CloudNC has raised $20 million to speed AI-powered machining. The UK-based manufacturing software startup announced the B extension round on September 8, 2026, bringing its total funding to $128 million.
US venture investor Nimble Ventures led the round, with participation from Calculus Venture Capital, Entrepreneur First, and LM Ventures, the venture capital fund of Lockheed Martin. CloudNC’s last major funding round came four years ago, making this new capital a significant return to the fundraising market.
Founded in 2015, CloudNC operates from headquarters in London and an active production facility in Chelmsford. The company plans to use the funding to scale its AI precision machining technology across global supply chain networks rather than leave the factory floor waiting for another software dashboard.
CAM Assist already has a global foothold
CloudNC’s lead product, CAM Assist, automates CNC programming and is active across more than 1,000 machine shops worldwide. Several hundred of those facilities are in the US, and 80% of CloudNC’s customer base is based there.
Confirmed commercial users include Lockheed Martin and Major Tool and Machine. CloudNC also previously received backing from Atomico and Episode 1 Ventures, while Autodesk and Lockheed Martin support the company through strategic partnerships.
The product targets a specific problem in precision manufacturing: shops need to prepare quotes and programs faster while working with the people and machines already available. “Machine shops everywhere are under pressure to quote and program faster, and deliver more with the people and machines they already have,” CloudNC CEO and co-founder Theo Saville said.
Saville describes CAM Assist as a system that supports programmers rather than replacing their judgment. “CAM Assist is more like an expert assistant sitting alongside the programmer, automating much of the first-pass thinking and repetitive setup so the human can review, improve, and approve the approach.”
That distinction matters because CNC programming sits close to physical production, where mistakes carry consequences beyond an untidy spreadsheet. CloudNC is positioning its software around automated first-pass work and human review—an AI workflow with an actual approval step, a rare concession to reality.
Quote Agent extends the software beyond programming
CloudNC plans to release Quote Agent later in 2026, with the tool set to launch next month from the date of the announcement. Quote Agent will help machine shops assess the estimated cost and risk of a new project.
The planned product broadens CloudNC’s focus from creating CNC programs to evaluating work before production begins. That gives shops an AI-assisted tool for a commercial decision that arrives before the programming task, linking project estimates with the operational demands that follow.
“The funding allows us to support wider take-up of CAM Assist, strengthen our go-to-market operations, expand in existing and new markets, and develop new products such as Quote Agent,” Saville said.
John Burbank said automated CNC workflows will support “massive increases in onshoring of manufacturing and global production” for precision industrial supply bases. CloudNC’s funding plans now place that argument against a larger customer base, a new estimating product, and a stated push into global supply chain networks.
The company’s immediate test is execution: expand CAM Assist, release Quote Agent next month, and turn its presence in more than 1,000 machine shops into a broader manufacturing software business. The money is raised. The machines, presumably, are still waiting for instructions.
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