July 13, 2024: Ethereal Machines, a multi-axis computer numerical control (CNC) machines manufacturer, has successfully raised $13 million in a Series A round.
Founded in 2014 by Kaushik Mudda and Navin Jain, the startup plans to invest the money raised for research and development and to establish its second ‘Smart Factory’ facility, encompassing 250,000 square feet in Bengaluru, adjacent to the upcoming Foxconn facility, over the next 12 months. This facility expands its existing 50,000 facility in Peenya, Bengaluru. Ethereal Machines growth strategy also include building India’s first multi-axis CNC controller.
The startup has introduced two machines, Aura and Nimbus, to achieve sub-10 micron accuracy for manufacturing precision components. In the previous year the firm raised $7.3 million from Peak XV’s Surge, Blume Ventures, and other investors in July last year.
The Bengaluru based company caters to the aerospace, healthcare, and consumer electronics industries. “This fundraise will allow us to enhance our R&D initiatives and expand our production capacity, positioning India as a global leader in precision manufacturing. Our new Smart Factory will not only elevate our production capabilities but also support the growth of various industries by delivering high-quality, cost-effective precision components,” said Kaushik Mudda, Co-founder, Ethereal Machines, in a statement.
Ethereal Machines to fortify infrastructure and boost exports
“Our vision is to strengthen India’s GDP, fortify infrastructure, boost exports, and create numerous job opportunities, driving the country towards unmatched global competitiveness,” he added. Ethereal Machines plans on benefitting from the renewed manufacturing push for Make in India, in addition to the China+1 global strategy and India’s production linked incentive scheme.
Over the last twelve months, the firm claims to have minimised production cycle for customers by 25-40% and improved their cost efficiency by 10-30%. The portfolio of customers for the company are from the United States, Europe, Israel and India across space-tech, drone-tech, medical diagnostics, and thermal imaging.
“We expect manufacturing in India to be a multi-decadal trend, and Ethereal Machines is strategically positioned to benefit from this. We admire Kaushik and Navin’s commitment to developing homegrown 5-axis CNC machines over the last decade. Their dedication to mould the future of precision manufacturing is inspiring, and we look forward to partnering with them on this journey,” said Puneet Kumar, Managing Director at Steadview Capital.
“Kaushik and Navin have been committed to solving core engineering problems to enable precision manufacturing for several years. Having seen them grow and achieve ever increasing milestones through our Surge programme, Peak XV Partners is thrilled to lead their Series A. We have strong belief in the growth of precision manufacturing as it underpins many of India’s priority areas of development.” Shailesh Lakhani, Managing Director at Peak XV, said in the statement.
This round of funding led by Peak XV Partnersand Steadview Capital. The round also saw participation from returning investors Blume Ventures, Enam Investments, and Sandeep Singhal.
