Last summer, custom-equipment startup, Vention, took the manufacturing industry by storm with the release of its beta online platform for designing and ordering custom industrial machinery. Since then, the company has partnered with robotics company, Universal Robotics, to create modular parts supporting its robotics and motion products, and expanded its sensor and motion-control selection within its parts library. During the 11-month beta trial, the site has been used by several thousand registered users to create and share designs for stationary and moving equipment from test benches to gantries.
Now, with $3.5 million raised in its seed round, Vention enters its first release and is ready to fill orders on industrial equipment that is custom designed using the site's 3D MachineBuilder. It has also launched its new MachineApps and MachineMotion platform to let users take a plug-and-play approach when programming their equipment's motion profiles.
Vention's online CAD and purchase process is measured to be 20 times faster than traditional workflows, and is easy to learn how to use. For companies looking for equipment with a short product lifecycle, there is less trade-off for getting custom machinery onto factory floor, since the designers do not need to spend months designing their product.
This article originally appeared on MachineDesign.