The archive · Hardware & Devices · Strategic decision · 2025–2026
NestWorks bets AI software puts factory-grade CNC on desks; $13M Kickstarter
Elephant Robotics spin-off builds a desktop CNC that cuts steel, then raises hundreds of millions of yuan from HSG and BlueRun after a $13M Kickstarter.
NestWorks（巢匠科技）
What the business is
Desktop CNC machine brand: the C500 cuts aluminum, brass, stainless steel and titanium with automated tool changing and AI-generated tool paths, aimed at engineers, labs, studios and makers.
Starting capital：Hundreds of millions of yuan in Angel and Angel+ rounds from HSG, BlueRun Ventures, Zhongding Capital, Vertex Ventures China and Vision Capital; plus $13M+ in Kickstarter pledges.
How it started
Elephant Robotics, a Shenzhen robotics maker behind the myCobot desktop arm and metaCat, kept losing a week or more per prototype to external factories. In November 2025 it spun out NestWorks (巢匠科技), co-founded by Song Junyi and Wu Qilin, to build a desktop CNC with industrial cutting capability and software simple enough for engineers who had only used 3D printers.
What happened
The C500 launched on Kickstarter 2025-11-04 and closed above $13M pledged — in all of 2025 only seven Tech&Design crowdfunding projects on Kickstarter passed $10M, two of them desktop CNC. In August 2026 NestWorks completed hundreds of millions of yuan in Angel and Angel+ rounds from HSG, BlueRun Ventures, Zhongding Capital, Vertex Ventures China and Vision Capital, with Gaohu Capital as advisor; the C500 debuted in China at formnext Asia Shenzhen with a domestic launch planned around October 2026.
How it ended up
Scaling: global Kickstarter sales done, fresh capital raised, China market entry planned for late 2026.
Background
NestWorks is a Shenzhen desktop-CNC brand spun out of robotics maker Elephant Robotics in November 2025. Its first product, the C500, packs an 800W spindle, 18,000 RPM, automatic tool changing, a 3D probe and ±0.02mm precision into a desktop machine that cuts aluminum, brass, stainless steel and titanium. The bet: CNC leaves the factory only when software removes the machinist's tacit knowledge.
The idea came from Elephant Robotics' own prototyping pain — engineers waited a week or more for external factories to machine parts, then iterated on errors. NestWorks' answer is the NestStudio CAM software, which turns a CAD file into a tool path in a three-step flow, so a user who can run a 3D printer can cut metal. The C500 launched on Kickstarter on 2025-11-04 and closed above $13M pledged.
In August 2026 NestWorks completed hundreds of millions of yuan in Angel and Angel+ rounds from HSG, BlueRun Ventures, Zhongding Capital, Vertex Ventures China and Vision Capital. The company deliberately targets a B-end-first path — engineer workstations, school labs, maker spaces and studios — before consumers, arguing that noise, dust and weight keep desktop CNC from copying the 3D printer's straight-to-home curve.
What has to be true
- The team's own year-round prototyping bottleneck proved demand before any market research: a machine that ends the factory wait loop.
- AI-driven CAM — automatic tool-path generation and smart tool management — removes the machinist expertise that blocks casual users from CNC.
- A $13M+ Kickstarter validated global maker demand and made the hundreds-of-millions-yuan angel round possible.
- B-end-first diffusion through engineers, labs and studios is a realistic path given CNC's noise, dust and weight constraints.
What can be applied
An industrial tool only becomes a desktop market when software carries the expert's tacit knowledge — the product is the digitized process, not the machine.
Aftermath
As of September 2026 NestWorks has completed its global Kickstarter campaign (closing above $13M) and is preparing to sell the C500 in China around October 2026 after its first public domestic showing at formnext Asia Shenzhen. The Angel and Angel+ rounds back a roadmap toward a full design-to-manufacturing ecosystem: an AI CAM stack, a community that shares 'how to manufacture' rather than just 'what to make', and a gradual spread from engineer workstations to school labs, maker spaces, small studios and finally individuals with clear manufacturing needs.
Sources
- Desktop CNC Brand Secures 100M Yuan Angel Series Financing Backed by HSG & BlueRun Ventures After Surpassing $10M Crowdfunding
- 把工厂搬上桌面！巢匠桌面级CNC亮相深圳展会，海外众筹超1300万美元
- NestWorks C500 — Next-Gen Smartest CNC with Industrial Power
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