Manufacturing technology business Fractory has raised 拢4.2 million in funding.
Fractory, which employs 70 people, is headquartered in Manchester鈥檚 Bonded Warehouse. This year it featured on our FactoryTech 50 ranking and placed 32nd in the Financial Times鈥� ranking of Europe鈥檚 1,000 fastest-growing companies.
An online platform connecting engineers with production capacity, it has automated the manufacturing procurement process so that engineers simply upload design files to get instant quotes and delivery times, with Fractory taking responsibility for every aspect of the order.
Its customers also use the platform for series manufacturing, project manufacturing and prototyping.
Trading since 2017, the firm was founded by mechanical engineer Martin Vares along with Joosep Merelaht and Rein Torm.聽
The聽 round is led by new early-stage investment company Kvanted, whose focus is on companies聽 building industrial technologies in Northern Europe.聽
Other participants in the funding round include all those venture capital groups, angel investors and聽 entrepreneurs who have bought into Fractory since it launched, amongst them Superhero Capital, OTB Ventures, Trind Ventures, United Angels VC, Startup Wise Guys and Verve Ventures.聽
FactoryTech 50 – UK’s most innovative manufacturing technology creators
鈥淜vanted understands exactly what we are doing. They have a longer-than-average investment聽 period to align with the lengthier development cycles in industrial tech,鈥� said Vares. 鈥淎nd they act as a connector,聽 in our case bringing innovative technology providers together with traditional industrial companies.
鈥淜vanted has broad industry experience and unique networks, and their fund investors include聽 prominent industrial players such as Oras Invest. It鈥檚 the best possible strategic partnership for聽 Fractory at this stage.鈥澛�
Kvanted, which has raised its first fund of 鈧�70 million, is based in Finland. Fractory is its first investment.
Founding partner Axel Ahlstr枚m added: 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of untapped potential in the industrial sector, and our aim is to accelerate industrial聽 innovation, connecting industrial technology startups with established corporations.聽
鈥淔ractory, which聽 is one of those startups, is already on an impressive trajectory, with increasing client numbers, and聽 our aim is to help it become more widely adopted across industry. Fractory鈥檚 important position in聽 the world of manufacturing is clear to us and we see the scope for its growth increasing through this聽 partnership.鈥