Six-year-old Xometry is fast becoming one of the key players in the $80 billion manufacturing industry.
The Gaithersburg, Md.-based custom manufacturing platform has raised $50 million of funding led by Maryland-based Greenspring Associates and including new investor Dell Technologies Capital. Previous investors BMW i Ventures, GE Ventures, Foundry Group, Highland Capital, Maryland Venture Group and Almaz Capital also participated.
The new funds are earmarked for accelerating sales and marketing efforts, product development and eventual expansion outside the U.S., Chief Revenue Officer Bill Cronin told Inno.
Xometry runs an online marketplace for custom manufacturing, where users submit design files and receive instant quotes from its network of manufacturing partners, which are paired by AI-based algorithms. Its nationwide network includes more than 3,000 manufacturing facilities offering services including computer-operated machining, 3D printing, sheet metal fabrication, injection molding, die casting and stamping.
The firm last year eclipsed 10,000 customers, which include BMW, Dell, General Electric and NASA. Like BMW and GE, Dell was a client before becoming an investor – a partner strategy that so far has paid dividends for the startup.
“One of the exciting things about Dell is that they have a lot of expertise in electronics and categories of custom manufacturing that we aren’t doing yet,” Cronin said. “We believe they have expertise that could help us add those capabilities to our platform.”
Founded in 2013, Xometry has raised a total of $113 million in funding to date and revenue has doubled in the last year, according to the company. It was named one of DC Inno’s 19 Startups to Watch in 2019.
In July 2018, Xometry added $25 million in funding and acquired Kentucky-based MakeTime, bringing its manufacturer network at the time from 1,100 to 2,300. It also added MakeTime’s Shop Advantage program – deals for machine shops on cutting tools and software. Then, earlier this year, Xometry acquired Machine Tool & Supply of Jackson, Tenn., which together with Shop Advantage became its own tool-peddling service, Xometry Supplies.
As it scales the platform and adds new manufacturing capabilities, Cronin said, the startup is hiring rapidly for positions in sales, marketing, operations and software development to add to its team of 225 employees. Xometry has offices in Gaithersburg, Bethesda, Tennessee and Kentucky, as well as a newly opened outpost in Los Angeles.
