a customer base across about 50 industrial sites in nine countries and says its systems have helped prevent more than $50 million in fire and equipment damage.

Industrial operators have faced high insurance expenses in recent years as ageing machinery, electrical faults and dust-related fire risks continue to increase. In some cases, insurers now consider facilities too risky to cover at affordable rates.

AVIAN says many factories still rely on periodic thermal inspections carried out with handheld cameras. According to the company, that approach usually misses early warning signs that appear hours before equipment failure or fire outbreaks.

Its platform uses thermal cameras to monitor machinery continuously. The system tracks heat changes in motors, bearings, conveyors, presses and electrical cabinets, then sends alerts when temperatures begin to drift outside normal patterns.

The company said customers can install the system within minutes and receive automated maintenance reports alongside round-the-clock support.

Several manufacturers using the platform have already reported operational gains.

Kamps Pallet reduced annual insurance costs by 10% at its Dillwyn sawmill after deploying AVIAN’s monitoring system. Sierra Pacific Industries also avoided more than 24 hours of unplanned downtime at its Quincy facility over the past year, according to the company.

AVIAN noted that its system has also detected small fire incidents before they escalated.

In Switzerland, the platform identified a pellet press fire early enough to prevent what the company described as millions in potential damage. In Germany, it detected an electrical fire beside a machine valued at several million dollars, helping operators contain the incident before production was disrupted.

“AVIAN has developed a solution to a problem which probably affects everyone in the industry directly. For us, it is a great partnership as it helps us make our operations much safer and improves the monitoring process.

“You will never be able to reduce the risk of fires to zero, but you can do everything you can to minimise the danger as much as possible, and AVIAN makes that possible in a simple and straightforward way,” said Ernest Schilliger, CEO Schilliger Holz.

The company was founded after a Swiss sawmill contacted the team about recurring fires, high downtime and growing insurance pressure.

Drew Hanover, AVIAN’s co-founder and chief technology officer, said the company focused first on building trust with operators before seeking investment.

“Most operators don’t need another camera. At 3 a.m., they need to know that a bearing is running hot before it ignites the dust around it,” Hanover said.

“We bootstrapped the business for two years because we wanted to build something operators actually trusted. We raised with Founderful for one reason: to keep doing that, in more markets, faster, without changing what we are. We spent zero minutes on a deck.”

AVIAN now plans to leverage the new funding to strengthen its work with insurers by providing real-time risk assessments using live thermal data from industrial sites.

The company is also developing a new product called AVIAN Vision, which upgrades existing CCTV systems to detect smoke and fire without replacing current infrastructure.

The report, titled Zero to Funded: A Founder’s Guide to Pre-Seed Fundraising in Africa, was released by Madica, drawing on insights from investors and ecosystem leaders across the continent.

The report takes a closer look at how fundraising actually works at the pre-seed stage and where many African founders get it wrong.

Venture capital is not free money, the report stressed, noting that founders who take it on are entering a long-term relationship that comes with pressure to grow fast, give up equity and eventually provide returns through an exit.

Despite this, many founders still approach fundraising with the wrong assumptions.

One of the most common mistakes, according to the report, is trying to raise money before proving anything in the market. Investors, it says, are not backing ideas alone, they want to see early signs of execution.

“The reality is that investors back passion plus some kind of momentum. Founders with grit can often build that momentum even before they get their first outside cheques.”

That momentum could come in different forms, a basic product, early users, partnerships or even tested assumptions. Without it, founders risk getting stuck in endless pitch cycles.

The report by Madica also challenges the belief, which most African startups have, that building a strong product is enough to attract funding. It says many founders spend too much time developing technology without confirming whether customers actually need it.

“Most founders are super focused on building really good technology, but often they end up solving a problem the customer doesn’t think is a problem.”

Instead, investors want to see clear evidence that founders understand customer pain points and are building solutions people are willing to use and pay for.

Valuation is another area where founders usually get it wrong. While a high valuation may look impressive, the report warns it can create problems later if the business cannot meet expectations.

Startups that raise at inflated valuations risk being forced into down rounds, which can damage investor confidence and weaken the business.

Beyond these misconceptions, the report outlines what signals readiness at the pre-seed stage. Investors are looking for clarity, credibility and early traction rather than polished financial models.

A working product, even if basic, carries more weight than a well-designed pitch deck.

“At pre-seed, the most important thing you really want to focus on is launching the product, testing your hypothesis and identifying your road map to product market fit.”

Growth, the report adds, does not have to be large at this stage. What counts is consistency and the ability to show a pattern.

“What I want to see is repeatability: $10 this month, $20 the next, $30 after that, growth that shows a pattern I can trust.”

Across Africa, the fundraising sector varies by region, but the expectations are largely the same.

West Africa recorded 475 pre-seed deals worth about $219.43 million between 2019 and 2025, making it the most active region. However, most of that capital is concentrated in Nigeria.

North Africa followed with 307 deals valued at $165.58 million, driven largely by Egypt, while East Africa saw 213 deals worth $84.51 million. Southern Africa recorded the lowest activity, with $45.78 million raised across 118 deals.

Even with these differences, investors apply similar standards across the board.

Madica also makes it clear that venture capital is not suitable for every African startups business. It is designed for companies that can scale quickly and deliver large returns within a set timeframe.

For founders building smaller or more localised businesses, other funding options may be more appropriate.

In the end, the report returns to the point that founders who focus on customers, test their ideas early and show progress are more likely to attract funding.

Those who focus only on raising money risk missing the basics that investors care about most.