Fluidic Machines banked €11.4M ($12M) Series A funding to scale its reconfigurable hardware technology. The round features participation from Upfront Ventures, Costanoa Ventures, and Colle Capital. The capital supports the rollout of a prototype that allows for rapid physical circuit iteration, exiting stealth for the first time.
The company develops what it describes as a fluid circuit board, designed to replace traditional copper traces with liquid metal alloys. By using electric fields to redirect conductive liquid across a glass substrate, engineers can modify physical electronic designs in under 60 seconds. This process aims to eliminate the typical two-to-six-week wait times associated with printed circuit board (PCB) fabrication and assembly.
The founding team includes AJ Cooper, an electrical engineer who previously led hardware units at Uber and Lyft, and Alex Withrow. The startup operates an electronics-as-a-service model, where designs are assembled on Itera's substrate at secure testing centres and modified remotely by clients. Current reservations for production capacity include a global automotive manufacturer and several defence firms.
As European and global hardware cycles face increasing pressure from AI-driven development software, physical prototyping remains a critical bottleneck. Fluidic Machines' attempt to digitise hard physics reflects a broader shift toward "Hardware-as-a-Service" models that prioritise speed over traditional manufacturing lead times.
Originally reported by Tech Funding News.