Sonibel Instruments Raises $1.6M to Rebuild Industrial Capacity With AI
Posted: 2026-4-15
Sonibel Instruments, the AI manufacturing startup responsible for designing the world’s first complete real-time weld quality control system, today announced the close of their oversubscribed pre-seed round. Maple VC led the $1.6 million round with Champion Hill Ventures, Dorm Room Fund, and strategic angels.
"Sonibel Instruments is the exponential efficiency boost manufacturers need to push through a $1.5 trillion order backlog and 320,000 shortage of skilled labourers" says Sophia Millar, CEO.
Investors are pouring into reindustrialisation as demand for more data centres, grid expansions, faster shipbuilding, and defence system maintenance skyrockets. Sonibel Instruments is the only startup solving this problem by empowering human welders with AI first.
Founded by 3 recent graduates of the University of British Columbia, Sophia Millar, George Hollo, and Hooman Pirouz have experience welding, engineering at North America’s biggest shipyards, and growing successful YC-backed startups. Sonibel Instruments was born out of Hooman Pirouz, CPO’s experience as a shipyard Reliability Engineer.
"I saw the cost and downtime taken by weld quality control personally" says Hooman Pirouz, CPO. "The more manufacturers we spoke to, the more convinced we were that this is a widespread, urgent problem, that’s way bigger than most people think. At this point, it’s our duty to build the solution."
Sonibel Instruments uses machine learning to tighten the feedback loop during welding and reduce quality control downtime. They do this with a small retrofit acoustic sensor that can hear weld defects as they occur and alert welders immediately, rather than waiting days, weeks, or even months to catch defects in inspection. For some projects, Sonibel Instruments can cut over 30% of total costs, meaning 9 figure savings for major manufacturers.
"We’re the first to give human welders robotic efficiency" says George Hollo, CTO. "Building Sonibel Instruments wasn’t possible a few years ago. We’re taking advantage of the most recent advancements in edge computing, machine learning, and acoustic sensing, and putting them together in a way that hasn’t been done before and isn’t easy to replicate."
With this funding, Sonibel Instruments is accelerating toward an unbottlenecked future of manufacturing. To learn more about Sonibel Instruments and their revolutionary technology, visit www.sonibelinstruments.com.
About Sonibel Instruments
Sonibel Instruments is developing cutting edge artificial intelligence, machine learning, and acoustic systems to reduce downtime during welding and unbottleneck critical infrastructure. While working as a Reliability Engineer at one of the biggest shipyards in North America, Hooman Pirouz discovered a market need for real-time weld quality control. This led to the founding of Sonibel Instruments with Sophia Millar and George Hollo. Sonibel Instruments is transforming the manufacturing industry by empowering human welders with AI first. Visit their website at www.sonibelinstruments.com.
"Sonibel Instruments is the exponential efficiency boost manufacturers need to push through a $1.5 trillion order backlog and 320,000 shortage of skilled labourers" says Sophia Millar, CEO.
Investors are pouring into reindustrialisation as demand for more data centres, grid expansions, faster shipbuilding, and defence system maintenance skyrockets. Sonibel Instruments is the only startup solving this problem by empowering human welders with AI first.
Founded by 3 recent graduates of the University of British Columbia, Sophia Millar, George Hollo, and Hooman Pirouz have experience welding, engineering at North America’s biggest shipyards, and growing successful YC-backed startups. Sonibel Instruments was born out of Hooman Pirouz, CPO’s experience as a shipyard Reliability Engineer.
"I saw the cost and downtime taken by weld quality control personally" says Hooman Pirouz, CPO. "The more manufacturers we spoke to, the more convinced we were that this is a widespread, urgent problem, that’s way bigger than most people think. At this point, it’s our duty to build the solution."
Sonibel Instruments uses machine learning to tighten the feedback loop during welding and reduce quality control downtime. They do this with a small retrofit acoustic sensor that can hear weld defects as they occur and alert welders immediately, rather than waiting days, weeks, or even months to catch defects in inspection. For some projects, Sonibel Instruments can cut over 30% of total costs, meaning 9 figure savings for major manufacturers.
"We’re the first to give human welders robotic efficiency" says George Hollo, CTO. "Building Sonibel Instruments wasn’t possible a few years ago. We’re taking advantage of the most recent advancements in edge computing, machine learning, and acoustic sensing, and putting them together in a way that hasn’t been done before and isn’t easy to replicate."
With this funding, Sonibel Instruments is accelerating toward an unbottlenecked future of manufacturing. To learn more about Sonibel Instruments and their revolutionary technology, visit www.sonibelinstruments.com.
About Sonibel Instruments
Sonibel Instruments is developing cutting edge artificial intelligence, machine learning, and acoustic systems to reduce downtime during welding and unbottleneck critical infrastructure. While working as a Reliability Engineer at one of the biggest shipyards in North America, Hooman Pirouz discovered a market need for real-time weld quality control. This led to the founding of Sonibel Instruments with Sophia Millar and George Hollo. Sonibel Instruments is transforming the manufacturing industry by empowering human welders with AI first. Visit their website at www.sonibelinstruments.com.
