Vention

Vention is an industrial automation company founded in 2016 in Montreal that has raised over $100M to democratize manufacturing automation through a cloud-based design platform and modular hardware system. Engineers use Vention's browser-based MachineBuilder CAD tool to design custom automation equipment from a library of aluminum structural components, linear actuators, pneumatics, and robotic interfaces, then order the hardware and download control software from the same platform. The system integrates with leading collaborative robots from Universal Robots, Fanuc, and other vendors and includes a no-code programming environment for creating machine workflows. Vention targets small and mid-sized manufacturers that need custom automation but lack the budget for traditional systems integrators and the months-long implementation timelines they require. The company has deployed automation across thousands of factories in North America and Europe and has built a marketplace of pre-configured machine templates that let manufacturers start from proven designs. Vention's cloud-native approach allows engineers to collaborate on machine designs remotely and access software updates continuously, treating industrial automation like modern software infrastructure.