Rapta raises $8 million for AI quality inspection in defense manufacturing

The Lake Oswego company announced the round on Wednesday, naming DeepWork Capital, LongKnife, Elevate Capital, Ringbolt Capital, Portland Seed Fund and BVC among the participants alongside existing investors. Diane Fraiman of Voyager Capital and Kirk Holland of Access Venture Partners are joining the board.

Rapta sells what it calls a manufacturing intelligence platform, which applies computer vision and machine learning to inspect parts during production and assembles records from separate information technology and operational systems into a single production history. Chief executive Aaron Brown said the aim is to let manufacturers modernize without replacing the systems they already run. The company said its software is used by five of the ten largest United States defense contractors, a claim made in its own announcement and not independently confirmed. The announcement also quoted a Tier 2 defense supplier, TRAK TECOM, describing better visibility into its production process. Rapta did not disclose a valuation or say how the round was structured beyond calling it a funding round.