Vention, a next-generation digital manufacturing platform for custom factory equipment, has completed a $17 million Series A financing round led by Bain Capital Ventures.
The company also released its second major platform upgrade since its founding in 2016.
Bain Capital Ventures joins Vention’s previous investors White Star Capital, Bolt, and Real Ventures.
With this new investment, Vention says it will accelerate the development of its cloud-based MachineBuilder 3D software, expand its modular hardware library, and bring the next wave of plug-and-play factory automation solutions to market.
Vention is radically changing the way companies design and order custom equipment for their operations.
Traditional design-to-build workflows for custom equipment take anywhere from one to six months, depending on the project’s complexity.
Vention’s modular components and easy-to-use cloud platform enable those same workflows to be completed in as little as three days, including shipping, which is offered next-day throughout North America.
Vention’s second major platform release focuses on the user experience, integrating hundreds of new features such as smart part connections, comprehensive design collaboration tools, learning algorithm that predicts the next parts needed in a design.
It also includes 200 new modular components that cover a broad array of use cases in automated equipment, robot cells, tooling, and conveyors applications.
Vention continues what it says is its “rapid growth trajectory”, with 600 percent year-over-year growth. Today, the company serves several hundred clients and thousands of users in a variety of industries, including robotics, aerospace, and automobiles.
Vention is also the first and only combined software and hardware platform certified by Universal Robots, and it maintains partnerships with Thomson Industries, Interroll, and PolyAlto.
Étienne Lacroix, Vention’s founder and CEO, says: “Building a large-scale industrial business takes a special breed of investor. We are excited to partner with Bain Capital Ventures, which has a long track record in our industry.
“Working with Bain Capital Ventures also means we’re bringing an investor on board with a deep understanding of our manufacturing clients’ needs.”
Ajay Agarwal, managing partner at Bain Capital Ventures, says: “As an active investor in robotics and automation, we’ve witnessed the convergence of collaborative robotics, increasing automation, and a growing need for speed and agility in today’s modern manufacturing world.”
That’s what makes this investment such a great fit, according to Agarwal. “Étienne and his team have developed a simple and flexible product that’s being adopted at a rapid clip,” he says.
“The company couldn’t be in a stronger position to seize an enormous market opportunity, and we’re excited to help Vention become a leader in the industrial equipment category.”
