Tagged: manufacturing
30 results
Timmy Seto
Timmy Seto is the co-founder and CEO of Forge Automation, a Toronto startup in Y Combinator's Winter 2025 batch that runs software-enabled factories to make custom CNC metal parts in four days or less. A University of Waterloo engineering graduate who interned at Apple, Formlabs, and iRobot, he has spent more than a decade around machines and describes his job in plain terms: send him a CAD file and he will make it exist in the real world.
Yoochun Kim
Yoochun Kim (Kim Yoo-cheon) is the founder and CEO of YC Corporation, a Seoul-based digital transformation company he started on April 1, 2022. As an authorized Autodesk partner, YC supplies CAD, CAM, MES and PLM software plus hardware to small and mid-sized Korean manufacturers - the metal shops, tool makers and injection molders that most smart-factory programs skip. Kim built the company to over 7 billion won in annual revenue in roughly two years, taking no outside investment and funding growth entirely through solution and service work.
Ambria (YC W24)
Ambria is a San Francisco startup building AI agents for the industrial world - production-ready agents that automate back-office operations across manufacturing and distribution. Founded by UIUC classmates Praneeth Guduguntla and Arman Rafati, the company went through Y Combinator's Winter 2024 batch, where it first launched as Glimmer, an AI search engine for massive PDFs, before turning its document-reasoning expertise toward the paperwork-heavy back offices of industrial companies.
Axross
Axross is a Singapore-based, Y Combinator W22 climate-tech company that builds AI-driven HVAC control systems for industrial facilities. By layering machine-learning optimization, IoT sensing, and building-management-system integration on top of existing cooling infrastructure, Axross helps manufacturers in energy-intensive sectors like pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, and precision manufacturing cut HVAC energy use by up to 30%, lower Scope 2 emissions, and hold production environments precisely stable - without ripping out the equipment they already own.
Bizmark
Bizmark is a Y Combinator (S26) startup building an operating system for companies that make, move, or sell physical goods. It connects to the systems, inboxes, spreadsheets, documents, and know-how already inside a business and turns that context into automated quoting, dynamic scheduling, and inventory forecasting - shipping a working product in weeks rather than years.
Greypoint Industries
Greypoint Industries is a Y Combinator S26 defense hardware startup building mass-produced, soldier-deployable autonomous interceptors that shoot down attacking drones for a fraction of the cost of the drones themselves. Founded by four Canadians with roots in the Canadian Infantry and hardware engineering, the company designs and manufactures counter-drone systems for Western and allied forces, aiming to give frontline soldiers an affordable answer to mass drone-swarm attacks.
Hexa
Hexa builds AI agents for mid-market industrial distributors and manufacturers - the companies that move bearings, fasteners, PVF, and electrical parts and drown in RFQs, purchase orders, and invoices. Its agents plug into the ERP the customer already runs (SAP, NetSuite, Epicor, Dynamics) and run whole workflows end to end: reading an emailed request for quote, entering the order, matching the invoice, chasing the late payment. No rip-and-replace, live in weeks. Founded in 2026 and part of Y Combinator's P26 batch.
Industrial Next
Industrial Next builds AI-defined factories: robotic work cells powered by proprietary foundation models that connect vision, task context, and motion so a production line can be retooled in minutes instead of weeks - no programming required. Founded in 2021 by former Tesla autonomous-manufacturing leads Allen Pan and Lukas Pankau, the San Francisco company aims to bring Tesla-grade autonomous factory capabilities to automakers and electronics manufacturers.
Pairio
Pairio is an AI mobile app that helps factory technicians fix broken machines. A technician speaks into their phone or snaps a photo of a faulty machine, and Pairio searches thousands of pages of OEM manuals and past repair records to return step-by-step fixes on the spot. After each repair, the technician talks through what they did and Pairio structures the learnings into shareable know-how, so institutional knowledge outlives the workers who retire. Founded in 2025 by Tim Zinkl and Matthias Wolf and backed by Y Combinator (P26), Pairio is already cutting repair times by roughly 25% across four manufacturing plants in Germany.
Perseus Defense
Perseus Defense is a YC S25 aerospace and defense startup building low-cost, man-portable guided micro-missiles to shoot down small drones. Its Harpe interceptor targets Group 1 and Group 2 drones at a claimed cost of under $10,000 per shot - roughly a 20x reduction versus existing systems - closing the cost gap where a $500 drone can threaten multi-million-dollar assets. Founded by ex-NASA aerospace engineer Jason Cornelius and ex-Boeing autonomy lead Steve Messinger, the company is building an affordable, mass-producible 'Iron Dome for drones' for U.S. defense and homeland security customers.
Sanifu
Sanifu (formerly Patika, YC S22) is a Nairobi-based company whose AI reads sales orders arriving by email, WhatsApp, PDF and even handwritten notes, then enters them straight into a manufacturer's ERP system. It cuts order-processing time from 5-10 minutes to under 30 seconds and targets the roughly 180,000 manufacturers and distributors across Africa still keying orders in by hand.
