The Founding 100

What we're building

The Axhera Network is a capacity network for precision manufacturing — organized by process, machine, and tolerance capability. Buyers search by what they need (wire EDM with ±0.0001" tolerance, CNC turning with 10" max diameter) and find shops with real machines and real-time open capacity.

We're not trying to be the next Xometry. We're building the network that shop owners wish existed — one where you keep your customers, set your own prices, and get matched with buyers based on your actual capabilities rather than the lowest bid.

The first 100 shops set the foundation. Once the founding cohort is full, the program closes permanently.

What founding members get

Priority RFQ routing

When a buyer submits an RFQ that matches your process and capability, founding members are routed first — before any shop that joins after the program closes. As the network scales to hundreds of shops, this early positioning compounds. You're the established name in your process category, not a new listing competing for visibility.

Permanent "Founding 100" designation

Your shop profile carries a permanent founding member badge visible to every buyer. This signals that your shop was vetted early, trusted from the beginning, and has been on the network since day one. It's a credibility marker that can't be bought later.

Process-geography visibility

Founding members get preferred placement when buyers search by process in your region. If you're a wire EDM shop in the Chicago area, you show up first when a buyer in the Midwest searches for wire EDM capacity. This isn't exclusivity — other shops can list the same process — but founding members always have the visibility advantage.

Network badge for your website

An Axhera Network founding member badge for your website, email signature, and marketing materials. As the network builds reputation with procurement teams, the badge becomes a trust signal that differentiates your shop from competitors who aren't on the network.

Direct input on the platform

Founding members have a direct line to shape how the platform evolves — what features get built, how matching works, what the shop portal looks like. This isn't a feedback form that goes into a backlog. It's a conversation with the people writing the code, because we're building this for you.

Zero cost to join

The founding member program is free. No listing fees, no subscription, no transaction percentage. We're investing in building the network — the value exchange is your participation, your machines, and your capacity data.

What we ask

Accurate machine list. List the machines you actually run — make, model, max diameter, tolerance capability. This is what buyers search against. The more specific your profile, the better your matches.

Current capacity status. When capacity changes — a machine goes down, a big order fills your schedule, or spindles open up — update your status. The network's value depends on real-time accuracy. Buyers trust it because it reflects what's actually happening on the shop floor.

Responsiveness. When an RFQ matches your capability, respond within 48 hours — even if the answer is "not a fit right now." Buyers who get fast responses come back. Buyers who get silence don't.

Who we're looking for

Precision shops running real machines across the US and Canada:

CNC turning — Okuma, Mazak, DMG Mori, Haas, Doosan. Live tooling, sub-spindle, Y-axis.
Wire EDM — Mitsubishi, Sodick, Makino, Fanuc, AgieCharmilles.
Sinker EDM — Makino, Mitsubishi, Sodick, AgieCharmilles.
5-axis — DMG Mori, Hermle, Mazak, Okuma, Makino, Haas UMC.
Swiss turning — Citizen, Star, Tsugami, Tornos, Traub, Index.
Mill-turn — Okuma Multus, Mazak Integrex, DMG Mori NTX.
Grinding — Studer, Okuma, Kellenberger, ANCA, Junker.
Waterjet, laser cutting, brake press — all process types welcome.

If you run a serious shop and want to be part of something built by a shop owner for shop owners — not by investors optimizing a take rate — we want to talk.

The math: 100 shops × 4 machines average = 400 machines

That's a real capacity network. A buyer searching for 5-axis open capacity in the Midwest will see a dozen options with specific machines, tolerances, and availability. A buyer looking for wire EDM on hardened D2 will find the three shops within 200 miles that actually specialize in that work. This is the network density that makes the platform useful — and the founding 100 shops are the ones who get there first.