Katana has raised $62.0M in total across 3 funding rounds.
Katana's investors include 3VC, Atomico, Basis Set Ventures, Hoxton Ventures, Insight Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Brooke Seawell, Northzone, Project A Ventures, Arash Ferdowsi, Jaan Tallinn, Mandeep Singh.
# Katana: A Cloud Manufacturing Platform
Katana is a cloud-based manufacturing resource planning (ERP) software designed to help small and medium-sized manufacturers streamline their operations.[4] The company provides an end-to-end inventory management solution that combines inventory control, production scheduling, material requirements planning, and reporting features into a single, intuitive platform.[3][5]
Katana serves manufacturers, e-commerce businesses, and retailers who need visibility and control over complex production and inventory processes. The platform solves the fundamental problem of manufacturing inefficiency—fragmented data across spreadsheets, disconnected systems, and manual workflows that create bottlenecks, errors, and lost visibility. By centralizing these operations, Katana enables businesses to reduce costs, improve productivity, and scale operations without operational chaos.[4][5]
Katana was founded in 2017 by co-founders Kristjan and Priit, who raised $700,000 from investors with a 10-slide pitch deck in April 2017.[3] Within a month, they assembled a small team of two developers and a designer to build the first prototype. By the end of 2017, Katana went live and welcomed its first paying customers in early 2018.[3]
The company is headquartered in Tallinn, Estonia, and has since expanded to operate across North America, Europe, and New Zealand.[3] The founding story reflects a lean, efficient approach—raising capital quickly, building a minimum viable product rapidly, and validating product-market fit with real customers within months. This scrappy beginning set the tone for the company's mission to create "loveable software that's easy and delightful to use."[3]
Katana operates at the intersection of two powerful trends: the digitization of manufacturing and the rise of direct-to-consumer (D2C) commerce. Traditional manufacturers have long relied on outdated, expensive ERP systems designed for large enterprises. Katana captures the underserved SMB segment by offering enterprise-grade functionality at accessible price points and with superior user experience.
The timing is critical. As supply chain complexity increases, e-commerce accelerates, and labor costs rise, manufacturers need software that provides real-time visibility and reduces manual overhead. Katana's focus on this segment—small to medium manufacturers—represents a massive market opportunity that larger ERP vendors have historically ignored or underserved.
The company's $35 million Series B funding round, led by Northzone (an early backer of Spotify, Personio, and Trustpilot), signals strong investor confidence in the manufacturing software category and Katana's execution.[4] By making manufacturing operations transparent and controllable through software, Katana enables a new class of agile, data-driven manufacturers who can compete with larger incumbents.
Katana is well-positioned to become the default manufacturing operating system for SMBs globally. The company has achieved product-market fit, secured substantial funding ($51 million total), and built a team across multiple continents.[4] The next phase will likely involve deepening integrations with adjacent tools (accounting, CRM, supply chain partners), expanding internationally, and potentially moving upmarket to serve mid-market manufacturers.
The broader trend working in Katana's favor is the unbundling of enterprise software—the shift away from monolithic, one-size-fits-all platforms toward best-of-breed, specialized tools that integrate seamlessly. As manufacturing becomes increasingly software-driven and data-dependent, Katana's focused, user-centric approach offers a compelling alternative to legacy systems. The company's influence will likely grow as it shapes how a new generation of manufacturers think about operations, visibility, and scalability.
Katana has raised $62.0M across 3 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $16.0M Series B in October 2025.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2025 | $16.0M Series B | 3VC, Atomico, Basis Set Ventures, Hoxton Ventures, Insight Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Brooke Seawell, Northzone, Project A Ventures, Arash Ferdowsi, Jaan Tallinn, Mandeep Singh, Ott Kaukver, Sergei Anikin | |
| Oct 1, 2022 | $35.0M Series B | 3VC, Atomico, Basis Set Ventures, Hoxton Ventures, Insight Partners, Kindred Capital VC, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Brooke Seawell, Northzone, Polygon, Project A Ventures, Arash Ferdowsi, Balaji Srinivasan, Jaan Tallinn, Jutta Steiner, Mandeep Singh, Ott Kaukver | |
| Feb 1, 2021 | $11.0M Series A | 3VC, Atomico, Insight Partners, Kindred Capital VC, Polygon, Project A Ventures, Balaji Srinivasan, Jaan Tallinn, Jutta Steiner, Ott Kaukver |