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Manufacturing platform Fictiv produces $100M funding round

Kimberly Chin
Illustration of a conveyor belt with packages surrounded by shapes and dollar elements.

Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios

Fictiv, the on-demand manufacturing company, raised $100 million in a Series E funding round with the premise of tackling the supply chain challenge.

Why it matters: Geopolitical issues, labor shortages and the ongoing pandemic have wreaked havoc on the supply chain, but Fictiv says it can address that by making it easier to build products “at the speed of software.”

Details: The round was led by Activate Capital with participation from new investors such as Angeleno Group, Cross Creek, and The Westly Group.

  • Fictiv's revenue doubled in 2021 and the company expects to continue at the same clip this year.

How it works: Fictiv finds, vets and manages a distributed network of factories and machine shops. Customers can quickly tap into that network through its platform to get a quote, order a part and have it made in a matter of days rather than weeks.

  • “You’re shortening all these cycles of quotes and [increasing] quality management and production,” CEO Dave Evans tells Kimberly.
  • Fictiv does all the sourcing and management for you in its network, he adds.

Of note: Fictiv has raised nearly $200 million to date and it has delivered 19 million different parts to more than 3,000 companies.

  • It's geographies include the U.S., China, and India.

What’s next: Fictiv will use the funding to expand its capacity so that it can serve more customers. It also aims to widen its network into other geographic areas and develop its IP technology.

  • Evans says he wants to boost the company's automation capabilities to help it with functions like error detection.
  • The company will also invest in artificial intelligence to provide more real time information for customers.

Bottom line: The company is constantly looking for new talent that brings innovation to parts of its business as well as potential targets that could help it solve the supply chain dilemma, Evan says.

  • “We always have a good pipeline going.”

Editor's note: This item was updated to remove the name of an investor mistakenly added to the list of those who took part in the round.

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