Of the total 40 rounds of financing in the manufacturing sector, 9 (25%) have gone to companies involved in the production of IT-related devices, raising a total of 61.3$M. These operations have been mainly in US companies, but also emerging markets, such as China and India, are gaining the backing of the venture capital.
Companies that have received funding
The sub-sectors in which companies are active are very diverse. These include companies producing innovative electronic devices such as touchscreen mobiles, robots for business use, "connected home" devices and devices for powering different sectors of activity.
The size of financing rounds varies greatly from company to company.
3d RoboticsThe San Diego-based drone manufacturing company, founded in 2012, has already received two rounds of funding, the latest from 30$M, in which they have participated. True Ventures, Foundry Group, SK Ventures, O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures, Mayfield.
The smallest round was 1$M, which went to Lepow, Chinese electronic products such as external batteries for mobile phones.
"Emerging countries, led by China and India, are increasingly investing in developed country companies. During 2013 China invested $855M in 36 investment deals. The acquisition of cutting-edge technologies to apply in their domestic markets is one of the reasons why Chinese investors are acquiring technology startups in the US". Comments Diego Gutierrez, an expert in alternative financing at ABRA INVEST.
Funding rounds by stage
The majority of the rounds have been first rounds, series A, although there are also companies with more advanced rounds such as Rethink Roboticswhich has already received 5 rounds of funding and has raised a total of $80.5M since 2008. Rethink Robotics, has developed the world's first common sense robot to increase productivity and efficiency in manufacturing environments.
Most active investors in the sector
Investors come from a variety of backgrounds, with the majority being American, but there are also Chinese investors, such as Matrix Partners China or Britain, such as Entree Capital.
The profile of the investors also varies greatly, with investors such as MassVenturesthat their investment is solely focused on startups in the state of Massachusetts or investors who invest on a global level such as Life Sciences Partners.
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