PypeServer, a Seattle-area startup that makes software for industrial manufacturers that cut and weld huge amounts of pipe for commercial buildings, factories and ships, raised $1.5 million in fresh cash.
Ferguson Ventures, the venture arm of wholesale plumbing supplies and materials distributor Ferguson Enterprises, led the round. PypeServer will use the cash infusion to make its software compatible with more computer-assisted design systems and pipe-cutting platforms.
Much of the industrial design process for the guts of major structures has been digitized in recent years. But one place where technology remains lacking is on “the shop floor, where stuff actually gets made,” PypeServer CEO David Basiji told GeekWire.
“Our software manages that ‘last mile’ by importing designs from almost any (computer-assisted design) system or building information model, translating the design information into instructions that any automated pipe cutting machine can understand, empowering the cutter operator to tweak designs for manufacturability,” Basiji said.
Basiji pointed to three main reasons PypeServer stands out from the competition. The software works with a large variety of design systems, is the only program built specifically for the intensive and challenging process of “thick-wall industrial pipe cutting,” Basiji said, and it integrates with supply chain systems to track inventory and make it easier to order parts.
The company was founded in 2011 and has been profitable for the last seven years, Basiji said. PypeServer has more than 140 manufacturing customers and seven employees.
