CoLab Raises $17M Series A to Modernize Collaboration for Mechanical Engineering Teams

NEWFOUNDLAND, Canada, Oct. 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- CoLab Software, the Newfoundland-based CoDesign platform for mechanical engineering teams, today announced that it has raised $17 million in Series A funding that will enable the company to double its 54-person team and bring the benefits of modern collaboration to even more design and manufacturing organizations. New York-based global private equity and venture capital firm Insight Partners led the round, with participation by new and existing VCs and strategic angels from industry heavyweights such as Xometry, Onshape, GrabCAD, Bosch, Tesla and Atlassian.

CoLab's platform, which allows manufacturing teams to easily share CAD across the value chain and get feedback in real time, was born out of frustration with inadequate collaboration tools. CEO Adam Keating and CTO Jeremy Andrews co-founded the company in 2017 after feeling held back by gaps in standard CAD and PLM tools while building one of the world's first hyperloop vehicles and working for innovators like Tesla and General Dynamics.

"CoLab is on a mission to transform the way mechanical engineering teams work together," said Keating. "Design review and collaboration have relied on generic tools that weren't purpose-built for mechanical design, which leads to admin-intensive workflows, slow review cycles, and expensive errors getting caught too late in the design process. We saw first-hand that progress wasn't being made on solving this long-standing problem, so we created CoLab to do just that."

Josh Fredberg, Managing Director at Insight Partners, has joined CoLab's board of directors. "CoLab's CoDesign tool is a game changer for engineers around the globe. Rarely do you see a product that so perfectly addresses a pain point that is both highly technical and widespread, but that's what happens when you combine frustration with an entrepreneurial mindset. Adam, Jeremy and team are uniquely positioned to tackle a profession-wide problem with their category-leading platform."

It's proven to be a problem well worth solving. Before CoLab, customers reported slow review cycles, confusion around files and feedback, and challenges collaborating with stakeholders. After implementing CoLab, reviews are 2x faster and teams receive input from key people earlier and more often—so everyone is on the same page and mistakes are caught earlier in the design process. For many organizations, CoLab is the foundation for initiatives like the Model-Based Enterprise, digital thread, and Industry 4.0.

As further proof, CoLab has experienced exponential growth – 609% over last year, with several Fortune 500 companies already coming on board and quickly seeing real results. Global industrial leader Johnson Controls (JCI) started using CoLab in 2018. Since then, more than 180 JCI engineers worldwide have used CoLab to collaborate globally and slash review times from weeks to days.

Additionally, JCI has transitioned from holding their global VA/VE events in person to doing them virtually in CoLab, leading to 2x more value-add opportunities being uncovered. CoLab has also partnered with industry leaders such as Schneider Electric, Hyundai Mobis, and Xometry to reimagine engineering collaboration and hit key business targets, faster.

About CoLab Software
CoLab is a web-based CoDesign and collaboration tool that lets your team share CAD, provide feedback with full mechanical context, and capture the critical design data that your other systems don't—giving you a design review and collaboration process that's standardized, simplified, and twice-as-fast. Today CoLab is trusted by Fortune 500 companies like Johnson Controls and Hyundai Mobis, who use the platform to accelerate design cycles by 51%, drive continuous improvement, and reduce product costs and changes. To see how CoLab modernizes the way engineers work together, visit colabsoftware.com

About Insight Partners
Insight Partners is a leading global venture capital and private equity firm investing in high-growth technology and software ScaleUp companies that are driving transformative change in their industries. Founded in 1995, Insight Partners has invested in more than 400 companies worldwide and has raised through a series of funds more than $30 billion in capital commitments. Insight's mission is to find, fund, and work successfully with visionary executives, providing them with practical, hands-on software expertise to foster long-term success. Across its people and its portfolio, Insight encourages a culture around a belief that ScaleUp companies and growth create opportunity for all. For more information on Insight and all its investments, visit insightpartners.com or follow us on Twitter @insightpartners.

SOURCE CoLab Software