Cottonwood Technology Fund leads €3 million investment in plasmotion to scale next-generation plasma surface finishing technology
Chemnitz, Germany, 29 September 2026: plasmotion, a German deeptech company that develops and builds industrial machines and proprietary electrolytes for plasma-electrolytic surface finishing of metal components, has secured €3 million in new funding, led by Cottonwood Technology Fund, with backing from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund.
The investment will support plasmotion’s next phase of industrial growth, including the further commercialization of its proprietary plasma polishing technologies, the scale-up of its standard machine platforms and the expansion of its business with industrial customers in Europe and internationally.
Based in the Chemnitz region, one of Germany’s traditional centers for advanced manufacturing and mechanical engineering, plasmotion is a spin-off from TU Bergakademie Freiberg and is developing a new generation of automated technologies for finishing metal components.
Its technology combines electrochemistry and plasma physics to polish, deburr, clean and modify metal surfaces without conventional mechanical polishing or aggressive chemical processes.
A key differentiator is plasmotion’s proprietary JETPEP technology, which enables plasma-electrolytic polishing to be applied selectively to specific areas of a component. Using a controlled electrolyte jet, the process can treat complex geometries and individual surfaces instead of requiring an entire component to be immersed and polished.
This opens applications for large and complex components as well as manufacturing environments where different parts require different surface specifications.
plasmotion combines proprietary electrolyte formulations, process know-how, in-house machine engineering and automation into one integrated solution. Its water- and salt-based electrolytes are designed for a broad range of metals and alloys, including stainless steels, titanium, aluminum, copper and specialized alloys.
The technology can achieve surface roughness levels down to approximately Ra 0.02 µm, while simultaneously enabling polishing, deburring and cleaning. Existing and validated applications range from medical technology and precision engineering to jewelry, tooling, semiconductor equipment and other advanced manufacturing industries.
Industrializing a new approach to surface finishing
Many high-value metal components still require labor-intensive mechanical polishing or conventional electrochemical processes involving multiple production steps.
plasmotion’s objective is to replace these complex process chains with highly automated and reproducible finishing processes that can be directly integrated into industrial production. The unique combination of plasma physics, electrochemistry and fluid dynamics enables this through unmatched geometrical accuracy.
The company’s portfolio includes the dive.pro systems for immersion-based plasma polishing and the jet.pro systems built on plasmotion’s JETPEP platform for localized processing. Both avoid the use of hazardous substances completely, making them easy to integrate into a CNC shopfloor – no special flooring, no special PPE.
Vincent Stepputat, co-founder and CEO of plasmotion, said: “We never set out to build lab equipment. Every plasmotion machine is engineered from the first sketch lines for high-value manufacturing, as a standard machine that a customer qualifies once and then runs in production, shift after shift. Our dive.pro systems already do exactly that on our customers’ shop floors. With Cottonwood and the EIC Fund on board, we will now bring JETPEP to the same industrial maturity and scale plasmotion internationally.”
Patrick Claessen, Partner at Cottonwood Technology Fund, said: “plasmotion is exactly the type of industrial deeptech company Cottonwood likes to invest in: difficult science translated into a technology that solves a very tangible manufacturing problem. Surface finishing may look like a relatively simple step in manufacturing, but for high-precision components it can be one of the most labor-intensive, costly and difficult processes to automate.
What particularly attracted us is that plasmotion has moved beyond conventional plasma polishing. With JETPEP, they can selectively treat exactly the part of a surface that needs to be polished, deburred or cleaned. Combined with their proprietary electrolyte chemistry and deep process knowledge, we believe this has the potential to become an important automation platform for precision manufacturing. We see significant opportunities to scale this technology globally.”
The new financing will be used to bring the jet.pro and jet.pro 3D systems into series production, scale the manufacturing of plasmotion’s standard machines and electrolytes, and expand sales and application engineering in Europe and internationally.
The financing comes at a time when European industry is increasingly focused on advanced manufacturing, automation, resource efficiency and reducing dependence on labor-intensive production processes. The European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund supports breakthrough deeptech companies in developing and commercializing disruptive technologies, helping address critical financing gaps and crowd in private capital.
About plasmotion
plasmotion GmbH develops and builds industrial machines and proprietary electrolytes for plasma-electrolytic surface processing of metals. Its solutions enable industrial customers to polish, deburr, clean and modify metal components through highly automated processes.
The company’s portfolio comprises three pillars: dive.pro standard machines for immersion-based plasma polishing, already in series production use at industrial customers; jet.pro and jet.pro 3D, based on JETPEP, its technology for selective, localized plasma-electrolytic processing; and proprietary electrolyte solutions.
A spin-off from TU Bergakademie Freiberg, plasmotion operates from the Chemnitz/Freiberg technology region in Saxony, Germany, and serves applications across advanced manufacturing industries.
About Cottonwood Technology Fund
Cottonwood Technology Fund is a top-decile performing early-stage venture capital fund. Its focus is on hard science and deep tech, providing (pre-)seed and early-stage funding to IP-driven companies.
Cottonwood makes impact investments in Key Enabling Technologies such as Photonics, Micro- and nanoelectronics, Quantum, Advanced Materials, Nanotechnology, Medical Technology, Climate Tech, Advanced Manufacturing, and Robotics. Cottonwood focuses on startups from Netherlands, Germany and Southwest USA, regions with numerous national laboratories, research universities, and research centers.
Current and prior investments include Skorpios Technologies, Sarcos Robotics (NASDAQ: PDYN), BayoTech, Sencure, Infinitum Electric, Flexiramics, Daisy Genomics, SoundEnergy, Circular Genomics, Matrix Wildfire, Green Theme Technologies, Reyedar, Smartnanotubes Technologies, Keiron Printing Technologies, Orange Quantum Systems, Falqon Technologies, Brilliance RGB, QT Sense, inPhocal, Casmir, Applied Impact Robotics and Plasmotion.
For more information, please visit our website: www.cottonwood.vc
About European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund
The European Innovation Council Fund from the European Commission is a deep tech investor across all technologies. The EIC Fund aims to fill a critical financing gap, to support companies in the development and commercialisation of disruptive technologies. With its large network of capital providers and strategic partners it shares risk and crowds in market players.
Media Contact
plasmotion GmbH
Vincent Stepputat
v.stepputat@plasmotion.com
+49 [0] 3731 37736 – 10
Cottonwood Technology Fund
Patrick Claessen
patrick@cottonwood.vc
+31 [0]6 36 16 40 08
Alain le Loux
alain@cottonwood.vc
+31 [0]6 29 52 63 81
