An established software company with an AI platform for smart manufacturing

The core product is a modular, AI-powered platform for the digital transformation of manufacturing companies, covering the areas of manufacturing operations management, worker assistance, predictive maintenance, and production planning with integrated AI. Cloud-native architecture, significantly faster implementation than with traditional MES providers, and no-code configurability. Depending on preference, the product can be operated either on-premises or as a cloud solution.

The product is market-ready and has been validated by existing customers. The SaaS transformation is currently underway with the goal of acquiring new customers exclusively through the subscription model. Growth capital will be used to expand sales, boost marketing efforts, and complete product standardization.

The company specifically targets SMEs in the manufacturing sector (with 100–500 employees) that require simple, cost-effective software solutions for production planning and control. These companies often still rely on paper- and/or Excel-based systems in their production processes and therefore currently have only very limited (or only with considerable effort) access to meaningful information regarding, for example, exact order status, the availability of required resources (e.g., machines), and current lead times. Some of these customers have ERP systems, but these are—if at all—only rudimentarily networked with their machinery. While machines from the same manufacturer at these customers are often capable of communication and networking, there is no comprehensive networking of all production equipment or integration with the ERP system for production planning and control. At the same time, these customers often lack the internal IT resources for traditional, implementation- and consulting-intensive projects, and digitization via numerous individual solutions is too complex for them.

Industrial production in Europe can only remain competitive through increasing digitalization. Currently, only 24% of German industrial companies have an MES solution, and only 15% have implemented a digital factory. This means the addressable market potential is very attractive. CRA compliance, set to take effect in 2027, further increases the pressure on SMEs to invest.

In total, there are approximately 250,000 companies in the manufacturing sector in the DACH region (Total Addressable Market). Of these, approximately 4,000 are based in Germany and operate in the metal processing, plastics processing, ceramics manufacturing, mechanical and electronic components manufacturing, and building materials industries (Serviceable Addressable Market). A good half of these—that is, around 2,000 companies—do not have their own IT specialists (Serviceable Obtainable Market).

The competition focuses on software solutions that are either highly complex and designed for large enterprises (and therefore very expensive), or on solutions with a limited range of functions that focus on individual production processes. The latter providers, in particular, often offer highly specialized niche solutions that require significant customization to fit individual business processes. To date, there is no solution for SMEs that guarantees a broad range of features, coverage of the entire spectrum of production processes and machine interfaces, and affordability. Another key differentiator is the operator’s ability to implement simple extensions themselves without any programming effort (no-code) or consultant involvement (and thus at a lower cost).