Ghent, Belgium / San Francisco, USA – Oqton, Inc., the U.S.- and Belgium-based software company specialising in AI-powered solutions for the manufacturing industry, today announces that it has raised over $40M in a Series A financing round, led by Fortino Capital, a leading B2B software investor, by PMV, the regional Flemish investment fund, and by Sandvik, a global engineering group. The founding team (Samir Hanna and Ben Schrauwen) and several angel investors, including Carl Bass (former CEO Autodesk), Dries Buytaert (Drupal and Acquia), and Peter Mercelis (Layerwise) also participated in the round. The financing will be used to further develop its platform, while expanding its commercial partnerships in multiple domains and verticals (Additive manufacturing, Robotic welding, CNC machining).
Oqton’s platform is unique in that it combines several manufacturing software capabilities (CAD, PLM, CAM, IOT, MES, QMS) into a single platform, enabling an unprecedented degree of AI-powered automation and optimization. Users can automatically capture expert knowledge and eliminate repetitive tasks, access technologies remotely and across multiple sites, and optimize production planning to improve utilization and quality.
Samir Hanna, Oqton’s Co-Founder and Chairman, said: “We can already achieve 100% automation in the dental and jewelry verticals, resulting in 30% overall cost reduction. Given the platform strategy, the software can be targeted to many specific industry verticals, like dental, jewelry, medical, industrial and aerospace, as well as to different personas and workflows within those industries.”
Being fully integrated, users can also link the platform to their traditional technologies, such as CNC, welding, and post-processing machines for a truly end-to-end manufacturing solution, making their processes faster, more adaptable, and more cost-effective. Oqton has already established partnerships with EOS, Sisma, Trumpf, Prodways and 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.
More on Oqton in today’s article in Belgian newspaper De Tijd (Dutch version only).
About Oqton
Oqton develops AI-powered manufacturing solutions to allow manufacturers to manage, optimize, and automate their additive manufacturing workflows. Their software offering is a secure, cloud-based platform that links data across the complete manufacturing ecosystem – from design to production to logistics. Founded in San Francisco, Oqton is based in Ghent, Belgium, with offices in the US, China and Denmark.
About Fortino Capital Partners
Fortino Capital Partners is a Benelux-focused enterprise software investor with a pan European reach. Fortino Capital invests in both Venture Capital and Growth private equity assets. With offices in Antwerp and Amsterdam, Fortino Capital’s investment portfolio includes Teamleader, Insided, MobileXpense, Efficy CRM, Sigma Conso and iObeya among others.
About PMV
PMV is a do and dare company that shapes the economic future of Flanders. PMV finances promising companies from the very start to growth and internationalization. PMV offers tailor-made financial solutions for every entrepreneur with a solid business plan and a strong management team, by providing venture capital, loans and guarantees. An experienced and highly motivated team of 125 professionals endeavors every day to achieve the goal of creating prosperity and well-being in Flanders. PMV has a portfolio of about € 1.3 billion in assets under management.
About Sandvik Group
Sandvik is a high-tech and global engineering group offering products and services that enhance customer productivity, profitability and safety. Sandvik holds world-leading positions in selected areas – tools and tooling systems for metal cutting; equipment and tools, service and technical solutions for the mining industry and rock excavation within the construction industry; products in advanced stainless steels and special alloys as well as products for industrial heating. In 2019, the Group had approximately 40,000 employees and revenues of about 100 billion SEK in more than 160 countries within continuing operations.
