Oqton, and its AI-powered solutions for additive manufacturing, has raised over $40M in Series A funding, including investment from engineering group Sandvik, which continues to make bold moves into digital manufacturing technology.
Oqton has already established partnerships with EOS, Sisma, Trumpf, Prodways and Sandvik, but it is the latter that has turned investor as part of a ‘strategic agenda’ to broaden its offering in the sector.
In recent times, Sandvik has acquired CGTech, makers of CNC simulation software Vericut; stakes in metals 3D printing experts BeamIT, and joined AM partner projects with industry powerhouses such as GE Additive.
“We are looking forward to working with Oqton and finding ways to expand our offering for increased customer productivity by creating new products that take advantage of Sandvik’s extensive know-how about manufacturing processes and Oqton’s AI-powered manufacturing solutions,” said Sandvik CEO Stefan Widing.
Oqton states that its platform is capable of combining several software capabilities into a single platform, including CAD, PLM, CAM, IOT, MES, QMS, which will allow for an ‘unprecedented degree’ of AI-powered automation and optimisation.
Featured in the 2020 D3D 30, users can automatically capture expert knowledge and eliminate repetitive tasks, access technologies remotely and across multiple sites, and optimise production planning to improve utilisation and quality.
“Oqton’s solution targets inefficiencies and waste in the manufacturing workflow,” said Mathias Johansson, president of the Design & Planning Automation division of Sandvik Manufacturing Solutions.
“We believe that our relationship with Oqton will give us further opportunities to define and reduce waste throughout the entire manufacturing process. We share the same desire to automate workflows and make our customers more efficient.”
Oqton investors for this Series A funding round was led by Belgian pair Fortino Capital, a leading B2B software investor, and PMV, the regional Flemish investment fund, as well as Sandvik.
Oqton’s Co-Founder and CEO, Ben Schrauwen, said: “We are keen to have new investors on board who can help us scale globally, with both a direct and indirect sales approach.
“We truly think the time has come for the manufacturing space to embrace the cloud and we are working hard to facilitate this.”
This funding round coincides with the announcement that Ben Schrauwen, Oqton’s CTO, will be taking over as CEO. Samir Hanna, Oqton’s Co-Founder and leaving CEO, will become executive chairman.
