Neocad, a start-up developing artificial intelligence solutions for mechanical design, has announced that, following the completion of a €550,000 follow-on equity round last April, it has secured funding of up to €579,296 under the Smart&Start Italia programme – an incentive scheme managed by Invitalia on behalf of the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy, dedicated to innovative start-ups. The total funds raised at this stage thus exceed €1.1 million, combining private capital and public funding.
The equity round saw participation from Habitech/HabiSmart, with an investment of 300,000 euros, and 40Jemz Ventures, with 250,000 euros. Invitalia has now joined the investors, having admitted Neocad to the Smart&Start Italia programme. The funding represents further validation of the technological and industrial value of the project developed by the start-up, confirming the potential of its artificial intelligence platform for CAD design.
“This result represents much more than a significant financial milestone. For a start-up like ours, it means seeing the validity of the technology we are developing recognised by two different but equally strategic stakeholders. On the one hand, private investors who have chosen to believe in our entrepreneurial vision; on the other, Invitalia, which, through Smart&Start, has recognised the innovative and industrial potential of our project. This dual validation gives us further confidence and enables us to accelerate the development of our platform, whilst continuing to invest in research, expertise and innovation to place artificial intelligence at the heart of mechanical design,” says Luca Licciulli, founder and CEO of Neocad (pictured), in a statement.
The project, entitled “Neocad: AI Agent for 3D CAD Conceptualisation and Design in Mechanical Engineering”, involves a total investment of 724,120 euros, up to 80 per cent of which is covered by public funding. The 24-month development plan will accelerate the evolution of the proprietary platform through new investment in research and development, the expansion of the technical team and the strengthening of marketing and communication activities.
In recent months, Neocad has consolidated its position within the Italian artificial intelligence sector as it relates to manufacturing. Following its participation in the Microsoft for Startups, Nvidia Inception and AWS Activate programmes, the company recently announced that it had filed a patent application for its closed-loop artificial intelligence architecture – a technology designed to support mechanical designers throughout the entire process of researching, modifying and generating CAD models directly within design environments.
Neocad aims to provide manufacturing companies with a platform capable of harnessing the wealth of knowledge contained in their corporate CAD archives, reducing product development times and making the design process increasingly efficient through the use of artificial intelligence. With the completion of this new funding round, the start-up now has the resources needed to accelerate its technology roadmap and strengthen its presence in the Italian and European markets.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ©
