Cerrion, a fast-growing European manufacturing technology company using AI-driven video agents to spot and resolve factory-floor problems, has raised $18m in a Series A round as it accelerates its expansion into the US.
The funding was led by Creandum, with participation from existing backers Y Combinator, Goat Capital, 10x Founders, and Session VC. Prominent angel investors joining the round include Harry Stebbings, Oskar Hjertonsson, Thomas Wolf, and Garret Langley.
Cerrion’s technology uses standard factory cameras to monitor production lines continuously, surfacing quality issues, safety concerns, and process disruptions that human operators may miss. The system can trigger alerts, adjust machine behaviour, or stop production entirely, allowing workers to address problems up to 50% faster. The company argues that such interventions offer a meaningful dent in the $1.4tn in unplanned downtime that manufacturers face each year, a figure the industry says has risen by 319% since 2019 due to more complex supply chains and increased energy costs.
Karim Saleh, Cerrion’s Co-Founder and Chief Executive, said manufacturers were “facing mounting pressure from unplanned downtime and rising operational costs”, adding that investor support reflected growing demand for AI-enabled systems that improve efficiency.
Creandum partner Hanel Baveja said the company represented one of the first examples of AI driving “transformational value” in manufacturing, a $20tn global sector that has lagged behind others in adopting advanced automation technologies. She highlighted Cerrion’s ability to operate within existing factory setups as a key factor behind its rapid adoption.
The Zurich-based company, founded by engineers from ETH Zurich, Google, and EPFL, said its revenues had grown tenfold since 2024, driven by increasing take-up in the US alongside continued growth in Europe and Latin America. Cerrion’s platform is already in use at manufacturers including Unilever, Riedel, Schott Zwiesel, Stölzle Lausitz, Sisecam, and Verallia, which supply major consumer brands such as Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Pfizer, and Novartis.
Many of these companies have expanded from single-site trials to global rollouts within months, Cerrion said, arguing that its system was becoming a de facto standard for AI-assisted safety, automation, and efficiency across sectors including food, beverage, glass, timber, building materials, and consumer packaged goods.
The company plans to double its workforce across Europe and the US and broaden its platform beyond computer vision into other forms of industrial process monitoring. Cerrion now operates across 15 countries on three continents.
