Main image: Alexander Fitzgerald, Founder & CEO of Isembard, at the factory launch in London.
Startup Isembard, which created a platform to help equipment manufacturers in the defense, aerospace, and robotics sectors, has raised 50 million in investment and plans to open 25 new “AI-based factories” using MasonOS.
The round was led by the New York–based Union Square Ventures, along with new U.S. investors Tamarack Global and IQ Capital, Resilience Media reports. Previously, Isembard raised $9 million in funding led by Notion.
The startup (whose name is not related to The Lord of the Rings, but refers to the British engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel) created an artificial intelligence platform called MasonOS. It aims to connect equipment manufacturers with a network of factories to identify and subsequently produce the various components that make up their systems.
“We’re different from a typical manufacturer because of two things. One is that we actually build our own software and that’s what our factories are running on,” said Alexander Fitzgerald, the company’s CEO and founder.
According to him, the startup is not building one large centralized factory but a network of small and medium-sized factories.
“The other difference is our business model. We’re building not one large centrifised factory, but a network of small -and medium-sized factories, doing that through a franchise business model,” said Alexander Fitzgerald.
Other big names in defence tech that Isembard works with include Anduril, Tekever and ARX Robotics.
