Bright Machines
Canvas Category Software : Operational Technology : Manufacturing Execution System
Transforming the way things are made. The time to reimagine factories is now and software will define what comes next. We help manufacturers dramatically improve the scalability, flexibility, and economics of production by delivering intelligent automation solutions that are future-proofed by design.
Assembly Line
Bright Machines Raises $126M Series C Funding to Propel Manufacturing Into Software-Defined Era
Bright Machines, an innovator in intelligent, software-defined manufacturing, announced it has raised $126M in Series C funding, with $106M in equity led by investment from funds and accounts managed by BlackRock and participation from NVIDIA, Microsoft, Eclipse, Jabil and Shinhan Securities, and with $20M in venture debt from J.P. Morgan. This brings the company’s total amount raised to more than $400M. The capital will be used to launch product innovations, expand its software stack for increased assembly flexibility, and grow strategic relationships with ecosystem partners.
Bright Machines Collaborates with Microsoft Azure to Deliver Software-Defined Manufacturing
Bright Machines, an innovator in intelligent, software-defined manufacturing, announced an integration and go-to-market collaboration with Microsoft Azure to deliver a full stack environment for all stages of the manufacturing life cycle, from product design to assembly to disassembly. With this collaboration, Bright Machines will enable an accessible, efficient, and data-driven manufacturing process for electronics manufacturers.
Through this collaboration, Bright Machines is building on Azure and working with Microsoft to directly reach customers and partners, including through the Azure Marketplace. The integration will allow Bright Machines to deliver this transformation in manufacturing to customers across the ecosystem.
Bright Machines Raises $132M in New Funding to Expand Intelligent Automation in Manufacturing
Bright Machines, an innovator in software-defined manufacturing, announced today $132M in debt and Series B equity funding. The equity portion of the funding, worth $100M, was led by Eclipse Ventures. The debt portion of the funding, worth $32M, was led by Silicon Valley Bank (NASDAQ: SIVB) and Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE: HTGC). Bright Machines intends to use the funds to accelerate the company’s growth, which includes continued expansion into high-demand industry verticals, and the development of new software and service offerings to complement its existing portfolio of products. This round of funding brings the total raised by Bright Machines to $330M since the company’s founding in 2018.
In addition to refining and extending the capabilities of its flagship product, the Bright Machines Microfactory, the company plans to use the funds to accelerate its Brightware software roadmap, expand its service offerings, strengthen its partner network, and grow its installed base of customers. It will also unveil an Integration Hub in Guadalajara, Mexico, later this year and a U.S. based Customer Experience Center in San Francisco in early 2023.
Bright Machines Announces Leadership Transition as Company Enters Next Phase of Growth
Following this announcement, Bright Machines’ Board of Directors is commencing a search for a new CEO, with Hanspal serving in an advisory capacity to the Company during the transition period.
Separately, due to unfavorable timing and current market conditions, SCVX Corp. (NYSE: SCVX), and Bright Machines are jointly announcing today that both companies have mutually agreed to terminate their business combination agreement that was previously announced in May.
CFO on why Bright Machines is going public via SPAC
Manufacturing automation company Bright Machines is going public through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger with its sights set on two goals — raising money quickly to fuel its capital expenditure-heavy business model and broadening its reach at a time when companies are struggling with supply chain issues, something it can help them with. The company integrates the hardware side with the software side of the business through a micro-factory setup, which can make it easier for companies that are working through supply chain issues to replicate their operations elsewhere.
The company, which generates about $35 million a year in sales to some two dozen customers, including medical diagnostics company DRW, attracted a $1.6 billion valuation in the spring when the merger was announced. It’s expecting to generate $435 million in cash through the merger, split almost evenly between the money held by the SPAC, SCVX Corp., and capital from a private investment in public equity (PIPE).
Innovation Fuels Stanley Black & Decker's Transformation
With more than 100 manufacturing plants globally, the 178-year-old Stanley Black & Decker (SBD) has entrenched itself one of the world’s most recognizable and innovative brands.
A key component of the company’s staying power? The company has stayed on a clear journey of continuous improvement with dedication to innovation that includes regularly applying advanced technologies across the company’s operation, ultimately resulting in a culture dedicated to seeking “game changing solutions” that consistently yields an impressive number of new products and world firsts each year.
Microfactories in Action
Challenges of Automated Assembly
A product’s design determines its features, materials, performance, time to market and costs. Its quality, however, depends on the quality of the processes used to develop and make it. This doesn’t mean good designs only come from healthy design processes, but the odds of good results are surely higher if the processes are healthy.
So, how healthy are your product development processes?