A Startup Using AI to Speed Up Factory Machines Just Raised $20 Million
CloudNC, a UK-based startup that makes software for factories, announced a $20 million funding round on September 8, 2026. The new money brings the company's lifetime total funding to $128 million. The round was led by Nimble Ventures, with participation from Calculus Venture Capital, Entrepreneur First, LM Capital, and Lockheed Martin's venture arm. TechCrunch
Founded in 2015 by Theo Saville (CEO) and Chris Emery (chief science officer), CloudNC builds software that uses artificial intelligence to automate a slow, specialized step in manufacturing. The step involves programming CNC machines, which are computer-controlled cutting tools that shape metal and other materials into precise parts. These machines are used to make components for airplanes, cars, medical devices, and military equipment. Today, a skilled worker has to write the instructions that tell the machine how to cut each part, and that can take hours. CloudNC's software, called CAM Assist, does much of that work automatically.
More than 1,000 machine shops worldwide now use the software, according to the company. About 80% of CloudNC's customers are in the United States, a notable concentration for a company founded in the UK. CloudNC has 80 employees.
The new funding round comes four years after the company's last major raise, a gap CEO Theo Saville acknowledged. Four years between funding rounds is uncommon for a startup, especially one working with AI, where investors have been pouring in money quickly. There are a few possible reasons for the gap. CloudNC may have grown its revenue enough that it did not urgently need outside money. Or the company may have spent those years proving its product works in an industry where buying decisions are slow and cautious. Saville did not elaborate beyond acknowledging the gap.
CloudNC plans to use the new money to build additional products. One of them, called Quote Agent, will help machine shops estimate the cost and risk of new projects. It is set to launch in October 2026. Today, many shops rely on the experience and instinct of seasoned managers to guess how much a job will cost, which is notoriously imprecise. If software can read a digital design file and produce a reliable cost and risk estimate, it would solve a real problem that comes before any cutting even begins.
The investor list is worth paying attention to. Lockheed Martin's venture arm investing alongside traditional venture capital funds signals that CloudNC's technology has reached the world of defense manufacturing. CNC machining is essential to military equipment, and Western governments have grown concerned about shortages in the supply chains that produce these parts. Any tool that shortens the time from design to finished part matters beyond just commercial efficiency.
CloudNC's core idea is simple: use AI to cut down the time and expertise needed to program CNC machines. The company has not released specific numbers on how much faster or cheaper the process becomes. What is known is that over 1,000 shops, mostly in the US, are using the software in real production.
The broader manufacturing automation field has attracted many AI startups in recent years, but most have focused on robots, quality inspections, or predicting when machines will break down. CloudNC's focus on the programming step is narrow, and that may actually be an advantage. The problem is well-defined: a programming mistake can crash a machine, ruin an expensive part, or break tools. When the cost of getting something wrong is clear and measurable, AI tends to pay off quickly.
For shops already using CloudNC's software, the new quoting tool could mean doing more of their work in one place. For CloudNC, the $20 million provides time to prove it can repeat its success in a new area. The company has built a solid foothold; the question is whether that foothold can grow beyond programming machines into the business decisions that come first.
