In 2019, Jonas Schneider, formerly OpenAI's first engineering hire and technical lead for their robotics division, experienced a manufacturing pain point firsthand while building a robotic hand that required precision parts. Waiting months for critical components, he recognized a fundamental problem: the precision manufacturing industry was highly fragmented, relying on thousands of small, low-tech machine shops using pen-and-paper processes to supply the world's most advanced companies. This realization sparked the founding of Daedalus in Karlsruhe, Germany, with a mission to build the world's most advanced factories for precision parts using AI and software-driven automation.
Today, Daedalus operates a 50,000-square-foot factory in Germany that represents a fundamental reimagining of precision manufacturing. Instead of relying on individual craftsmen, Daedalus deploys a proprietary Manufacturing AI Platform that orchestrates and automates the entire production process from quoting to delivery. The system captures manufacturing decision data from each part produced, using pattern matching and machine learning to continuously improve how similar parts are created in the future. Serving industries ranging from semiconductors and aerospace to medical devices and defense, Daedalus transforms bespoke precision part production from a months-long artisanal process into a reliable, scalable operation. With over $40 million in funding from NGP Capital, Khosla Ventures, Addition, and Y Combinator, the company is scaling its blueprint factory to meet growing demand across Europe and beyond.