Machina Labs has raised $124 million in funding.Investors include Woven Capital, Lockheed Martin Ventures, Balerion Space Ventures, and Strategic Development Fund (SDF).Machina describes itself as “software-defined production infrastructure,” beginning as a machine tool that punches out shapes in sheet metal.
CEO Edward Mehr said, “The world’s most advanced designs are being held back by 20th-century factories.This round allows us to scale manufacturing infrastructure that moves at the speed of software.We’re not just making parts, we’re reprogramming the factory itself to serve defense, aerospace, and automotive customers who can’t afford to wait.” The company will use the funds to build an “intelligent factory” with 50 RoboCraftsman units in a 20,000-square-meter space.
With a focus on defense, aerospace, and automotive.The key advantage is the system’s touted flexibility to “make structural parts” by uniting, forming, welding, and assembling into a single production system.The company also stated that it has received AFRL money, is working with a defense prime on missiles and hypersonics, and wishes to engender a “future in which manufacturing capacity can be deployed, scaled, and adapted as dynamically as software.” The firm also works with Toyota on making panels.
Chris Moran, Vice President and General Manager at Lockheed Martin Ventures, noted, “We believe Machina Labs’ AI-driven manufacturing approach will play a key role in shaping the future of aerospace production.The launch of their new factory marks a major step forward, demonstrating how intelligent, robotic production can bring greater speed, precision, and scalability to the industry.” While Ro Gupta, Managing Director at Woven Capital, stated, “The automotive industry has long been the proving ground for manufacturing innovation.Machina Labs is pioneering intelligent forming technology that brings craft-level precision to industrial scale, enabling the flexible, responsive production that next-generation mobility demands.
This is exactly the kind of innovation that will shape advanced manufacturing’s future, and we’re proud to support their journey.” Right Place Machina is to be congratulated on a spectacular raise.By basing itself in Los Angeles, the firm is in close proximity to a lot of defense primes.It is also very close to the Long Beach LPBF ecosystem, which is the heart of the world´s New Space 3D printing initiatives and defense metal 3D printing.
It’s convenient for Primes but also close to the Sand Hill Road VC crowd.Operating in that area, learning the lingo, and getting close to defense production is a smart move and will have made the company much better.Stamping is a commodity activity, and digitizing it while combining it with other commodity steps actually makes it valuable.
That put the company at the center of the hype centered on digitizing defense and the new money flowing into defense-focused funds.It also makes it seem like a softwearization play, which is also appealing to many in that specific geographic area.At the same time, it is a tempting investment from Primes looking for more flexibility, margin, and speed.
Right Time AI money is washing over the world, and by describing themselves as a softwearization play, the company has no doubt gotten some interest out of that.At the same time, in a friendshoring, nearshoring, do more at home type of way, the firm is also exhibiting the right characteristics.This seems like a very useful thing to do or have if you want to make more in the US.
At the same time, the Strategic Development Fund (SDF) invested, which is a fund that is UAE-based and owned by the EDGE group, a UAE defense contractor.EDGE is, on the one hand, looking to boost Emiratization, the local production of things, hopefully by local people, and on the other hand, advance the arms production capabilities of the UAE.EDGE is a large defense firm that makes everything from shells to radar and UAV´s.
Machina will have to be careful politically if it is to take money from and work with both US and non-US defense players.At the same time, this is really a sign of just how important defense money is right now.Right Play With Hadrian’s AI-powered Doosan factory move garnering so much attention and investment, this is also the right approach.
Buildings and machines, but it’s software.It’s not that clunky revenue, but this will be recurring and smooth! It’s not that complex an adoption cycle and business cycle; this will scale! It’s still going to be a bit harder to make a factory or things than to get people to sign up to a free online image filter.But one can see just how enticing it is to investors to extend the magic pixie dust of AI into the real world.
Machina Labs has shown us that, whereas you do not control timing, you work to be in the right place, at the right time, with the right play.We saw how the firm launched a deployable system, raised a $23 million Series B round, and talked about applications with their CBO.We knew that the firm was building capability and positioning, and this has paid off.
Fantastic raise for them that, if they play their cards right, could see them become a real force in manufacturing.Images courtesy of Machina Labs Subscribe to Our Email Newsletter Stay up-to-date on all the latest news from the 3D printing industry and receive information and offers from third party vendors.Print Services Upload your 3D Models and get them printed quickly and efficiently.
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