Online manufacturing marketplace MFG.com gets $26 million to fund global expansion

MFG.com, Inc. (www.mfg.com), a global online marketplace for the manufacturing community, got $26 million in financing led by Fidelity Ventures and Fidelity Asia Ventures with additional funding from European Founders Fund. The financing will be used to fund MFG.com’s continued global expansion, technology development, creation of new online services and potential acquisitions.

Fidelity Ventures partner, Larry Cheng, has joined MFG.com’s board of directors. Current board members include Mitch Free, chief executive officer and founder of MFG.com and Steve Campbell, chief investment officer. Fidelity Asia Ventures managing partner, Daniel Auerbach, has joined MFG.com’s board of directors as an observer.

"The manufacturing industry is one of the world's largest vertical markets and represents a high potential market for a B-to-B marketplace because of its size, inherent globalization and fragmentation," said Cheng who currently serves on the boards of Prosper, eCredit, mindSHIFT Technologies and as a board observer on The New Orleans Exchange. "MFG.com has demonstrated strong historical growth and built a world-class platform that we are confident positions them to further capitalize on the converging trends that are transforming the manufacturing industry: accelerated globalization and increased Internet utilization."

The MFG.com marketplace facilitates billions of dollars in manufacturing transactions annually by connecting buyers and suppliers of manufactured products around the world. With offices in North America, Europe and Asia, MFG.com supports 10 languages and 12 currencies allowing its members to connect instantly without geographical or technological barriers.

"Not only does MFG.com's proprietary on-demand technology streamline the complex process of sourcing and selling manufacturing services, it also intelligently connects buyers and sellers from around the world while providing an unparalleled approach to intellectual property protection online," Auerbach said. Auerbach currently serves on the boards of Danji Technology Holdings Ltd and UIM Holdings and served on the boards of some of China's most recognized companies including AsiaInfo, Hurray Holdings, Wuxi Pharmatech, and since its early beginnings, the Alibaba Group holding company that includes the leading B-to-B e-commerce company in China which recently launched a very successful IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. "The success MFG.com has achieved in China just a year after establishing its office in Shanghai will help pave the way for future geographic expansion and overall business growth as the leading online manufacturing platform."

Since its founding in 2000, MFG.com has scaled to be the largest online manufacturing marketplace in the world. In 2006, the company acquired Geneva-based SourcingParts.com. Together, the strategic combination has already helped MFG.com achieve a critical mass of more than 100,000 registered buyers and suppliers that have adopted the platform as their preferred way of doing business. Every minute of every day, buyers and suppliers of manufacturing services and industrial products from all corners of the globe are connecting online at MFG.com and conducting business. The manufacturing industry is a truly global ecosystem and the MFG.com platform has been designed to facilitate global trade, multiple languages, multiple currencies and has elegant solutions to address intellectual property concerns making sourcing online more secure than traditional methods.

"Our continued global growth was not dependent on raising additional capital, particularly given the profitability of our core business and the commitment of our existing investors Bezos Expeditions and European Founders Fund," Free explained. "However, we were particularly impressed with the strategic value that Fidelity Ventures' and Fidelity Asia Ventures' could offer based on their domain expertise and global reach, as evidenced by their successful investments in other online B-to-B marketplaces, including Alibaba.com. Their investment and involvement in MFG.com will further accelerate MFG.com along the path of becoming the dominant platform upon which the world's manufacturing community conducts business."