Novi Labs (Novi), the leading developer of AI-driven unconventional well planning software, announces the closing of its Series A funding round led by Cottonwood Venture Partners (CVP) of Houston and Bill Wood Ventures of Austin, in which it raised a total of $7 million. The funding round follows extensive customer growth and field-testing of Novi's well planning technology, which enables oil & gas companies to optimize economic returns for new wells using artificial intelligence and predictive analytics. The Austin-based startup plans to deploy its recently raised funds to scale its technology and team to meet growing demand by shale producers. Scott Sherwood, a proven senior software executive, has been named as Novi's new CEO to position the company for the next stage of growth.

"Novi is the clear leader in leveraging machine learning to optimize unconventional oil and gas development," said Jeremy Arendt, Managing Partner of CVP. "We are excited to increase our investment in Novi and we welcome Scott to the team, who has already proven critical to the company's scalability."

Novi pioneered the industry's first well planning software platform focused on analyzing the economic returns of unconventional shale wells. The cloud-based technology combines AI-driven predictive analytics with multiple well design inputs, capital costs, and commodity price assumptions to model the financial performance of a well over time, enabling shale producers to optimally allocate capital and mitigate risks for development projects.

"Austin has evolved into an important hub for oil and gas innovation and I am excited about the opportunity to empower top innovators like Novi with the resources, talent, and support needed to thrive in this industry," commented Bill Wood.

To keep pace with increasing demand, Novi will deploy recently raised funds to add additional resources at its Austin headquarters, including product development, sales and customer care staff. The company also plans to invest significantly in the next generation of its well planning technology to ensure Novi's capabilities continually align with the evolving needs of its customers.

"With our recent funding round, Novi gains the traction to transition from proving our value proposition with early adopters to firmly establishing Novi as the category technology leader," said Scott Sherwood, CEO of Novi. "We are truly grateful for the vote of confidence and funding from Cottonwood Venture Partners and Bill Wood Ventures for fueling Novi's continued success and accelerating the adoption of Novi's cost-optimizing technology at such a crucial time in our industry."

Scott Sherwood joins Novi as CEO to manage the growth of Novi's customer base and team. Sherwood brings more than 20 years of executive management and sales expertise to Novi from across the high tech and software industries. Prior to Novi, he was CEO of Packet Design (acquired by Fortune 1,000 company Ciena). Earlier in his career, Sherwood was Senior Vice President of worldwide sales at NetQoS, where he spearheaded the acquisition of Global 2000 customers, including half of the Fortune 50, resulting in 31 consecutive quarters of double-digit revenue growth. Sherwood also led successful sales initiatives for Cache IQ and ScienceLogic.

Sherwood is preceded by Novi Founder, Jon Ludwig, who has moved into a new role as Novi's President. As President, Ludwig will focus on expanding Novi's technology and customer growth.

"A warm welcome to Scott, who joins Novi at a critical inflection point where his skillset and experience will be of utmost value in growing the company to the next level," commented Ludwig. "As demand for Novi's products continues to takeoff, the deployment of new capital funding and Scott's expertise in scaling-up will bring the benefits of AI-driven well planning to the industry on a large scale," he concluded.

About Novi Labs
Novi is the leading developer of artificial intelligence driven business applications that help the oil & gas industry optimize the economic value of drilling programs. Leveraging cutting-edge data science, Novi delivers intuitive analytics that give oil& gas leaders pressured with complex decisions the actionable insight they need to optimize capital allocation and well design. Novi was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Austin, TX. For more information, please visit https://www.novilabs.com

About Cottonwood Venture Partners
Cottonwood Venture Partners ("CVP") is a growth equity investment firm partnering with technology companies that provide digital solutions for the energy industry. CVP invests in technology companies that have achieved early customer adoption and require capital to accelerate growth. CVP leverages its expertise and relationships in energy and technology to help drive growth at its portfolio companies. For more information, please visit https://www.cottonwoodvp.com