Naver D2SF said on the 26th that it invested in Forge, a startup that consolidates domestic manufacturing plants with global defense and manufacturing supply chains. KNET Investment Partners, Sage Partners, Dcamp, and 500 Global also joined the round. This is Forge's first institutional fundraising since its founding in Jan.
Forge applies its own software to domestic factories to collect and standardize equipment, process, inspection, and work data in real time. It also builds the on-site know-how held by skilled workers into databases. From plant allocation to process management, logistics and customs clearance, and document preparation, it supports meeting traceability and supply chain management certification requirements demanded by global corporations.
Forge is securing manufacturing partners centered on the southeastern region, including Sacheon, Changwon, and Busan, and is expanding its customer network to defense, aerospace, shipbuilding, and Robotics corporations in North America and Europe. The investment will be used to hire manufacturing engineers and AI developers and to establish new manufacturing partnerships.
Naver D2SF also launched an open call for defense and manufacturing startups. Target corporations include those in data analysis, physical AI, command and control, manufacturing and maintenance automation, and cybersecurity, and applications can be submitted on the website until Oct. 25.