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Digital manufacturing startup Bright Machines raises $132 million in new funding

Bright Machines, a startup which describes itself as “an innovator in software-defined manufacturing”, has raised $132 million in debt and Series B equity funding.

The equity portion of the funding, worth $100 million, was led by Eclipse Ventures. The debt portion of the funding, worth $32 million, was led by Silicon Valley Bank, and Hercules Capital.

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 $330 million since the company’s founding in 2018.

Lior Susan, CEO and co-founder of Bright Machines, says: “We founded Bright Machines with a singular mission to enable our customers to transform the way they have historically approached product assembly.

“We are excited to partner with the industry in creating a more streamlined ‘design-to-make’ process in which every product can be manufactured closer to the end consumer. In today’s unpredictable, global environment, this mission is more important than ever.

“We believe our solutions provide an essential pathway for the industry’s transition to more local, resilient, and sustainable operations. I am proud of the positive impact we’ve made to date and excited for this next phase in our journey.”

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 US based Customer Experience Center in San Francisco in early 2023.

Greg Reichow, partner at Eclipse Ventures, says: “By offering an intelligent automation platform that is fast, flexible, and cost-effective enough to scale with their customers’ businesses, Bright Machines is uniquely positioned to address a critical gap that has persisted in manufacturing for several decades.

“Its software-driven microfactories are key to moving production operations into a future that does not rely on highly repetitive and labor-intensive processes.”

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