IndustrialMind.ai raises $1.6m to boost factory efficiency

Its AI Engineer can monitor production lines to detect anomalies and suggest fixes.

IndustrialMind.ai, a Singapore-based startup founded by former Tesla, Inc. artificial intelligence (AI) engineers, aims to accelerate product development and improve throughput in automotive and electronic equipment supply chains after raising $1.6m (US$1.2 million) in a pre-seed funding round.

“Our long-term vision is to bring AI Engineer to every industrial sector,” co-founder and Chief Business Officer Justin Li told Singapore Business Review.

AI Engineer, the company’s flagship tool, automates tasks traditionally handled by human engineers, including drawing-to-process interpretation, real-time production monitoring, and root-cause analysis.

In the near term, the startup is focusing on the automotive value chain —including tier-1 and tier-2 suppliers for electric vehicles — and the electrical and electronic equipment sectors, which are expanding alongside data centres and grid upgrades, he added.

“Both verticals are experiencing simultaneous pressure to reduce costs and increase capacity while managing complex engineering requirements,” Li said in an emailed reply to questions. “That makes them ideal early adopters of an AI engineer that can understand drawings, processes, and quality data at scale.” 

AI Engineer can read and interpret technical drawings, generate process flows, run bills of materials and cost analysis, and monitor production lines to detect anomalies and suggest adjustments. When problems occur, its multi-agent engine applies quick fixes and creates reports, speeding up feedback.

“The tool reduces time from over 10 hours to just a few minutes, enabling engineers to handle more projects and respond to higher production demand,” IndustrialMind.ai co-founder and CEO Steven Gao said.

A dedicated team of engineers works alongside clients on the shop floor, providing expertise, configuring AI use cases, and ensuring the tool aligns with real-world production constraints.

“We understand process windows, line constraints, and day-to-day realities because we have been on the factory side ourselves,” Gao said in an emailed reply to questions.

IndustrialMind.ai has deployed AI Engineer at production lines for Siemens AG, Tesa SE, and Andritz AG, and is in discussions with tier-1 automotive suppliers in Singapore. Across the Asia-Pacific region, the startup is engaging manufacturers in Singapore, Vietnam, China, and Japan.

The firm plans a mid-single-digit million-dollar funding round to scale forward-deployed engineer operations and expand AI Engineer deployments across the Asia-Pacific region, the US, and Europe, Li said.

It also aims to develop a manufacturing intelligence platform that can understand manufacturing engineering knowledge from drawings, tolerances, processes, and quality data, Gao said.

Investors in the pre-seed round included Antler Innovation Pte. Ltd., TSV Capital, and Plug and Play Tech Center, whilst Song Gang, Tesla’s former Shanghai plant manager, participated as an angel investor.

“We are not just providing another data tool, but an AI engineer that speaks the same language as manufacturing teams and is accountable for real operational outcomes,” Gao said.