Currently, it is time-consuming and expensive to develop a lightweight carbon fibre element, or to build a topologically optimised concrete floor slab. Buyers would have to wait months and spend vast sums of money to receive a first sample and only then build a prototype, let alone consider reiterating for any flaws.
With Swiss startup SAEKI Robotics, this bottleneck is removed. It enables buyers to rapidly innovate, grow their services and offerings in ways they have not been able to before.
$2.3M funding to emerge from stealth
Now, SAEKI Robotics has launched from stealth with a $2.3 million seed funding. The round was led by Wingman Ventures (which backed Numarics, DePoly and UniSieve), and saw participation from Vento Ventures, Getty Capital and angel investors.
The fresh funds will enable the Swiss startup to create fully automated plants with industrial robots using 3D technology to create anything from wings for aircraft to construction site installations.
Andrea Perissinotto, Co-Founder of SAEKI, commented: “From what we build underground, to what we build on earth, to what goes to space, from the construction to aerospace industries, there is a need for large, one-off (custom) components, that are mostly used once a couple of times at most, then scrapped. Manufacturing these parts, from the moulds to make concrete elements to the tooling required to build composite rockets, is labour intensive, has long lead times, and is very expensive. Moreover, these factors delay hardware iteration to get to the final product.”
Edouard Treccani, Principal at Wingman Ventures commented: “We’re thrilled to join forces with SAEKI as lead investor of their pre-seed round. Their groundbreaking approach to distributed additive manufacturing has the power to revolutionize sectors from aerospace to construction through disruptive tech, local production and sustainable materials. We look forward to supporting them as they embark on their mission to create yet another deep-tech champion from Switzerland.”
Matthias Leschok, Co-Founder at SAEKI added: “In 10 years from now SAEKI envisions lights-out factories filled with SAEKI microfactories autonomously producing complex, material and weight saving formwork for the construction industry, fixtures and tooling for super-sonic jets or composite moulds for the next generation formula one cars. SAEKI’s mission is to empower design freedom to be efficient and sustainable – irrespective of the final product.”
Builds its first production hub
Founded in 2021 by Andrea Perissinotto, Oliver Harley and Matthias Leschok, SAEKI works with the architectural design, engineering design and construction services industry to turn complex designs into reality, save concrete and CO2.
SAEKI is building its first production hub, which will be the blueprint for further expansion. The production hub will offer industrial robots built by SAEKI. The robots will combine multiple digital manufacturing methods, from 3D printing, milling, inspection to creating an all in one low waste production process and recyclable materials.
The robots will act as microfactories; self-contained units able to do all the manufacturing steps, easily deployable for localised manufacturing. Additionally, SAEKI will offer a quoting platform tailored to the customers’ own business needs to remove the complex opaque approach currently in the market.
It is also building a platform that will allow our customers to transcend the limits of traditional manufacturing, where size, complexity, and efficiency are no longer obstacles but catalysts for progress. In doing so, SAEKI envisions a network of decentralised, robot operated production hubs around the world.
