Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global supply chains and other economically important systems, 2020 still managed to produce major tech breakthroughs, as well as thousands of startups. We analyzed 3.888 manufacturing startups founded in the last 5 years to identify top startups in the industry. In this report, you will discover 5 emerging manufacturing startups founded in 2020.
The 5 promising manufacturing startups you should watch in 2021 were hand-picked based on our data-driven startup scouting approach, taking into account factors such as location, founding year, and relevance of technology, among others. The 3.888 companies that were analyzed for this report, are identified using the StartUs Insights Discovery Platform, covering 1.379.000+ startups & scaleups globally. When you are looking for up-to-date manufacturing solutions for your innovation units, R&D, or product development department, the StartUs Insights Discovery Platform gives you the most exhaustive collection and ensures you continuously discover new startups, scaleups, and technologies.
Global Startup Heat Map: 5 Manufacturing Startups to Watch in 2021
The Global Startup Heat Map below highlights 5 manufacturing startups, established in 2020, developing technology-driven solutions for the manufacturing industry. Moreover, you can explore global hotspots for manufacturing startups and even download this graphic to include in your next presentation.
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A Tech Supply – Injection Molding
Injection molding is a common manufacturing process that uses molten metals, glasses, or polymers. The process often suffers from errors that lead to defects such as burn marks and flow lines. These defects lead to huge losses in terms of returned products and wasted work hours. Manufacturing startups are exploring solutions that reduce these defects, leading to safer products that will not be returned.
Danish startup A Tech Supply provides a range of manufacturing tools. The startup provides precise injection molding services with short lead times. It produces micro, quick, soft, and hard tools for both in-house productions and for other injection molding companies. The startup also produces prototypes with injection molding, 3D printing, and computer numerical control (CNC) machining.
Squared AI – Rapid Prototyping
Prototypes allow manufacturers to discover and resolve design problems early on. Moreover, it helps them estimate costs, manufacturing time, and material requirements. However, traditional prototyping solutions are expensive and take up many hours. The increasing access to additive manufacturing offers manufacturers a method for inexpensive prototyping thereby overcoming these challenges. Rapid prototyping solutions employ computer-aided design (CAD) and manufacturing (CAM) for fast fabrications of physical parts.
US-based startup Squared AI develops data labeling and annotation solutions. The startup helps manufacturers reduce material waste and shorten design time. It enables rapid prototypes and iterations, as well as generative design solutions. The startup also provides manufacturers with price forecasts and environmental impact reports. Squared AI’s solutions find applications in the retail, FinTech, automotive, and healthcare industries.
INDODRIVER – Local Manufacturing
The disruption in supply chains due to the coronavirus pandemic has exposed the over-reliance on outsourcing manufacturing. Consequently, there is an increased push for local manufacturing in the West and in developing countries. To this end, startups are adopting manufacturing technologies to produce their parts. Further, dedicated e-commerce and distribution solutions are also critical to create a strong local manufacturing industry.
Indonesian startup INDORIVER offers a business-to-business (B2B) marketplace for manufacturing companies. The startup’s marketplace provides equipment and parts for automotive, cosmetics, packaging, paper, and steel manufacturing. It helps small manufacturers to find parts more easily and build faster. Moreover, INDORIVER leverages network coordination and data intelligence to promote the export of locally manufactured products.
Mirai Drone – Industrial Drones
Manufacturing hazards put worker safety at risk and lead to losses due to downtime. Startups use continuous monitoring solutions to inspect machinery and areas within a manufacturing facility. For example, industrial drones offer a scalable and remotely operated solution for factory floor inspection. The drones use cameras and other sensors to detect hazards and report to a central system to resolve them.
Mirai Drone is an Indian startup specializing in optimizing industrial drones. The startup’s drone operation management system, M-DOMS, allows enterprises to effectively manage their drone fleet. The system provides full visibility into the drone fleet, including scheduled maintenance, battery inventory, and fleet log. The solution helps manufacturers monitor large and dangerous equipment to detect hazards, such as poisonous gases or open fires.
DQLabs – Manufacturing Data
As manufacturing processes become more data-intensive, there’s a growing need for data curation solutions. Startups employ artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics to leverage manufacturing data for diverse applications. Some of these include predictive maintenance, quality monitoring, regulatory compliance, and process improvement.
DQLabs is a US-based startup that develops an AI-augmented data quality platform. The platform scans all existing data assets to provide end-to-end data visibility for governance and compliance. It integrates data cataloging, data quality tasks, and data curation in a single platform. The DQLabs platform offers price and operational analytics for manufacturing and automotive companies.
What will 2021 bring for manufacturing companies?
To stay ahead of the technology curve, it is important that you know which technologies and industry trends will impact your company in 2021. You can explore our curated reports on emerging manufacturing industry trends & technologies or let us do the work for you. To keep you up-to-date on the latest technology and emerging solutions, we provide you with actionable innovation intelligence – quickly and exhaustively.
