Draft:Mekanika
History and information about Mekanika, a belgian company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mekanika is a Belgian open-source hardware company based in Brussels, specialising in the design and manufacture of CNC milling machines and screen printing equipment. Founded in 2019 by Roldan Descamps, Martin Duchêne and Maxime Gravet, the company produces machines sold as assembly kits with publicly available design plans, intended to make small-scale and local manufacturing more accessible to artisans, designers and small producers.[1]
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Comment: In accordance with Wikipedia's Conflict of interest guideline, I disclose that I have a conflict of interest regarding the subject of this article. RoldanDescamps (talk) 10:53, 12 March 2026 (UTC)
| Company type | Private (SRL) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Open-source hardware, CNC milling, Screen printing |
| Founded | 2019 |
| Founders | Roldan Descamps, Martin Duchêne, Maxime Gravet |
| Headquarters | Anderlecht, Brussels, Belgium |
| