Teknor Apex backs €75M OSS Ventures fund to bring factory-built software to the U.S. and Europe

Teknor Apex is putting money behind a simple idea: the next wave of industrial software won’t come from slide decks or boardrooms. It will come from the factory floor.

The Rhode Island–based materials science company has joined OSS Ventures’ new €75M fund as a founding partner, backing a strategy focused on building and scaling software inside real manufacturing environments. The fund targets companies across North America and Europe, with OSS now planting a flag in Boston to grow its U.S. presence.

Teknor Apex isn’t coming in as a passive backer. The partnership began within its own facilities, where the company deployed several tools from its OSS portfolio across sites in Rhode Island and Tennessee. Those early rollouts shaped the relationship now formalized through the fund.

Founded in 2019 by Renan Devillieres, OSS Ventures operates more like a builder than a traditional investor. The firm creates software alongside operators, supervisors, and engineers, then refines it in live production settings. The premise is straightforward: if software doesn’t work on the shop floor, it doesn’t work at all.

One of those tools, Oplit, focuses on production planning. It helped reduce changeovers and improve yield, giving teams a clearer path toward more automated scheduling. Another, Fabriq, is built around continuous improvement, pushing problem-solving deeper into daily operations. Mercateam, a workforce platform, supports operators, mechanics, and lab technicians as they build new skills and move into more advanced roles.

The results turned Teknor Apex from a customer into a partner.

“This partnership reflects a shared view that the future advancements in industry will be innovated by people and technology working in tandem to create measurable impacts,” said Donald Wiseman, CEO, Teknor Apex.

That shift from user to co-investor signals how OSS Ventures approaches growth. Instead of pitching software to manufacturers, it embeds inside them, builds with them, and then scales what proves useful.

Teknor Apex will now act as the U.S. industrial anchor partner for the fund, becoming the first American manufacturer to both invest in and run OSS-built software at scale. The company joins other founding partners, including DECATHLON PULSE, the investment arm of global sports retailer DECATHLON, and Peugeot Family Group.

The Boston expansion gives OSS a base close to U.S. industrial hubs and customers, setting the stage for broader adoption. The firm’s ambition is clear: take tools proven in European factories and roll them out across North America without losing the hands-on approach that defined their early success.

For Teknor Apex, the move aligns with a longer-term horizon.

“As we shape our next 100 years of manufacturing, digital transformation is the sole viable path to not only short-term efficiency, but long-term competitiveness,” said Michael Roberts, CIO, Teknor Apex.

That line captures the broader shift playing out across industry. Software is no longer a layer added after the fact. It is becoming part of how factories run, how workers train, and how decisions get made in real time.

OSS Ventures is betting that the companies closest to the machines and the people running them will build the tools that last. Teknor Apex is betting that those tools are worth backing early.