Each year, manufacturers lose over $200B due to costs associated with product quality issues in the hands of customers. These issues impact almost every category of manufacturing, from aerospace to medical devices to automotive and more. When these issues arise, much of the cost burden falls on manufacturers, who as a result reserve anywhere from 1% - 4% of their revenues for these costs. For the top worldwide auto manufacturers alone this represents $40B - $50B+ per year.

Today, field quality teams sift through field data by hand or with the assistance of basic software to manually identify recurring and problematic issues. It can take months before a pattern is recognized and leaves manufacturers open to the significant financial and reputational risks of recalls.

Axion, founded by Daniel First in 2021, was built on the realization that there are often early warning signals available in the data months before issues are identified. Axion sits as an intelligence layer on top of existing data sources and synthesizes unstructured data into actionable insights to help customers detect emerging quality issues and ensure an adequate and timely response. This results in 1) higher quality and safer products in the hands of customers, 2) reduced recall costs, and 3) reputation protection for manufacturers.

We first met Axion in 2022 and were immediately compelled by Daniel’s vision for the business. Today, Axion is already working with leading manufacturers such as Boeing, PennEngineering®, and Cummins Inc., just to name a few.

“Axion’s advanced artificial intelligence coupled with deep industry understanding will strengthen Boeing’s delivery of high-quality products, by becoming more digitally enabled,” says Nicola Bates, Head of Innovation Programs at Boeing.

Axion’s technology is game-changing for the industry, and we believe it will become table stakes for any manufacturer that cares about building high quality products. Whether ensuring the efficacy of a new medical device or the safety of a vehicle engine, Axion is helping solve real world problems by empowering companies to proactively make better engineering and supplier choice decisions.

We are thrilled to announce Axion’s Seed round which Inspired Capital co-led with our friends at Amplo.

Axion is rapidly expanding and hiring for several roles - learn more here!

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