Re:Build Raises $2.1 Billion to Bring Industry Back to the US: The Firm That Spawned Slate Calls Itself America's Answer to Shenzhen

While the biggest money in tech is pouring into artificial intelligence, a Massachusetts firm has raised $2.1 billion (around 1.8 billion euros) for something much older - factories. Re:Build presents itself as a manufacturing accelerator, and the round is led by General Catalyst and the strategic investment group of JPMorganChase. The other investors haven't been disclosed.

Founded in 2020, the company describes itself as "America's answer to Shenzhen". Co-founder Jeff Wilke, the former CEO of Amazon's worldwide consumer business, doesn't hide the political tone: "We founded Re:Build because the deindustrialisation of America is an economic failure and a national security risk." Deindustrialisation - a word the Balkans learned during the transition. What would the road back even cost? There are more Amazon people in the leadership: Wei Gao, a longtime vice president there, runs the digital side and products.

The money will go towards more capacity for hard-tech products and new industrial startups. The Re:Build network employs more than 2,100 people in the US and has over 2.4 million square feet of manufacturing space, around 223,000 square metres. The company says it has launched hundreds of products and production systems, including for aerospace and defence. The timing isn't accidental: the US is investing more and more in its own manufacturing and supply chains, partly as insurance against dependence on China.

Re:Build's best-known offspring is Slate Auto. Wilke and co-founder Miles Arnone came up with it in 2022, and in 2023 spun it out as a separate company to make raising capital easier. Slate has so far raised at least $1.4 billion, including from Jeff Bezos's family office, for an ultra-cheap pickup that buyers customise themselves.

Hemant Taneja, CEO of General Catalyst, says industry needs "platforms that can operate at real scale". It sounds good in a pitch deck. The real test is whether the Amazon mindset can build factories that keep running even after fear of China stops being the main topic.