Usine IO, the Product Prototyping and Innovation Platform, Opens Its Capital to â€œFrench Tech AccÃ©lÃ©rationâ€ and Prodways Entrepreneurs, Subsidiary of Groupe GorgÃ©

PARIS--Today, Usine IO welcomes French Tech Acc©l©ration, the venture capital fund operated by Caisse des D©pÃ'ts and managed by Bpifrance as part of the Investment for the Future program, and Prodways Entrepreneurs, a subsidiary of Groupe Gorg©, which provides dedicated support and financing for European businesses in the 3D Printing sector. An initial funding round took place in June 2014 with Kima Ventures, OCP Finance, Time for growth, Jacques-Antoine Granjon, Arnaud de M©nibus, Henri Seydoux and Hugues Souparis.

Usine IO is a technological innovation facility located in Paris' 13th district, which provides hardware resources and a technical expertise and networking department to assist inventors, entrepreneurs, SMEs and larger corporations with the design and prototyping of objects and their preparation for manufacture.

In its 1,500 m2 facility, Usine IO combines design space and workshops in wood, sheet metal, electronics, chemistry, textiles and 3D printing, with office space and a dedicated team of professional experts (CAD methods, electronics, etc.).
This second funding round with French Tech Acc©l©ration and Prodways Entrepreneurs will enable Usine IO to strengthen its design and manufacturing support services, consolidate its team of experts and launch its development on a European scale.

Just nine months following its opening, Usine IO already has an enviable position in the French hardware landscape, accommodating more than 130 subscribed clients (designers, engineers, entrepreneurs, employees of large corporations, students) each month, and hosting events of national and international stature. During the first few months of business, its team of technical experts supported more than 150 projects, from the upstream stage of prototyping to preparation for manufacture.

Usine IO, which positions itself as the leading rapid prototyping facility dedicated to startups in the hardware world, has a one-of-a-kind business model in Europe, which allows innovators and product creators to ramp up their development and facilitates their transition into industrial production.

Gilles Schang, Director of Investments at Bpifrance, explains: "Becoming a privileged partner of Usine IO was very important for French Tech Acc©l©ration. Usine IO forms an essential building block in the French ecosystem to accelerate the development of object-oriented startups. This project's high caliber and its positioning make Usine IO a remarkable accelerator in its segment, with strong growth potential in France and internationally."

RaphaÃ«l Gorg©, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Groupe Gorg©, states: "With its unique concept, Usine IO is revolutionizing the way in which European startups, SMEs and large industrial groups innovate by supporting them from idea through to product. Groupe Gorg© is delighted to participate in the development of Usine IO which fits within the 3D printing field of excellence that Prodways Entrepreneurs seeks to facilitate."

Ideally positioned in technologies of the future (robotics, drones, 3D printing, etc.), Groupe Gorg© intends to play an important role in the development of new design and manufacturing methods. Through Prodways Entrepreneurs, Groupe Gorg© strives to encourage and support the creation of a 3D Printing field of excellence in Europe.

The French Tech Acc©l©ration fund, launched at the beginning of December 2014 under the French Tech initiative with 200 million euros of funding provided by the Investment for the Future program, promotes the expansion of "startup accelerators" in France. In general terms, the French Tech initiative aims to support French startup ecosystems by financing startup accelerators, but also by structuring and promoting startup ecosystems in France and internationally. With this transaction, the French Tech Acc©l©ration fund undertakes its second investment.

About Groupe Gorg©:
Established in 1990, Group Gorg© is an industrial group operating in different areas of expertise: Smart Safety Systems, Protection in Nuclear Environments, Industrial Projects & Services and 3D Printing

In 2014, the Group reported revenue of â‚¬223.3 million. It is backed by 1,370 employees and operations in over ten countries. Groupe Gorg© is listed on NYSE Euronext Paris (ISIN: FR0000062671; Ticker code: GOE) and on the US OTC market (ISIN: US3994511034; OTC Pink: GGRGY / GGRGF) in the form of ADR.

More information available on www.groupe-gorge.com

This compact 3D camera series combines a very short working distance, a large field of view and a high depth of field - perfect for bin picking applications. With its ability to capture multiple objects over a large area, it can help robots empty containers more efficiently. Now available from IDS Imaging Development Systems. In the color version of the Ensenso B, the stereo system is equipped with two RGB image sensors. This saves additional sensors and reduces installation space and hardware costs. Now, you can also choose your model to be equipped with two 5 MP mono sensors, achieving impressively high spatial precision. With enhanced sharpness and accuracy, you can tackle applications where absolute precision is essential. The great strength of the Ensenso B lies in the very precise detection of objects at close range. It offers a wide field of view and an impressively high depth of field. This means that the area in which an object is in focus is unusually large. At a distance of 30 centimetres between the camera and the object, the Z-accuracy is approx. 0.1 millimetres. The maximum working distance is 2 meters. This 3D camera series complies with protection class IP65/67 and is ideal for use in industrial environments.