Breaking the Bottleneck is a monthly manufacturing technology newsletter with perspectives, interviews, news, funding announcements, and a startup database! If you know any founders, executives, or experts in the space, I would love to chat either via email at aditya@schematicventures.com or on Twitter @araghupathy_!
Database Updates 💭🎙️
Been a busy couple of weeks here so no new content this month but I finally made updates to the manufacturing startup database!
A total of 350+ manufacturing companies, with the following breakdown across categories. Check it out here!
3D Printing / Additive / Mfg-as-a-Service [52]
Cybersecurity and Networks [18]
Design / Simulation / PDM & PLM [25]
Digital Twin and Spatial [11]
Energy and Sustainability [5]
IIoT and Middleware [32]
Industrial AI/ML [71]
Manufacturing and Transactional Systems [54]
Predictive Maintenance [20]
R&D / Materials Optimization / LIMS [14]
Robotics and Drones [46]
Workforce and Wearables [32]
Feel free to DM me on Twitter @araghupathy_ if there are any others that I have missed!
What I Enjoyed Reading This Month 🏭🗞️🔬
News:
The $52 Billion CHIPS Act Faces a Labor Shortage [Bloomberg]
U.S. Manufacturing Growth Outpaces the Rest of the World [Axios]
Good and Bad from the Factory Floor [Bloomberg]
FDA Interest in Pharma Manufacturing AI [Endpoints News]
Chinas Robots Need People [Bloomberg]
TSMC Arizona Plant Tensions [NYTimes]
Gucci Launches Circular Manufacturing Program in Italy [Gucci]
Research:
Scaling Complex Manufacturing in the Aerospace Industry [McKinsey]
The Next Chemicals Manufacturing Hub [McKinsey]
Volta Battery Report [Volta Foundation]
December’s Manufacturing Deals 💰
Freeform - An autonomous 3D printing company leveraging advanced sensing, real-time controls, and data-driven learning to produce metal parts
$45 million [Series A] - Led by Two Sigma Ventures, Founders Fund, and Threshold Ventures
Fabric8Labs - An electrochemical additive manufacturing company looking to drive a 90% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to traditional manufacturing and other additive technologies
$50 million [Series B] - Led by NEA, and joined by imec.XPAND, Intel Capital, LAM Capital, TDK Ventures, and SE Ventures
Liminal - A battery manufacturing intelligence provider that leverages the power of data and analytics to improve the performance and safety of batteries and decreasing their lifetime costs
$17.5 million [Series A2] - From ArcTern Ventures, Northvolt, Ecosystem Integrity Fund, Chrysalix VC, Good Growth Capital, UTECP, Volta Energy Technologies, Impact Science Ventures, and Helios Climate Ventures
Mattiq - A materials design and discovery platform accelerating the exploration, discovery, and real-world deployment of new materials and chemical processes
$15 million [Series Seed] - Led by Material Impact and joined by Kairos Ventures and CS Ventures
Plus One Robotics - A Schematic Ventures portfolio company providing advanced AI vision software and solutions for robotic parcel and material handling
$50 million [Series C] - Led by Scale Venture Partners, and joined by Top Tier Capital Partners, Tyche Partners, and ROBO Global Ventures