Sidekick
Sidekick is an AI-powered SMS assistant for frontline and deskless workers in manufacturing, auto dealerships, and retail. Workers text questions in any language and get instant answers pulled from their company's own documents - no app, no login, works on any phone. They can send photos of equipment for identification or voice memos when their hands are dirty. When Sidekick cannot answer, it escalates to a manager over SMS and learns from the reply. Founded in 2026 by Justin So and backed by Y Combinator (S26), it is live with 20+ plants and 600+ workers.
Vendra
Vendra is a San Francisco-based, YC-backed (S24) manufacturing platform that connects hardware teams with US manufacturers for custom parts. Customers submit a single RFQ; Vendra reads the CAD and drawings, matches the job to domestic suppliers with the right equipment and open capacity, gathers competitive quotes, and manages production through delivery. It is ITAR-registered and focused on aerospace, defense, and hard-tech companies, positioning itself against legacy quoting platforms like Xometry and Protolabs with real-time capacity matching.
YC Precision Fabrication
YC Precision Fabrication is a York, Pennsylvania precision sheet metal fabricator operating under the York Corrugating Company name since 1902. From a 125,000 sq. ft. facility, the roughly 11-employee (some directories list 100-249) contract shop runs MAZAK lasers and TRUMPF automatic punch presses with lights-out automation, offering laser cutting, CNC punching, press brake bending, shearing, welding, assembly and finishing to military, heavy equipment, automotive, elevator, HVAC and appliance customers under ISO 9001:2015 certification.
Saurabh Chandra
Saurabh Chandra is the co-founder and CEO of Ati Motors (Ati Robotics), a Bengaluru-born maker of autonomous mobile robots for factory and warehouse material movement. A mechanical engineer from IIT (BHU) Varanasi who earlier built and sold the IT services firm Neev to Razorfish, he started Ati in 2017 to bring self-driving-car style autonomy to the factory floor. His Sherpa robots now move trolleys, bins and pallets for customers including Airbus, Hyundai, Samsung and TVS Motor, and in January 2025 the company raised a $20M Series B to expand into North America.
Hysata
Hysata is an Australian clean-energy manufacturer commercialising a capillary-fed electrolyser that splits water into hydrogen at around 95% system efficiency, well above conventional electrolysers. Spun out of the University of Wollongong, the company aims to produce green hydrogen at the lowest cost to help decarbonise hard-to-abate sectors such as steel, chemicals and heavy transport, and is scaling toward gigawatt-scale manufacturing at Port Kembla, New South Wales.
Gina Group
Gina Group is a New York-based fashion, lifestyle and branding company that designs, licenses, manufactures and distributes a broad range of consumer products - hosiery, footwear, handbags, accessories, cold-weather gear, health and wellness items, pet products and gourmet foods. Founded in 1985 as Gina Hosiery, it has grown into a multi-division wholesale house serving retailers from dollar stores to department stores, managing licensed brands such as Rampage and Bearpaw alongside an extensive private-label business.
Kellwood Company
Kellwood Company is an American apparel design, sourcing, manufacturing and marketing firm founded in 1961. It builds and operates women's, juniors' and girls' fashion brands - including Democracy, Jolt, Briggs New York, Rewind, My Michelle and Wit & Wisdom - and provides private-label and full-package product development, sourcing, quality assurance and distribution services for major retailers such as Nordstrom, Macy's, Kohl's, Dillard's, Target and Costco.
Mizuno USA
Mizuno USA is the North American arm of Mizuno Corporation, the Osaka-founded sporting goods maker established in 1906. Headquartered in Peachtree Corners, Georgia, it designs, manufactures and distributes running, baseball, fastpitch and slow-pitch softball, golf, volleyball, and tennis equipment, footwear and apparel for the U.S. market. Known for its RunBird logo and signature Wave and Enerzy cushioning technologies, Mizuno serves everyday athletes, collegiate and professional teams, and specialty retailers across the region.
Q4 Designs LLC
Q4 Designs LLC is a New York-based apparel company that designs, sources, produces and manages branded outerwear and sportswear on behalf of well-known brand partners. Founded in 2011 by Harry Tawil and built on more than five decades of combined industry experience, Q4 handles the full product life cycle - design, sourcing and production, planning and sales, and operations - across four Centers of Excellence. Its licensed portfolio spans brands including DKNY, Reebok, Jessica Simpson, Steve Madden, Free Country, Bebe, Canada Weathergear, Snozu and Spyder, covering men's, women's and children's outerwear, sportswear, swimwear and accessories.
