A London-based startup which matches manufacturers with suppliers through its digital platform has secured $8.5m in Series A funding.
Geomiq describes itself as the UK’s leading Manufacturing-as-a-Service (MaaS) platform and the investment will enable them to recruit 60 new members of staff.
The round was led by AXA Venture Partners alongside Samaipata, Fuel Ventures and TechNexus.
Geomiq allows businesses to shorten development cycles and get products to market faster, with quality manufacturing at lower cost, removing the ‘single point of failure’ that has hampered so many organisations in times of disruption.
Customers begin by uploading CAD files or 2D engineering drawings and Geomiq’s machine learning algorithms matches each job to vetted partners that have immediate capacity.
CEO and co-founder Sam Al-Mukhtar said: “We are grateful for the incredible support from our investors. With so many global events affecting supply chains in recent years, we have reached a tipping point. The manufacturing industry remains far behind in terms of digitisation, and we are on a mission to solve that.”
Geomiq already boasts an enviable client base including electric vehicle manufacturer Arrival, Brompton Bicycle and Transport for London.
Al-Mukhtar added: “We are particularly proud to be supporting the UK’s aerospace, automotive, robotic and medical sectors , all of which are at an exciting inflection point. To send parts into space was a particularly exciting moment and we are looking forward to hitting new heights in the years to come.”
He previously worked as lead design engineer at Ideaworks, where he saw first-hand the difficulty manufacturers faced in getting quotes for – and ordering – custom parts with confidence.
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Alongside co-founder Will Hoyer Millar, he has built a company that has so far helped connect over 3,000 unique buyers and 300 unique sellers of all sizes, manufacturing over two million parts.
François Robinet, managing partner at AXA Venture Partners, said: “Geomiq’s digital offer is a game changer, as they gather all key players in the value chain under one roof, from quote to delivery. Their approach on Manufacturing as a Service (MaaS) plays a critical role in the industry’s future. By sharing the same vision with Sam and Will, we are very confident at AVP we will be in the forefront of the digital revolution within the manufacturing sector. ”
Founded in 2018, Geomiq has a team of 34 people based in East London.