Omni Ventures announced the closing of its oversubscribed $33 million Fund I. The firm will invest in startups leading the digitization of manufacturing technology.
Omni Ventures is led by general partners Simon Lancaster and Sabrina Paseman, both former Apple product and manufacturing engineers who later became founders. The firm is writing $700,000 to $1 million pre-seed checks into startups building software, AI, robotics, automation, and connected industrial systems for the manufacturing economy.
The fund is anchored by Allocator One, a fund of funds backing emerging venture managers. Omni’s limited partners span 14 countries.
Omni has already backed companies including Uptool. Its portfolio companies have attracted participation from investors including Khosla Ventures, Eclipse Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Kleiner Perkins.
The firm is focused on the global push to modernize industrial manufacturing. Omni said manufacturing remains one of the most under-digitized sectors of the economy, creating opportunities for software and AI to unlock proprietary data from factory floors.
The firm believes AI is changing what is possible in manufacturing because the sector has decades of valuable data trapped in machines, factory floors, spreadsheets, legacy on-premise systems, and institutional knowledge. Omni said this shift is enabling applications across predictive maintenance, supply chain traceability, computer-aided design, simulation tools, and advanced robotics.
One of Omni’s early investments, Uptool, provides an AI-powered quoting platform for small, high-mix manufacturers such as machine and fabrication shops. The company helps manufacturers quote faster, win more business, and meet rising demand from global hardware innovation.
Lancaster and Paseman bring more than 30 years of combined experience operating and investing in industrial and manufacturing technology companies. Before launching Omni, they spent nearly 20 combined years overseeing manufacturing operations across Apple’s global supply chain.
The partners have also worked at companies including Google, BlackBerry, Arris Composites, and Boston Scientific. Since leaving Apple, they have built a curated network of more than 32,000 industry executives, engineers, and entrepreneurs.
Omni said this network creates a feedback and product validation system for early-stage founders. The firm aims to support manufacturing technology startups with operating experience, technical insight, customer access, and industrial relationships.
KEY QUOTES:
“The race to modernize industrial manufacturing is one of the defining economic stories of this decade. We anchored Omni because we believe Simon and Sabrina combine deep technical operating experience with a differentiated network in one of the most under-digitized sectors of the economy. This is the right team, at the right time, in a market that is only going to accelerate.”
Michael Ströck, Founding Partner of Allocator One
“Manufacturing is entering a new era of global dynamism. Countries and companies are racing to build more resilient, competitive, and software-enabled industrial bases. Nearly every major sector of the economy has already been transformed by software. Manufacturing is the next great frontier, and AI is finally making that transformation possible.”
Simon Lancaster, General Partner at Omni Ventures
“When we think about which industries AI will transform most, it comes down to data density. Manufacturing has decades of it, but until now it’s been trapped in machines, factory floors, tribal knowledge, spreadsheets, and legacy on-prem systems. AI has finally made it possible to put that data to work. That’s the inflection point we built Omni around.”
Sabrina Paseman, General Partner at Omni Ventures
“Small and midsize manufacturers are the backbone of our industrial economy, but many still rely on manual, legacy workflows and systems that create a ton of inefficiency. Uptool uses AI to help machine and fabrication shops quote faster, win more business, and focus on the work that matters. Omni understood the complexity of the manufacturing operations from day one, and that experience has made them an invaluable partner.”
Benny Buller, Co-Founder and CEO of Uptool
“The next industrial revolution will be built by founders who understand both software and the realities of production. Omni has identified a compelling opportunity at the earliest stage of manufacturing technology, where technical insight, customer access, and industrial expertise can meaningfully shape company outcomes.”
Yukai Lin, Chief Investment Officer of Foxconn Technology Co., Ltd.
