#StartupsEverywhere Profile: Andre Wegner, CEO & Founder, Authentise
This profile is part of #StartupsEverywhere, an ongoing series highlighting startup leaders in ecosystems across the country. This interview has been edited for length, content, and clarity.
Leveraging Software Innovations to Improve Efficiencies in Additive Manufacturing
Authentise is a software company headquartered in Philadelphia, Penn. that is working to enable 3D printing systems to operate more efficiently by using artificial intelligence and other digital tools. We sat down with Andre Wegner, CEO and Founder, to learn about what led him to start the company, the barriers the U.S. immigration system creates to hiring the talent he needs, and how policymakers can look to additive manufacturing to fill gaps in existing supply chains.
Tell us about your background. What led you to create Authentise?
I started out working at a social enterprise venture capital firm in Nigeria. It was a great experience, but in 2012 there was a plane crash in the country that happened because the airplane was missing a part that needed to be replaced and the airline did not wait the three days it would take to get the new part. Shortly after, I moved to the Bay area and enrolled in a program for entrepreneurs to explore how to use technology to tackle global challenges. That’s where I learned about the power of disruptive manufacturing innovations such as 3D printing and realized they could help bridge the gap between the production of needed products and their local distribution.
What is the work you all are doing at Authentise?
The vision for the company is to manufacture products on demand in local markets so we can cut out major distribution lags. However, that vision is a ways off. Currently we use artificial intelligence and other technologies to increase the efficiency of additive manufacturing processes. Our systems capture the contextual data from a 3D printing machine to improve the systems and determine the quality of the final product. This enables manufacturers to more effectively deploy 3D printing systems, as well as replace parts and products with more lightweight materials.
In the medium term, as we continue to move towards our vision for distributed manufacturing, we’re learning more about the manufactured outputs and how systems can more efficiently develop these products. That means we can now help manufacturing beyond 3D printing adopt more flexible systems and deliver Lot Size 1. Beyond improving efficiency, the contextual data capture also drives learning and further applications of Artificial Intelligence in future.
You immigrated to the U.S. to start your company and employ a number of foreign nationals. Can you speak about your experience navigating the U.S. immigration system and how it impacts your ability to hire the talent you need?
The U.S. visa process stops us from bringing people onto our U.S. payroll and growing our company, full stop. For example, we were trying to hire a prospective employee who is an Indian citizen that graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. He applied for his H-1B visa three times and was repeatedly denied. We had already gone through the few months-long process to get the license to apply for visas in the UK. So instead, we decided to employ him in the UK and were able to get his employment visa in just a week.
If I had just devoted multiple years of my life in a country for my education and then was denied a visa for three separate applications, I know I would feel ready to leave and take my skills elsewhere. We want to have core teams that can work collaboratively, but to have that, you need a certain number of people working in the same place. Because of the challenges we have faced in obtaining work visas in the U.S., we dropped from 15 to six employees in the country, while our UK headcount has increased from zero to 14. Authentise was founded in the U.S. and was entirely based in the U.S. until a few years ago.
You have also highlighted challenges you have faced in accessing the capital you need. What barriers have you faced and how do you think policymakers can address those challenges?
I came to the U.S. on an O-1 visa. In the U.S. there are a large number of barriers that the government has put around accessing public grant funding, particularly for immigrants. While there are a number of publicly available grant programs for companies that are working to address supply chain issues—something that additive manufacturing is particularly positioned to tackle—my company was not able to apply for those grants in the U.S. because of my immigration status. As a result, we had to build our company over the last 10 years without access to grant funding.
This barrier to funding, coupled with the challenges presented by the U.S. immigration system, is what pushed us to open a UK office. In the UK and Europe, as long as you are working with employees and partners based in their jurisdiction, you can apply for public grants, which will give us some great opportunities moving forward. The U.S. really needs to reexamine the rules governing this process because you are excluding a bunch of really talented people from the grant process and possible growth under the current system. This will only drive more companies to consider moving out of the U.S. to grow elsewhere.
Are there any other startup policy issues that you think should receive more attention from lawmakers?
I think that policymakers have been looking at supply chain issues the wrong way. One of the key opportunities we have with 3D printing is to reexamine how we capture requirements for products we require. The way that those products are ordered and supplied is through very specific instructions laid out in the contract about what the product must be made from and look like. If we were approaching this more in a future-centric way, customers would contract for a product that accomplishes “xyz” task safely and is less concerned with the exact specifications. As the world’s largest customer, the US government can lead that change. This rethinking of how we approach the product we purchase would push so many industries in that direction and really enable us to shift to more responsive supply chains with more customizable materials.
What are your goals for Authentise moving forward?
I started Authentise in the vein of enabling 3D printing systems that can accomplish social good and that is really what I hope to keep at the forefront of what we do. I think the best way for us to be able to have that impact is to keep looking for any opportunity that will get us to our goals faster. This could be through organic growth or acquisition. If the U.S. government and its policies enable that mission, great. If they stand in our way, we’ll find the best place for us elsewhere.
All of the information in this profile was accurate at the date and time of publication.
Engine works to ensure that policymakers look for insight from the startup ecosystem when they are considering programs and legislation that affect entrepreneurs. Together, our voice is louder and more effective. Many of our lawmakers do not have first-hand experience with the country's thriving startup ecosystem, so it’s our job to amplify that perspective. To nominate a person, company, or organization to be featured in our #StartupsEverywhere series, email ian@engine.is.
