SmartCap et al. exit GrabCAD for reported $100m

Mikkel Stern-Peltz
19 September 2014

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Estonian government-backed SmartCap has sold computer-aided design-sharing community GrabCAD to Stratasys Group for a reported $100m in cash and stock, alongside a number of other investors.

Other investors in the company include Arengufond (the Estonian Development Fund), Astrec, Seedcamp, NextView Ventures, Matrix Partners, Charles River Ventures and Atlas Venture, as well as angel investors David Sacks, Angus Davis, Marek Kiisa and Alex Ott.

Stratasys is a Minnesota-based maker of 3D printers and production systems. The buyout is the latest in a recent acquisition spree for the buyer, and marks what is likely to be Estonia's largest exit since Skype was bought by Microsoft for $8.5bn in 2011.

GrabCAD co-founder and CEO Hardi Meybaum will remain as leader of the company following the deal's completion, as it is integrated as a separate unit in the Stratasys group.

Previous funding
In July 2010, GrabCAD received €256,000 from Estonian Development Fund and telecoms company Astrec Baltic.

A year later, the company raised a further $1.1m in seed funding from Matrix, Atlas, NextView and a number of business angels.

In 2012, GrabCAD saw 13 backers participate in a $4.2m funding round that included previous investors and saw Matrix's David Skok join the GrabCAD board.

Company
Founded in Tallinn in 2009 by Hardi Meybaum, GrabCAD is the maker of a collaborative product development tool that allows engineering teams to share, manage and view computer-aided design files online.

After winning Seedcamp London and being chosen to join accelerator TechStars Boston – the first European company to do both – it moved its headquarters to Boston in mid-2011.

GrabCAD currently employs around 55 people.

People
Andrus Oks is an investment manager with SmartCap. Hardi Meybaum is the CEO of GrabCAD and his counterpart at Stratasys is David Reis.