Qiming Venture Partners Solely Leads Makera's Pre-A Round, Ushering in a New Era of Accessible Precision CNC Tools
Maker Era is a technology company dedicated to providing intelligent, user-friendly precision CNC tools for makers, small and medium-sized enterprises, and educational institutions worldwide.
Beijing Maker Times Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Makera"), a Chinese consumer-grade CNC (Computer Numerical Control) equipment innovator, recently announced the completion of a Pre-A funding round worth tens of millions of RMB, led exclusively by Qiming Venture Partners.
The proceeds will primarily fund core technology R&D iterations, production capacity expansion, and global market channel development. This financing not only signals strong venture capital recognition of the consumer-grade CNC track, but also foreshadows Makera's imminent opening of a new era in democratizing precision CNC tools.
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Maker DNA Driving Entrepreneurship
As a leading Chinese consumer-grade CNC equipment company, Makera was founded in 2019 as a technology enterprise dedicated to providing intelligent, user-friendly precision CNC tools for makers, SMEs, and educational institutions worldwide.
Makera was founded by a team with deep maker spirit, whose core members possess years of experience in mechanical structure and software/hardware R&D. Qiuqi Zhang, founder and CEO of Makera, graduated from the Computer Science Department of Beihang University. A veteran maker and serial entrepreneur, he has over ten years of experience in software development, product design, and business management. Since 2012, Zhang has founded companies in both the United States and China, accumulating extensive entrepreneurial experience across software, networking, and hardware.
Makera's founding stemmed from Zhang's own deep maker DNA, his profound insight into the genuine needs of the maker community, and his persistent pursuit of better maker tools. CNC equipment, alongside 3D printing and laser cutting, is considered one of the three essential desktop fabrication tools for makers. But while the latter two have rapidly entered mainstream awareness and permeated ordinary maker communities, CNC equipment remains stuck in public perception as low-value and high-barrier.
After personally experiencing the pain points of traditional CNC equipment — complex operation, high prices, and bulky size — Zhang, carrying the mission of "democratizing CNC technology," formally founded Makera in 2019 with several maker partners. His original intention was to enable makers and ordinary consumers worldwide to easily produce high-quality works rivaling industrial-grade precision.
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From World-Leading Flagship Products to an Ecosystem
Makera successively launched two flagship products: the Carvera intelligent desktop CNC engraver and the Carvera Air intelligent CNC device. These two products rank first and second respectively in all-time highest crowdfunding amounts in the CNC category on Kickstarter, the world's largest crowdfunding platform. Through multiple innovative technologies, they have established brand recognition among professional makers for "high precision, easy operation, and multi-functionality," becoming benchmark products in the desktop precision machining field.
Makera's third product — the Makera Z1 — will be released in Q4 2025. Positioned as a "sub-$1,000" desktop CNC device, it aims to deliver professional-grade machining performance at an entry-level, accessible price point.
Meanwhile, Makera will launch its fully self-developed Makera Studio intelligent CAM toolpath generation platform, as well as Makerables, a content community for global makers. With this, Makera will form a "hardware + software + content" integrated layout. Through this arrangement, Makera hopes to support more makers in truly achieving the goals of "affordable, learnable, and masterable," thereby transforming desktop CNC equipment from "factory-exclusive" to a powerful tool accessible to everyone.
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Core Technology Building Competitive Moats
Through extreme technological innovation, Makera has comprehensively enhanced the CNC equipment user experience, dramatically lowered the barrier to CNC use, enabled makers and even ordinary consumers worldwide to get started quickly, and significantly improved the usability of consumer-grade CNC equipment — while building a complete consumer-grade CNC equipment ecosystem.
At the technical level, Makera has established solid moats. Taking its first flagship product, the Carvera intelligent desktop CNC engraver, as an example: it features automatic/quick tool changing, automatic leveling, dust collection, and rotary machining functions, making it a versatile consumer-grade CNC device. It was the first to integrate an industrial-grade closed-loop control system into a desktop device, achieving 0.01mm-level machining precision — significantly ahead of comparable products on the market.
On the software side, Makera spent three years independently developing the Makera Studio intelligent CAM toolpath generation platform, providing a one-stop toolpath generation and machining management solution. With intuitive interactive guidance, preset workflows, and tutorial examples, Makera Studio meets professional needs while substantially lowering the learning curve for CNC, paving the way for the popularization and application of consumer-grade CNC equipment.
Qiuqi Zhang stated: "This funding round is a critical step for Makera from technological innovation to ecosystem building. Our goal is not merely to create globally influential star hardware, but to build a complete ecosystem integrating hardware, software, and content. We believe desktop CNC is approaching its 'iPhone moment' — it should become a plug-and-play intelligent terminal on every creator's desk. Our mission is to deliver precision manufacturing capabilities to users with the simplicity of printing, through the realization of our 'hardware + software + content' ecosystem. We will witness and participate in a global paradigm shift — transforming precision manufacturing from a specialized skill into a universal form of creativity."
**Taiye Ye, Partner at Qiming Venture Partners, said: "**Makera is the world's first desktop CNC equipment brand with 'dramatically lowering user barriers' as its core starting point, and is currently recognized by professional users as the best product in the industry: from multiple innovative functional designs in hardware to its self-developed zero-barrier CAM software. Makera will next launch its entry-level model, the Makera Z1 (which won Best in Content Creation at IFA 2025), and with the continued maturation of its upcoming AIGC-powered user community Makerables, we believe Makera's desktop CNC equipment can enter millions of households just like 3D printing, enabling more makers and even ordinary consumers to easily experience the extreme precision that CNC demonstrates in processing wood, metal, and various other materials."
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Qiming Venture Partners was founded in 2006. It currently manages 11 USD funds and 7 RMB funds, with total assets under management reaching $9.5 billion. Since its inception, it has focused on investing in outstanding early- and growth-stage companies in Technology and Healthcare innovation.
To date, Qiming Venture Partners has invested in over 580 high-growth innovative companies, of which more than 210 have listed on the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, Shanghai Stock Exchange, and Shenzhen Stock Exchange, or exited through M&A and other means. Over 80 portfolio companies have become recognized unicorns or super-unicorns.
Many companies in Qiming Venture Partners' portfolio have grown into the most influential players in their respective fields, including Xiaomi (01810.HK), Meituan (03690.HK), Bilibili (NASDAQ:BILI, 09626.HK), Zhihu (NYSE:ZH, 02390.HK), Roborock (688169.SH), UBTECH (09880.HK), WeRide (NASDAQ:WRD), Insta360 (688775.SH), Unisound (09678.HK), Gan & Lee Pharmaceuticals (603087.SH), Tigermed (300347.SZ, 03347.HK), Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB, 09688.HK), CanSino Biologics (688185.SH, 06185.HK), Schrödinger (NASDAQ:SDGR), MicroPort EP MedTech (688617.SH), Sanyou Medical (688085.SH), Amoy Diagnostics (300685.SZ), Berry Genomics (000710.SZ), Genrix Bio (688520.SH), Yuanxin Technology, Insilico Medicine, MediLink Therapeutics, LaNova Medicines, Zhipu AI, StepFun, Biren Technology, and others.