Randa Apparel & Accessories
Randa Apparel & Accessories is a privately held, family-run fashion company and the world's largest men's accessories business. Tracing its roots to a 1910 Lower East Side neckwear shop, Randa designs, sources, manufactures and distributes belts, wallets, headwear, gloves, umbrellas, slippers, tailored clothing and sportswear across a portfolio of 30-plus owned and licensed brands - including Levi's, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Columbia, Dickies, Haggar and Totes Isotoner. Operating in roughly 11 countries with about 2,000 employees, the company topped $1 billion in sales and quietly supplies the accessories sold in more than 10,000 stores under names most shoppers recognize but rarely connect to Randa.
Velcro Companies
Velcro Companies is the maker of the original VELCRO Brand hook-and-loop fastener, invented by Swiss engineer George de Mestral after studying burrs under a microscope in the 1940s. From its U.S. base in Manchester, New Hampshire, the privately held firm designs and manufactures thousands of fastening variants - from basic fabric closures to injection-molded plastics, high-temperature retention systems and medical-grade straps - serving customers across medical, aerospace, automotive, military, industrial, footwear, packaging and consumer markets in roughly seven countries.
Wilson Sporting Goods Co.
Wilson Sporting Goods is a Chicago-based, 113-year-old maker of sports equipment and apparel and one of the most recognized names in athletics. Owned by Amer Sports, Wilson designs and manufactures gear across tennis, basketball, football, baseball, golf, pickleball, padel, volleyball and soft goods, supplying professional leagues, elite athletes and everyday players. It is the official ball supplier to the NBA and NFL, backs a portfolio that includes Louisville Slugger, DeMarini and EvoShield, and has spent recent years pushing into apparel, direct-to-consumer retail and manufacturing innovation such as its 3D-printed Airless basketball.
Daryl Lim
Daryl Lim is the co-founder and CEO of Augmentus, a no-code robotics company that lets factory operators program industrial robots by 3D-scanning a part instead of writing code or CAD. Founded in Singapore in 2019 and now US-headquartered near Austin, Texas, Augmentus targets surface finishing, sanding, welding and spray coating for high-mix manufacturing. A serial entrepreneur since his teens, Lim was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia in 2022 and has raised roughly $16-17M across seed and Series A rounds, including an $11M round in July 2025.
Aquant
Aquant is a New York-based enterprise AI company that builds agentic AI purpose-built for servicing complex equipment. Its platform turns an organization's service data and expert knowledge into AI agents that guide field technicians, call-center agents, customers and service leaders in real time - improving first-time fix rates, cutting repeat visits and closing the service skills gap across industries like medical devices, industrial machinery and manufacturing.
BILT Incorporated
BILT Incorporated is a Grapevine, Texas software company that replaces paper manuals and static PDFs with 3D, voice- and text-guided Intelligent Instructions for assembling, installing, maintaining, and repairing physical products. Through its mobile app and, increasingly, extended-reality headsets, BILT lets people rotate and zoom animated 3D models step by step, cutting setup time, support calls, and product returns. Brands from Weber and NordicTrack to Siemens, Chamberlain, and Clearfield use BILT to turn the first-use experience into a source of customer loyalty, while government and military customers use it for training and readiness.
Conner Industries, Inc.
Conner Industries is a Fort Worth, Texas manufacturer and distributor of industrial lumber and custom, mixed-material packaging - wood pallets, crates, skids, foam, corrugate and plastic. Founded in 1981, it has grown into one of the largest players in U.S. industrial wood, running roughly 18 manufacturing sites across 14 states and reporting revenue near $200 million. Under CEO David Dixon, the company has pivoted from a commodity lumber business into an integrated packaging platform, using a string of acquisitions to add engineered protective packaging, foam fabrication and logistics services like 3PL, VMI and kitting.
DeepHow
DeepHow is a Detroit-based enterprise AI company that turns the hands-on know-how of experienced industrial workers into structured, searchable training. Founded in 2018 by former Siemens innovation leaders, its platform uses vision AI and machine learning to capture expert workflows on video, automatically segment and transcribe them into step-by-step guides, and - in its newer 'physical AI' products - verify that frontline operators are performing tasks correctly in real time. Used by manufacturers, pharma companies and field-service organizations to close skills gaps as veteran workers retire.
Gembah
Gembah is an Austin-based product development platform and marketplace that helps entrepreneurs, e-commerce sellers, and small-to-midsize businesses take physical products from idea to shelf. It connects creators with a global network of vetted designers, engineers, and supply chain specialists, and manages design, prototyping, factory sourcing, and production across regions including China, Vietnam, India, Mexico, and Eastern Europe - aiming to demystify and democratize the process of bringing new consumer products to market.
Gravity
Gravity (formerly Gravity Climate) is a San Francisco-based enterprise software company that combines carbon accounting and energy management in a single platform built for industrial businesses and their supply chains. Founded in 2022 by Saleh ElHattab, the company automates the collection of utility and emissions data, generates audit-ready Scope 1, 2, and 3 disclosures, and runs a marketplace that helps customers identify, finance, and implement energy-efficiency projects that cut both costs and emissions. Backed by more than $20M in funding, Gravity works with companies like Autodesk, WM, Geotab, Xometry, and MiddleGround Capital.