Swedish industrial technology startup IPercept has secured US$16.5 million in a Series A round to accelerate its expansion into the United States and further develop its predictive maintenance platform for CNC machine tools. The Stockholm-based company, founded in 2019 and spun out of KTH Royal Institute of Technology, has gained traction with manufacturers including Airbus, Bosch, and Volvo. The round was co-led by Isogon Ventures and 2150, with continued support from Luminar Ventures, RunwayFBU, J12 Ventures, and AI Fund.
Addressing a Neglected Industrial Challenge
CNC machine tools are central to modern manufacturing, yet their average efficiency has remained between 50% and 60% for decades. While humanoid robots and warehouse automation have attracted strong investor interest, CNC machine tools have received far less attention. IPercept is working to close that gap by making machine wear, faults, and degradation visible to software and artificial intelligence.
The scale of the opportunity is substantial. CNC machines account for almost 3% of global GDP, and products manufactured with them represent an additional 30% to 40% of global economic output. The global installed base of CNC machines is valued at approximately US$1 trillion, making reliability and uptime a major industrial priority.
A Measurement-First Approach
Unlike conventional monitoring tools, IPercept's technology does not need access to a machine's controller or a customer's IT network. A single device mounted on the moving part of a CNC machine converts micrometer-scale motion into actionable data. This approach enables manufacturers to see which components are wearing, how quickly, and exactly what to do before production stops.
Because the system works independently of machine brand, model, age, and controller, it can be installed in only a few hours across a wide range of equipment. It is compatible with around 300 CNC machine manufacturers and does not rely on historical data. IPercept describes its capabilities as similar to performing a full-body MRI scan on large and complex machines.
Commercial Momentum and Customer Adoption
IPercept began commercializing its technology in 2022 after spinning out from Sweden's largest technical university. The company now employs more than 20 people and works with over 30 enterprise customers, including Airbus, Bosch, Hitachi Energy, Scania, and Volvo. Industrial service companies such as Konecranes, Quant, DynaMate, and MTT also resell its monitoring as part of maintenance agreements.
According to CEO Karoly Szipka, the company has grown more than three times over the past six to eight months. Previously, IPercept completed a €5 million seed round in May 2025 led by Luminar Ventures. The new capital will support the company's first dedicated hires in the United States and strengthen partnerships with industrial service providers.
Investor Perspectives
Isogon Ventures general partner Paco Riberas said industry is meant to run like a well-oiled machine and unplanned CNC downtime is where that ideal breaks. He described IPercept as the most seamless and accurate answer that critical industries need. Rahul Parekh, partner at 2150, added that the next wave of artificial intelligence will change how the physical world operates by bringing intelligence directly to industrial equipment.
With the new funding, IPercept plans to expand its US presence, improve its technology, and deepen relationships with industrial service companies. The company's ultimate ambition is to help Western manufacturers become more competitive by improving uptime and extending the life of critical assets. By bringing software-level visibility to a trillion-dollar installed base of CNC machines, IPercept is positioning itself at the intersection of industrial automation and applied artificial intelligence.