Title Problem Statement || Case Submission || D.E. Shaw ✅

Industry Overview India’s industrial sector is digitizing rapidly. Within factory digitalization, the Predictive Maintenance & Energy Analytics (PMEA) sub-segment is accelerating as manufacturers chase higher uptime and lower power intensity. PMEA TAM was ~INR 18B in FY2022 with a base-case 21% CAGR through 2030. Three structural shifts drive the thesis: • Capex modernization under PLI increases the installed base of CNC/robotic lines needing health monitoring. • Rising power tariffs and ESG reporting push metering and energy analytics closer to real-time controls. • OT/IT convergence (cloud APIs, private 5G) lowers integration friction for sensorized assets. Line instrumentation is expected to rise from <5% in 2022 to 20–25% by 2030. Adoption favors hybrid models—low-cost edge sensors with a recurring analytics subscription. Company Overview Founded in 2016, VibranSense Technologies provides machine-health sensors (vibration, temperature, current) with an analytics layer for anomaly detection and energy optimization. Revenues scaled from INR 220M (FY2018) to INR 1.6B (FY2022) across auto, cement, metals, and white-goods clusters. FY2024 blended gross margin was ~44–48% depending on mix (hardware ~34–36%, SaaS ~76–80%). • Product portfolio: VS-Edge sensor nodes (triaxial MEMS + temp), clip-on current probes, industrial gateways, and the SenseCloud SaaS (alarms, MTBF forecasting, energy dashboards). • Pricing & contracts: hardware ASP INR 18–25k per node; SaaS INR 1.5–3.0k per asset/month with annual prepay; standard 3-year logo contracts with auto-renewal, 60–90 day implementation windows. • Installed base: ~13,800 sensors across ~360 plants; typical deployment 30–80 monitored assets per site; average daily samples 1–5 kHz with on-device FFT and envelope detection. • Customer mix: 70% direct enterprise sales, 30% via channel/OEM bundling (compressors, motors). • Unit economics: hardware contribution margin 18–22% after freight/warranty; SaaS gross margin ~78% at current scale; blended CAC payback ~11 months on mid-market cohorts. • Retention: logo retention ~92% over 3 years; SaaS net revenue retention ~108% (expansion via additional lines and energy modules). • Differentiation: ruggedized battery pack (18–24 months life), IECEx/ATEX pending, pre- trained fault libraries for bearings/gearboxes, and low-touch retrofit kits for legacy motors.