€2M Drives 3D Printing Analysis Software from European Startup

Trailblazing French software company Cognitive Design Systems (CDS) has successfully secured €2 million ($2.2 million) in its first seed funding round, marking a pivotal moment in its mission to revolutionize the manufacturing design process.

At the forefront of generative design and 3D printing, CDS was founded in 2021 and is rapidly making its mark in additive manufacturing thanks to its flagship software solution, “Cognitive Additive.” Specializing in evaluating the cost-effectiveness, feasibility, and sustainability of 3D printed parts, the Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) software automatically performs the industrialization study for part and assembly. CDS has also integrated various modules into various platforms, including Synera, a low-code engineering platform, and GrabCAD Print, a software solution platform offered by Stratasys. In fact, this funding round will speed up the company’s growth and enhance the integration of its technologies with major CAD platforms.

CDS 3D printing software. Image courtesy of CDS.

CDS Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Vincent Ung says, “We believe that modern engineering requires innovative solutions and that the key to product development is to consistently include the manufacturing factors as part of design.”

Led by Parisian private equity firm Iron Hands Capital, the seed round also saw participation from Swiss venture capital business DAA Capital Partners and space tech accelerator SpaceFounders in France. The funds will help CDS expand its reach in Europe and the United States, bolstering its salesforce and geographic footprint.

Commenting on the new funding round, Bertrand Mueller, Founding Partner at DAA Capital Partners, said, “We believe that the automatization of engineering tasks and the prediction of the manufacturability and costs of any product designed in 3D is a global megatrend in the industry. CDS is uniquely positioned to benefit from this trend thanks to its state-of-the-art modeling technology. “

Blending AI

Since 2022, CDS has collaborated with the European Space Agency (ESA) Business Incubation Center (BIC) in France. As an alum of the ESA BIC network, CDS can help develop new design and manufacturing solutions for space applications. They aim to create innovative and performant products and reduce the schedule and cost of space missions.

CDS claims it significantly reduces design cycle times by introducing AI and automation to assist CAD designers. This approach not only streamlines manufacturing but also democratizes access to design consultancy, making sophisticated design solutions more accessible. The company is also developing solutions for conventional manufacturable processes, such as injection molding, die casting, and machining.

Cognitive Design Systems (CDS) team from left to right: CEO Rhushik Matroja, CTO Henri de Charnace, COO Vincent Ung, and Sales Director Georges Caseau. Image courtesy of CDS.

Based in Toulouse, France, CDS is rapidly growing its presence in France while considering its Japanese origin. The startup spun out of work developed to realize automotive and aerospace client applications at Yamaichi Special Steel in Japan.

Co-founder and CEO Rhushik Matroja, who worked for almost a decade at Japanese manufacturing firms, recognized the potential of using machine learning and computational geometry synthesis to optimize designs for additive manufacturing. Today, CDS is a team of over half a dozen people serving clients in Japan, Europe, and North America. With machine learning algorithms promising to make design workflows effortless, CDS plans to recast the landscape of 3D modeling and manufacturing.