Isembard, the software-first manufacturing company, has raised an £7m seed round led by Notion Capital, who are backed by the UK Government’s National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSSIF) and the German Federal Government. Follower funds include 201 Ventures, Basis Capital, Forward Fund, Material Ventures, Never Lift Ventures and NP-Hard Ventures. Angel investors in the round include Andreas Klinger (Prototype Capital), Charlie Delingpole (ComplyAdvantage), Joshua Western (SpaceForge) and Salar al Khafaji (Monumental).
Small businesses account for 95% of our precision manufacturing capacity yet are rapidly disappearing. With the average owner’s age exceeding 65 years and 40% planning to retire within 5 years, we are witnessing an existential threat growing in Europe and North America. This erosion of manufacturing capacity coincides with surging demand from critical industries, as British companies plan to invest £523bn over the next three years to re-shore production. Without intervention, this widening gap between supply and demand threatens to undermine the collective sovereignty of the West.
Founded to reshape manufacturing for critical industries, Isembard is pioneering a network of modular, highly automated manufacturing units powered by its proprietary MasonOS software. By integrating cutting-edge robotics, AI-driven production planning, and a unique business model, Isembard is setting a new standard for efficiency, scalability, and resilience in the critical supply chains of the UK and its allies.
With the new funding, Isembard will expand its first factory, grow its engineering team, and scale its technology platform to enable defence, aerospace, energy, and other critical industries to access faster, more reliable, and more cost-effective production.
Isembard’s mission is to forge industrial acceleration, bridging the gap between software-driven efficiency and real-world production. The company is already working with fast-growing European defence and autonomy startups to deliver high-precision products faster, at a lower cost, and with better quality assurance than traditional methods.
