Arke, a start-up founded in 2024 by Michela Andreolli, an engineer with experience at Google, Amazon and SAP, raised €1.7 million last year from Italian and international investors such as Dig Ventures, Vento Ventures, 2100 Ventures and Ithaca, was created to meet the needs of the Italian manufacturing sector, which accounts for around 15% of the country’s GDP (source: ISTAT) and is the beating heart of the country’s economy, where, however, many companies continue to use complex, expensive and inflexible management systems that are often unable to adapt to real production processes.
After years spent abroad working in big tech and closely observing the market differences between the United States and Europe, Andreolli chose to return to Italy to tackle the concrete problems of manufacturing companies by creating an ERP (enterprise resource planning) platform developed with the aim of offering companies a solution capable of adapting to workflows, simplifying processes and optimising time and resources.
Despite the difficulties associated with bureaucracy and access to capital, the founder sees Italy as fertile ground: “In the United States, the focus is on maximising returns, while in Italy, the focus is often on minimising risk. But today there are more resources available for start-ups that are able to raise them correctly, and for this reason, Arke wants to be a concrete example of how innovation can be born here and grow far beyond national borders,” says Andreolli (pictured) in a statement.
To better understand the needs of manufacturing companies, Arke conducted in-depth research by interviewing 300 Italian companies, identifying the main difficulties that limit productivity and margins. This analysis revealed the need for a modular and flexible platform capable of simplifying processes, reducing errors and freeing up time and resources. The solution was designed and developed by the Arke team, which currently consists of eight people with diverse professional backgrounds, ranging from technology to manufacturing experience: a mix of skills that has made it possible to transform the research findings into a concrete, practical platform that can be used immediately by companies.
Arke can replace or integrate with existing management systems (ERP, MES, MRP, internal WMS tools, etc.) and can be implemented in just three weeks on average. Furthermore, thanks to an approach guided by forward deployment engineers, companies can configure the system without writing code, transforming complex processes into easily manageable micro-decisions. The technology is modular and flexible: each process can be activated with a click and modified at any time, adapting to the evolving needs of the company.
Once implemented, Arke automates data entry thanks to an app that uses an artificial intelligence-based system to populate the database from any document, offering a simple, modern interface with an AI assistant and contextual dashboard that guide users in their daily work. The platform then automatically suggests purchases, orders and production plans according to the rules defined by the company, freeing up time, reducing errors and readjusting in real time based on the actual availability of resources. The result is a tailor-made, user-friendly and proactive tool that becomes an integral part of business processes and processes otherwise disconnected data to provide reliable information for strategic decisions.
“After several experiences in large international companies, I chose to return to Italy, convinced by the extraordinary potential of our manufacturing companies. With Arke, we want to support them in their growth and competitiveness, offering a tool that does not replace people but supports them, enhancing their skills and decisions,” adds Andreolli. “For too long, we have blamed companies, especially SMEs, for the low productivity and digitisation of the manufacturing sector, not realising that the tools provided to them were not up to the challenge. Arke is a platform designed to bring manufacturing companies into the third millennium, making their daily work easier and more effective, so that companies can feel supported, optimise processes and focus their energies on what generates value for the entire country.”
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