Estonian-founded digital manufacturing platform Fractory has entered the French and Italian markets, marking another big export expansion as it pushes deeper into Southern and Western Europe industry scene.
The startup, established in Tallinn in 2017 and now operating its UK headquarters in Manchester, connects engineering businesses with a vetted network of manufacturing partners through a cloud-based platform.
Customers can upload technical drawings, receive quotes, place orders, and track production digitally — covering processes from laser cutting and CNC machining through to finishing and final assembly. It has raised almost €20M to date.
Having grown steadily across the Nordic region and the UK since launch, the company now operates from offices in Manchester (UK), Tallinn, Tartu (Estonia), and Turku (Finland), with a team of over 50 people. France and Italy represent its first direct presence in continental Western and Southern Europe.
Solving the industry of tomorrow
Fractory’s model addresses a structural inefficiency common in manufacturing and industry: roughly half of industrial equipment sits idle at any given time, whilst customers struggle to identify available capacity at competitive prices. Rather than simply acting as a parts marketplace, the company positions itself as a managed service, assigning dedicated project engineers to clients and overseeing quality assurance throughout.
The expansion into France and Italy is being backed by local hires, with account managers and operations staff already in place in both countries. CEO Björn Klaas — who joined Fractory after seven years as Managing Director at Protolabs Europe — described both markets as industrially rich but hampered by fragmented supply chains. “We’re providing a manufacturing execution layer that sits between demand and a distributed industrial supply base,” he said to Business Manchester.
“We are bringing our unique Multi-Stage Connected Manufacturing (MSCM) solution to these regions to provide the industry there with greater transparency, certainty and the ability to scale up production faster,” added Klaas.
The move comes as European manufacturers face mounting pressure from shifting trade rules, labour shortages, and geopolitical disruption. Fractory’s pitch is that centralised digital oversight, combined with in-country support, offers a more resilient alternative to traditional procurement.
GOOD TO KNOW
- Fractory, which has been operating since 2017, was founded by mechanical engineer-entrepreneurs Martin Vares, Joosep Merelaht, and Rein Torm.
- It is an industrial start-up that began its journey with metalworking. The company has so far operated mainly in Scandinavia and the UK.
- In early November 2023, Fractory announced that it had raised 4.8 million euros in funding from strategic investors to expand in existing markets, primarily the UK and Scandinavia.
- In April 2025, CEO Martin Vares announced he would hand over leadership to Björn Klaas, the new CEO. Vares continued in the role of co-founder and head of operations.
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