Spanish industrial automation business Mondragón Assembly has acquired Sentinel, a Portuguese machine vision startup. Sentinel, founded only four years ago, has developed its own image processing software and industrial applications, generating €2 million in revenue last year. The company currently has a team of sixteen workers.

Machine vision is a technology on the rise. It enables computers to capture, process, and analyze images from the real world to automate inspection, measurement, and quality control in industries. It combines cameras, software, and artificial intelligence (AI) to extract data from visual inputs. According to Mondragón, Sentinel’s technology will enable industries to enhance product quality through automated inspection, component measurement, and QR code reading during production.

Strategic relocation of Sentinel’s vision business

Sentinel has announced that it will move its headquarters to Rubí, a hub for the machine vision industry near Barcelona, where nearly half of the country’s 55 machine vision companies are based. Nonetheless, it will maintain its development and sales activities in Portugal. Moreover, under Mondragón, Sentinel plans to expand into the Basque Country and other international markets. The company aims to apply its technology beyond its initial focus on the automotive and electronics sectors, targeting a wider range of industries.

Some of these include 3D vision, artificial intelligence, and spectral vision, which consists of capturing images of the real world, processing them, and analyzing them to provide additional information. In total, the machine vision sector in Spain generates around €150 million and employs approximately 1,000 people.

“We are ready to take a big step into the future. We are joining Mondragón Corporation, one of the most important industrial groups in Spain, with the aim of strengthening our position and taking our innovation even further,” underscores Sentinel co-founder Joel Alves. “With this strategic alliance, Sentinel embarks on its journey as an international group, maintaining our strong commitment to innovative artificial vision solutions, as well as the development of our own software, paving the way for the future,” he continues.

National machine vision leadership projected by 2028

Mondragón expects Sentinel to become a leader in Spain’s machine vision sector within four to six years, with projected revenues between €8 million and €10 million, which is four to five times the start-up’s current revenue. To achieve this goal, Sentinel will take advantage of Mondragón’s more established presence and financial backing, while Mondragón will gain access to innovative technology that complements its industrial automation solutions.

The automated solutions will help businesses enhance precision in manufacturing processes, optimize production times, and reduce assembly errors through advanced image analysis algorithms. The acquisition comes in a moment when artificial vision is on the rise, as its usage is projected to increase by 37% over the next two years, according to a Cognex survey and its whitepaper “The Future for Machine Vision Looks Bright and Clear”. “As the industrial automation landscape evolves, machine vision is at the forefront of innovation, offering game-changing solutions for factories, warehouses, logistics providers, and manufacturers worldwide,” Cognex explains.