Boost for Europe’s Industry 4.0 – Acton Capital leads Series A for Laserhub

Led by the international growth VC Acton Capital from Munich and with the participation of existing investors Project A and Point Nine from Berlin, Laserhub will use the fresh capital to develop new markets in Europe and to double its existing customer base until the end of this year.

Laserhub founders Adrian Raidt, Christoph Rößner and Jonas Schweizer will invest the funds in the expansion of their tech platform and in new manufacturing technologies such as CNC turning and tube laser cutting. The goal is to establish Laserhub as Europe’s leading digital one-stop shop in the metal sector. CNC turning alone gives Laserhub access to a €100 billion market.

Founder Christoph Rößner explains: “The new processes are already integrated in our platform. Now we are fully concentrating on increasing the vertical range of manufacturing capabilities in order to even better enable serial production for major customers.”

“Our clear goal is to be involved in every transaction for metal parts in the European market in the future.” -- Christoph Rößner, Laserhub

So far, Laserhub’s services are available to customers in Germany, Austria and France. By the end of the year, the start-up company is planning to expand its services as well as to further expand its offering in Europe.

Corona crisis shows “increased need for change” – Laserhub co-founder Adrian Raidt is sure that now is the right time for his company’s next big milestone. “Even before COVID-19, industrial procurement processes were a mess. Manual, inefficient processes dominate the picture here. Still, companies with needs for metal parts are confronted with an extremely confusing supplier market.” Even before the crisis it took weeks to find the right producer that matches in terms of delivery time, price and quality. The results are delays and unnecessary, often considerable costs. Raidt continues: “The Corona crisis has only intensified the need for change. Many companies have been reminded in recent weeks why replacing classic, manual processes with digital methods is indispensable.”

“Every Euro saved through increased efficiency is paying off now.” -- Adrian Raidt, Laserhub

Co-founder and CTO Jonas Schweizer explains the advantages of Laserhub’s process: “Customers simply upload the CAD files of their components to the platform. Our algorithm finds the best producer from the network based on the order parameters such as ‘material’ and ‘production technology’. This means that in just a few seconds, all the data is available for the customer to trigger the order. Delivery date and costs at the push of a button, without time-consuming telephone calls, countless e-mails or even faxes”. The time saved and the attractive prices of Laserhub add up to a cost saving of up to 70 percent. Raidt adds: “And the best thing is: Our producers also benefit because they receive well-prepared orders automatically without having to invest a single cent in acquisition. A great way to keep their machine park running at capacity.”

Investing is “a win-win situation for all parties involved” -- Fritz Oidtmann, Acton Capital

Fritz Oidtmann, Managing Partner at Acton Capital, was fully convinced by these arguments, which were reason enough for an extensive investment in the Stuttgart B2B start-up: “Crucial factor for our investment in Laserhub were the clear-cut advantages for both supplier and customer – a profitable win-win situation for all parties involved. With its sustainable business model, Laserhub will become a key driver of digital transformation in the manufacturing industry”.

Laserhub’s track record after about two and a half years of business is unambiguous: Of the 3,500 customers so far, the majority use the platform regularly – one third even places a second order within 14 days. In addition to many job shops and regional SMEs, the customer base also includes large, multinational companies. In addition to “Mittelstand” champions like Palfinger, international giants like Siemens are also among them. Oliver Abels, Managing Director of FAC GmbH, explains the existing business relationship as follows: “Due to the high speed, procurement via Laserhub is definitely a competitive advantage for us”.

In addition to Acton Capital, Laserhubs’ existing investors Project A and Point Nine, who were already involved in the seed funding, also invested with the current Series A financing round. Uwe Horstmann, General Partner and founder of Project A Ventures, explains: “At a very early stage, we gave Laserhub the confidence to initiate a paradigm shift in the metalworking sector. We were very impressed by the growth and the major customers we gained last year. They are on the right track.”

Robin Dechant, Associate at Point Nine Capital, comments on the development so far: “We are very pleased that Laserhub is now also addressing the tube laser and turning parts market after sheet metal.

“This step has the potential to establish Laserhub as a European full-line supplier of metal parts with a very high repurchase rate, which we are already seeing from existing customers.” -- Robin Dechant, Point Nine

“We expect to see much more of this by the end of this year”.  Thanks to investment in the new driving force of CNC turning and the development of new countries, Laserhub plans to double its customer base to around 7,000 companies by the end of 2020, despite the current Corona crisis.

Laserhub GmbH is a B2B start-up from Stuttgart that has developed a vertically integrated, manufacturer-independent procurement platform for custom metal parts. The Laserhub platform covers orders for laser cutting, bending, tube laser cutting and CNC turning. An algorithm matches the individual requirements of customers with the resources of manufacturers in the Laserhub network. Laserhub supplies customers in Germany, Austria and France. Customers include traditional workshops as well as numerous small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and established DAX30 corporations.