Acumen Raises $7M Seed Funding - Engineering Team Management

Addressing Engineering Schedule Challenges with Acumen

Maintaining project timelines presents significant hurdles for engineering teams, and deviations from these schedules can ripple throughout an entire organization. To address this critical issue, Acumen, an Israeli startup specializing in engineering operations, has announced a $7 million seed funding round.

Securing Funding for Growth and Product Development

The investment round saw participation from Hetz, 10D, Crescendo, and Jibe. These funds are earmarked for continued product development and the broader launch of Acumen’s platform into the market. The company is simultaneously unveiling its emergence from a period of stealth operation, following nearly a year of work with beta testers.

The Problem of Visibility in Scaling Engineering Teams

Acumen’s CEO and co-founder, Nevo Alva, brings firsthand experience as a startup founder to the table. He observed that as engineering teams expand, a lack of data-driven insights often hinders their performance. This realization prompted the launch of Acumen, designed to provide companies with the necessary visibility into their team’s operations.

Impact of Limited Insight on Project Prioritization

“As teams grow in size, gaining clear insight into ongoing activities becomes increasingly difficult,” Alva explained. “Prioritizing tasks effectively is complicated, and daily interdependencies inevitably affect schedules.”

Acumen’s Solution: Data-Driven Schedule Management

This lack of visibility frequently leads to reduced productivity, slower development velocity, and ultimately, missed deadlines with company-wide consequences. Acumen tackles this by aggregating data from the various project planning and communication tools already utilized by engineering teams.

Leveraging machine learning, the platform identifies potential schedule disruptions and presents this information through a customizable dashboard.

Targeting Engineering Leaders with Proactive Insights

The tool is specifically designed for engineering team leaders, empowering them to proactively identify and address potential bottlenecks to ensure timely project completion. The machine learning algorithms continuously refine their understanding of problematic situations, offering preventative suggestions.

Company History and Product Development

Founded in July 2019, the initial ten months were dedicated to collaborating with a dozen design partners to build the first iteration of the product. A key focus during this phase was ensuring compliance with industry standards, including SOC-2. Following a period of closed private beta testing, Acumen is now launching publicly this week.

Team Expansion and Remote Work

Currently, Acumen employs 20 individuals, with plans to add another 10 before the year’s end. Alva notes that the experience of remote work throughout 2020 has diminished the importance of geographical location in hiring. “While time zones remain a consideration for remote collaboration, location is becoming less critical,” he stated.

The team currently includes members based in Israel, the U.S., and eastern Europe.

Fostering Connection in a Remote Environment

Recognizing the potential for isolation among remote employees, Acumen incorporates daily video meetings that begin with informal conversation to maintain team cohesion. The company is now actively initiating its go-to-market strategy.

Competitive Differentiation Through Machine Learning

While acknowledging the existence of competing products like Harness and Pinpoint, Alva believes Acumen’s reliance on data analysis and machine learning provides a significant competitive advantage.