CloudNC raises €17.2M to scale AI-powered CNC machining software, pursues FedRAMP
The AMW Read
Incremental growth round for an existing physical-AI/manufacturing player expanding its CAM software and adding a quoting product, with no new debate resolved or top-tier entrant introduced.
CloudNC raises €17.2M to scale AI-powered CNC machining software, pursues FedRAMP
CloudNC, a London-based AI software company for precision machining, raised €17.2 million ($20 million) in a round led by US investor Nimble Ventures, with Calculus Venture Capital, Entrepreneur First, and Lockheed Martin's venture arm LM Ventures participating. The capital will fund broader adoption of CAM Assist, its flagship AI tool for generating CNC machining strategies and toolpaths, plus expansion into new markets and development of new products, including Quote Agent, a job-quoting tool slated for later in 2026. CloudNC says CAM Assist is now used by more than 1,000 machine shops globally, including hundreds in the US, with customers such as Lockheed Martin and Major Tool & Machine. The company is also working with Knox Systems toward FedRAMP certification, aiming to qualify CAM Assist for sensitive US government and defense manufacturing workloads.
The round shows AI adoption pushing further into physical production processes outside the usual software stack: CAM Assist automates a skilled-labor bottleneck, CNC programming, rather than a back-office task, and Quote Agent extends that automation to estimating and quoting, another manual chokepoint in machine-shop operations. Lockheed Martin's dual role as investor and customer, paired with the FedRAMP push, signals that AI vendors serving defense-adjacent manufacturing increasingly need government-grade compliance credentials to reach that buyer, not just a working product. Nimble Ventures founder John Burbank framed the bet around onshoring: automating CNC work as a lever for reshoring production of mission-critical components to the US.
For builders, CloudNC's path from early CAM Assist adoption to broader commercial scale after nine years, then layering a second product onto the same customer base, is a reminder that vertical AI for physical manufacturing monetizes through workflow depth rather than a single point tool. For investors, the FedRAMP process itself is worth tracking: compliance certification is becoming a distribution gate for AI vendors chasing defense and government manufacturing budgets, and clearing it takes time and dedicated partners like Knox Systems.