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Job management software company Factory.app has secured $1.05 million in seed funding that has attracted an investment from Technology One (ASX: TNE) founder Adrian Di Marco.
The seed round was led by early-stage VC firm Investible, with participation from 1in100 Ventures, Beachhead Venture Capital and Hugo-Hamman Investments, as well as Di Marco.
Sydney-based Factory.app was founded in 2021 by brothers Paul and Michael Lutkajtis who sought to develop a more streamlined process for manufacturers to create, track and manage jobs.
They describe existing software processes as ‘too clunky’ and not matching the cost and user-experience expectations of the market.
Factory.app provides small-to-medium sized fabricators simplified and affordable solutions designed to fit their needs straight ‘out of the box’, bridging the gap between basic accounting packages such as MYOB and Xero, and enterprise resource planning (ERP) tools.
The fresh capital raised by the startup will support plans to digitalise the manufacturing sector, with plans to expand within Australia before scaling globally.
“Coming from the industry, we were literally living the same pain of manual processes and constant double handling that our customers face every day,” says Factory.app CEO and co-founder Paul Lutkajtis.
“With 90 per cent of the manufacturing industry being made up of similar-sized businesses to our own family business, we knew we could deliver huge value to thousands of companies globally by leveraging our own experience to build a software platform that feels fit for purpose.”
Lutkajtis says there is an ‘inherent need’ for the Factory.app platform in the market.
The startup, which secured tech entrepreneurs Richard Hugo-Hamman and Brendon McQueen as angel investors, plans to use the seed funding to lift awareness of the brand to drive ‘aggressive growth’ in subscriptions.
Hugo-Hamman has topped up his initial investment through the seed round alongside Investible, 1in100 Ventures, Beachhead Ventures and Di Marco.
“As an early supporter of Factory.app, we have seen the potential of the product and the evolution of its design,” says Investible principal Jayden Basha.
“Paul and Michael have their finger on the pulse of this often-underserved industry and have begun to carve out a unique platform for smaller businesses to thrive.”
Lutkajtis says Factory.app has grown its customer base with users reporting efficiency gains within days of signing up, with some businesses experiencing a 30 per cent reduction in inbound and outbound customer service calls. Others have noted improved capacity to handle higher volumes of work.
Lutkajtis says the business is highly driven by customer feedback.
“We don’t charge for developing what customers want – we make our product work best for everyone,” he says.
Factory.app has its sights set on continuing to build out functionality that customers need as well as maintaining affordability in a bid to disrupt the ERP market for SME fabricators globally.
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