Nov 8, 2023

Fund worth €70m backs industrial tech firm hoping to follow in Skype's footsteps Fractory currently employs 70 people and will use the increased capital will be used to grow in markets and territories where the company already operates. 04:00, 8 NOV 2023 Sign up to FREE email alerts from BusinessLive North West Invalid emailSomething went wrong, please try again later. More Newsletters We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info Thank you for subscribing! Invalid emailSomething went wrong, please try again later. Sign Up × An industrial tech business has secured investment from a new €70m fund as part of a wider funding round as it continues its bid to follow in the footsteps of Skype, Bolt and Wise. Fractory has closed a £4.2m round which was led by new early-stage investment company, Kvanted. Other participants included all the venture capital groups, angel investors and entrepreneurs who have bought into the company since it launched in 2017 such as Superhero Capital, OTB Ventures, Trind Ventures, United Angels VC, Startup Wise Guys and Verve Ventures. The business expanded into Manchester in 2019 and also operates out of Tallinn and Tartu in Estonia as well as Turku in Finland. Fractory is hoping to see the same success enjoyed by other firms that started out in Estonia such as Bolt, a minicab, scooter and bike hire app; Wise, the London-listed foreign exchange service and Skype, the online calling service acquired by eBay in 2005 and then sold to Microsoft for $8.5 billion in 2011. Fractory currently employs 70 people and will use the increased capital will be used to grow in markets and territories where the company already operates. Kvanted is headquartered in Helsinki and was founded Eerik Paasikivi, Maria Wasastjerna, and Axel Ahlström. Martin Vares, co-founder and CEO of Fractory, said: "Kvanted understands exactly what we are doing. They have a longer-than-average investment period to align with the lengthier development cycles in industrial tech. And they act as a connector, in our case bringing innovative technology providers together with traditional industrial companies. "Kvanted has broad industry experience and unique networks, and their fund investors include prominent industrial players such as Oras Invest. It's the best possible strategic partnership for Fractory at this stage." Kvanted's founding partner Axel Ahlström added: "There’s a lot of untapped potential in the industrial sector, and our aim is to accelerate industrial innovation, connecting industrial technology start-ups with established corporations. Fractory, which is one of those start-ups, is already on an impressive trajectory, with increasing client numbers, and our aim is to help it become more widely adopted across industry. Fractory's important position in the world of manufacturing is clear to us and we see the scope for its growth increasing through this partnership." Jakob Storå, a partner at Finland-based Superhero Capital, said: "Superhero participated in Fractory's first investment round back in 2019. As we've been able to witness Fractory’s progress close-up and see its great potential, we are happy to support the company in this round as well. Fractory is building a connected manufacturing ecosystem that has the potential to revolutionise manufacturing procurement and we are super-excited to be part of the next step on this journey. "We're also happy that Kvanted joins us as an investor in this round. With its industry expertise and connections, Kvanted can help Fractory's solution get an even stronger foothold in the market." Story Saved You can find this story in   My Bookmarks. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Follow BusinessLive Most Recent Most Recent