Y Combinator’s Reindustrialization Push: Why Hardware Startups Need Agile Engineering Tools

Y Combinator is betting big on America’s industrial renaissance. Through their Techno-Industrialist initiative and increased goals for hard-tech startups in space, defense, and manufacturing, the influential startup incubator is actively seeking founders working on physical technology – believing that startups are the best way to build and scale America’s industrial future.

The challenge for hardware startups answering this call is straightforward: traditional engineering workflows weren’t built for startup speed. Complex CAD setups and lengthy prototyping cycles create bottlenecks when you’re racing toward Demo Day with 90 days to showcase your concept.

If you’re building a hard-tech startup in areas like manufacturing, aerospace, robotics, or space systems, you need tools that match your pace. That’s where Onshape, PTC’s fully cloud-native CAD and PDM platform, comes in.

How Startups Can Build Hardware at Software Speed

If you’re a startup founder at the YC or otherwise, the time between Day 1 and Demo Day are some of the most intense, rewarding, and high-stakes weeks of your startup’s life. You're racing to build an MVP, sign your first customers, and prove to investors that your vision is real – fast.

Here’s how Onshape helps startups founders build better, iterate faster, and shine on Demo Day:

1. Get Designing Immediately

Onshape is 100% cloud-native. That means:

• No installs
• No special hardware requirements
• No complicated licensing setups

Just log in and start designing. Whether you’re sitting side-by-side in the office or collaborating remotely around the world, your team can be up and building within minutes – not days.

At startup speed, even a day’s delay is too much.

2. Design Hardware Like a Software Team

Startups are famous for their software agility: rapid iteration, continuous deployment, and customer-driven development.

Why should hardware teams be any different? Onshape empowers hardware founders to work like software teams:

• Fluid design iteration: Make real-time changes based on customer feedback without weeks of delay.
• Branching and merging: Explore different product ideas in parallel, then merge the best solutions – just like Git workflows.
• Instant deployment: Share updated designs with manufacturing partners, team members, or investors instantly – no emailing giant files.

By designing hardware like software, you move faster, pivot smarter, and stay laser-focused on what matters: building a product the world actually wants.

3. Collaborate in Real Time – From Anywhere

Speed of iteration often separates winners from the rest. Onshape empowers your team to:

• Simultaneously edit CAD models live (yes, live). No cumbersome vault locking or check-in check-out processes
• Add in-line comments, suggestions, and markups, which are always captured in the model history for traceability
• Instantly access a full version history and rollback if needed

No more emailing massive files around, no more version control nightmares, just seamless design iteration – faster than your competitors.

4. Protect Your IP from the Start

Investors will ask how you’re protecting your technology. With Onshape, your IP stays safe and secure:

• No local files at risk of getting leaked, lost, or corrupted
• Fine-grained access control over who sees and edits your work
• Company administration tools to manage users, teams, and workflows

From your first customer to your Series A diligence, you’ll have your design security story locked down.

For startups working on defense or aerospace projects, Onshape Government provides additional compliance features designed for ITAR and regulated work. Sign up for the Onshape Startup Program to see if your startup qualifies for Onshape Government or Onshape Professional.

5. Validate Faster with SimScale Simulation

Prototyping is expensive. Simulation can save you time, money, and painful surprises.

Startups using Onshape get access to built-in simulation, including static and frequency analysis. But when you need to go beyond these capabilities, the Onshape Startup Program offers a free trial of SimScale:

• Cloud-native simulation tools
• Structural, thermal, and fluid dynamics
• No expensive workstation setups or specialized IT support needed

Validate your ideas early – and get to Demo Day with stronger prototypes and more confidence.

6. Make Your Product Shine with Onshape Render Studio

A polished visual can be the difference between interest and investment. Onshape Render Studio lets you fake it ‘til you make it – with real-time updates as your design evolves. Create photorealistic renders of your designs for pitch decks, websites, and investor updates.

With built-in render tools, your team can:

• Update visuals quickly as your product evolves
• Showcase your vision with professional polish – even before the first unit rolls off the manufacturing line
• Beautiful renders close meetings – and open wallets

7. Scale Seamlessly After Demo Day

Whether you’re a two-person founder team or scaling up post-funding, Onshape grows with you:

• Instantly add team members without buying new licenses or servers
• Integrate with PLM/ERP systems as you scale manufacturing
• Expand your toolset with our connected app ecosystem

No painful migrations. No outgrowing your design platform. Just continuous growth.

For early and growth-stage startups, PTC’s Aerospace & Defense Startup Program, which was announced at Reindustrialize Summit 2025, offers Onshape and other tools like Creo+, Codebeamer+, and Arena, plus connections to investors and partners in the reindustrialization ecosystem.

Build. Iterate. Impress.

Get Demo Day Ready with Onshape.

Startups win by moving faster than anyone else – and Onshape was built for founders like you.

Launch your MVP, pivot smarter, impress investors, and scale confidently – all from the world's only fully cloud-native product development platform.