Isembard

Isembard has raised $50m in Series A funding led by Union Square Ventures. We will open 25 factories this year in the United Kingdom and United States, expand our engineering teams and launch into Germany, France and Ukraine. Tamarack Global and IQ Capital joined the round alongside existing investors Notion Capital and CIV. Angels include Alex Bouaziz (Deel), Andrei Danescu (Dexory) and Matt Briers (ex-Wise). Manufacturing is the rate limiter on our collective security, prosperity and sense of purpose as nations. Isembard is the manufacturer for aerospace, defence and robotics customers. We operate both owned and grow franchisee factories powered by our proprietary software and AI platform, MasonOS. Our mission is to forge industrial acceleration. If you are doom scrolling but would rather solve the hardest problems of our time, get in touch. Roles we are hiring for are in the comments below. Saying that, we prefer to craft roles around the individual rather than craft individuals to roles. And if you're interested, the oil painting in the image is The Iron Rolling Mill (also known as Modern Cyclopes) by Adolph Menzel, which depicts engineers inside a 19th-century German rolling mill.

March 2026. Stay tuned.

At Isembard, our work with Rowden is about one thing: turning operational demand into real industrial output. By bringing modern machine tools, MasonOS and a distributed factory model together, we’re scaling sovereign production of sensing and mission-comms systems, creating skilled manufacturing jobs and linking design directly to physical delivery. The UK has a clear opening to build depth in this subsector. Demand for systems that connect, sense and share information at the edge is accelerating across defence, national security and emergency response. With focused investment and the right industrial partners, the UK can secure meaningful operational advantage and build long-term competitiveness. Complex systems aren’t delivered by any single company. They require coordinated builders: those who design, those who test, and those who manufacture with purpose and repeatability. Progress is earned through consistency, but Europe already has a strong foundation - and a fast-growing group of companies committed to hard delivery and resilient supply chains. We’re looking to work with more partners who want to move quickly, build seriously and push this mission forward. See you in the factory.

“Get in loser, we’re seizing the means of production” Marx argued that power comes from controlling the means of production. Lovelace imagined programmable hardware. Brunel showed us what happens when an engineer exhibits restless ambition. While Regina George from Mean Girls knew a thing or two about recruiting a team. We’re recruiting a team too. Independent thinkers. Talented engineers. People who care about the world around them and what to make a meaningful difference to the future of humanity. At Isembard, we’re building software-first factories to reindustrialise the West. If your instinct is to get inside a factory rather than stand outside, we want to speak to you. Software engineers, mechanical engineers and machinists in the UK and USA. Link in the comments to our careers page. See you in the factory.

We’re forging industrial acceleration with our software, MasonOS. See you in the factory.

Welcome to the team Shaun Rowcliffe. From small acorns, mighty oaks.

Industry is changing fast. To keep pace with the demands of defence, aerospace, and energy, the UK and its allies need manufacturing that is faster, more distributed, and more intelligent. Isembard is a new kind of manufacturer, powered by MasonOS our proprietary software. We’re already manufacturing products for some of the most critical missions. But this is just the beginning. As we expand, we’re looking for world-class engineers and operators to join our mission. Visit our Careers page to discover open positions. Link in the comments.

We were delighted to host friends, family and customers at the launch of our first US factory in Dallas, Texas. Justin Baucum opened the factory alongside the wider team of Henry Justiniano, Dominic H. and Alexander Fitzgerald. Below is the opening speech from Alexander Fitzgerald: "Thank you for coming. Firstly, where have y’all travelled from today? ... Well there are others who have travelled equally far in the past. 405 years ago, 132 people travelled 66 days across the Atlantic. These founders departed from Plymouth, England and landed in Plymouth, America. One of these founders was John Alden, an engineer, barrel maker and craftsman. Why do I tell this story? I will borrow a quote from an English writer to explain: “Yet such is often the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere.” And so, it is here with our small hands where the future will be decided. For too long, manufacturing has been seen as something done by others, someplace far off in big, hulking, monstrosities. Isembard exists to change that. Isembard exists to forge industrial acceleration for the United States, the United Kingdom and our allies. We are building a new industrial colossus for the intelligence age. As the world grows more dangerous, we grow to meet that threat. Isembard now spans four factories in two countries and will soon grow further and faster. If John Alden, the barrel maker from the Mayflower was alive today, I have no doubt he would feel at home in an Isembard factory. ... Thank you for coming again today. The final thing I will say is this… …God save the King! …and God save Texas!"

Mark the date. July 24th 2025.