Vention, the first digital manufacturing platform dedicated to machine design, is announcing the launch of the first public version of its free cloud-based 3D MachineBuilder™ and the securing of a $3.5 million CAD seed financing led by White Star Capital, alongside previous investors Bolt and Real Ventures.

Ventions digital manufacturing platform enables engineers to design and order custom equipment for next-day delivery through a fully-integrated digital workflow. Traditionally, the "design-to-build" workflow for custom machines could take anywhere from four weeks to six months, depending on the complexity of the equipment. Ventions modular components and free Cloud-CAD enable the workflow to be completed in as little as three days, including next-day shipping across the U.S. and Canada.

Vention is serving everything from large automobile and aerospace companies to emerging robotics startups. The company also recently became the first and only design software and hardware platform certified by Universal Robots, the worlds largest collaborative robot manufacturer.

"After 10 months of closed and open beta, Ventions digital manufacturing platform is ready for wider public access. The transition from beta to first release, combined with the completion of a strong seed financing, will significantly accelerate our vision to become the worlds most prominent Machine Design platform." said CEO Etienne Lacroix.

Ventions beta program was a success on many fronts:

Heavily tested by thousands of users - Thousands of users used Vention 3D MachineBuilder™ for 15,000+ hours, creating over 3,000 assemblies.
25 platform updates with significant feature upgrades - Vention introduced 130 improvements in over 25 releases, including full-fledged revision management, significantly improved "intelligent 3D constraints," and real-time prices and assembly time.
Launched MachineMotion™ and MachineApps™ - Vention launched this first of its kind all-in-one industrial motion controller that can be programmed directly from a web browser using a library of free "public apps" available on Vention.io.
Hundreds of pieces of custom equipment delivered - Vention delivered hundreds of pieces of equipment (e.g., robot equipment, industrial tooling, automated test benches) in North America, Europe, and Asia, leveraging the full portfolio of Ventions part library.
Published a library of 200+ public assemblies - Ventions users have published over 200 assemblies that are publicly available, covering categories such as assembly jigs, cartesian robots, test benches and robot stands.
"Over the last 12 months, we established the foundation of a new category of CAD software. Our sole focus on machine design combined with tight hardware component integration enabled us to build an array of intelligent and automated features that could never have been possible with traditional CAD software. We are now entering a new phase of development with a greater focus on design automation, large assembly management, and In-CAD industrial automation," said CTO Max Windisch.

Access to the Vention web platform is completely free, with no limit on the amount of 3D designs that users can create. To experience the platform, potential users are invited to sign up for free on http://www.vention.io

-Vention Seed Round-

With the completion of the $3.5 million seed financing, the startup will significantly accelerate the development of his digital manufacturing platform on the hardware and software fronts.

The seed round was led by transatlantic investor, White Star Capital, alongside existing investors Bolt and Real Ventures. Notable angel investors also include Jon Stevenson, CTO at Stratasys and former CTO at GrabCAD, Louis Tetu, current CEO at Coveo and former CEO at Taleo and Rob Stevens CRO at Tive and former VP of Sales and Marketing at Kiva Systems.

To watch an introductory video about Vention digital manufacturing platform, visit https://www.vention.io/videos

For a private briefing or a personal demo of Vention, please contact bre.hargreaves(at)vention.io

-About Vention.io-
Vention is the first digital manufacturing platform dedicated to machine design. Vention provides a fully-integrated 3D MachineBuilder™ and modular component library that lets users design, order and assemble custom industrial equipment directly from a web browser in just a few days. Vention was founded in 2016 by former mechanical and software engineers from General Electric, McKinsey & Co, Microsoft, VMware, and Pivotal. The company aims to become a central tool within the machine design ecosystem.

More information at http://www.vention.io

-About White Star-
White Star Capital is an early-stage Venture Capital firm that invests in exceptional entrepreneurs building ambitious, data-driven businesses. Based out of London, New York, Montreal, Paris and Tokyo our international presence, perspective and people enable us to partner closely with our Founders to help them scale internationally from Series A onwards.

Find out more about how we venture beyond at http://www.whitestarvc.com

-About Bolt-
Bolt is a venture capital firm designed to address the unique needs of early-stage startups at the intersection of hardware and software. In addition to capital, portfolio companies get support from Bolt's world-class engineering team, access to cutting-edge prototyping shops in San Francisco and Boston, and help with manufacturing.

More information at http://www.bolt.io

-About Real Ventures-
Real Ventures invests in ambitious entrepreneurs that are creating the internet experiences of the future or are embracing the power of the internet to disrupt existing industries or business models. Investing pre-traction, its team and networks support entrepreneurs and propel their companies forward.

More information at http://www.realventures.com