Building blocks: SAEKI emerges from stealth with $2.3 million funding round

The architecture, engineering and construction industry has undergone significant changes in recent years yet one major challenge they face is the slow and costly manufacture of large components as part of their installations.

Enabling the industry to move faster and efficiently, SAEKI has launched from stealth with a $2.3 million seed funding round with a mission to create fully automated plants with industrial robots using 3D technology to create anything from wings for aircraft to construction site installations.

The funding round was led by Wingman Ventures including participation from Vento Ventures, Getty Capital and angel investors.

Founded in 2021 by Andrea Perissinotto, Oliver Harley and Matthias Leschok, SAEKI works with the architectural design, engineering design and construction services industry to turn complex designs into reality, save concrete and CO2 having developed a new method to produce custom concrete formwork cost-effectively.

They achieve this by combining 3D printing, milling, with large industrial robots that can print formwork up to many metres in length, very efficiently and when it comes to design complexity, the opportunity is unlimited.

Currently, to develop a lightweight carbon fibre element, or to build a topologically optimised concrete floor slab, buyers would have to wait months and spend vast sums of money to receive a first sample and only then build a prototype, let alone consider reiterating for any flaws.

With SAEKI this bottleneck is removed, enabling buyers to rapidly innovate, grow their services and offerings in ways they have not been able to before. Indeed, for large scale items, this has not been previously possible.

Andrea Perissinotto, co-founder of SAEKI, says: “From what we build underground, to what we build on earth, to what goes to space, from the construction to aerospace industries, there is a need for large, one-off (custom) components, that are mostly used once a couple of times at most, then scrapped.

“Manufacturing these parts, from the moulds to make concrete elements to the tooling required to build composite rockets, is labour intensive, has long lead times, and is very expensive. Moreover, these factors delay hardware iteration to get to the final product.

“For vast swathes of industry it’s not practical to own and manage robots that can create what you need quickly. We are at the forefront of addressing this and democratising access to the best tools and creating productive, sustainable and effective outcomes for industry.

“Long lead times for large components will be a thing of the past and we can provide faster and cost effective iterations. Our comprehensive approach sets us apart – it’s not just about being faster or cheaper; it’s about providing a complete solution that caters to the entire spectrum of challenges, which is resonating well with our customers.”

SAEKI is focussed on building a partnership of trust, support, and mutual growth with its customers.

The team currently works hand-in-hand with customers, understanding their unique challenges, and tailoring the microfactories to address their specific needs. This collaborative approach will help the business unleash its full potential.

SAEKI is building its first production hub, which will be the blueprint for further expansion.

In an industry bottlenecked by manual processes, the company takes on the difficult challenge of solving manufacturing problems, acting as a catalyst and enabler for radical growth and progress across industry.

The production hub will offer industrial robots built by SAEKI. The robots will combine multiple digital manufacturing methods, from 3D printing, milling, inspection to creating an all in one low waste production process and recyclable materials.

The robots will act as microfactories; self-contained units able to do all the manufacturing steps, easily deployable for localised manufacturing.

Additionally, SAEKI will offer a quoting platform tailored to the customers’ own business needs to remove the complex opaque approach currently in the market.

Edouard Treccani, principal at Wingman Ventures, says: “We’re thrilled to join forces with SAEKI as lead investor of their pre-seed round.

“Their groundbreaking approach to distributed additive manufacturing has the power to revolutionize sectors from aerospace to construction through disruptive tech, local production and sustainable materials.

“We look forward to supporting them as they embark on their mission to create yet another deep-tech champion from Switzerland.”

SAEKI is building a platform that will allow our customers to transcend the limits of traditional manufacturing, where size, complexity, and efficiency are no longer obstacles but catalysts for progress.

In doing so, SAEKI envisions a network of decentralised, robot operated production hubs around the world.

Matthias Leschok, co-founder at SAEKI, says: “In 10 years from now SAEKI envisions lights-out factories filled with SAEKI microfactories autonomously producing complex, material and weight saving formwork for the construction industry, fixtures and tooling for super-sonic jets or composite moulds for the next generation formula one cars.

“SAEKI’s mission is to empower design freedom to be efficient and sustainable – irrespective of the final product.”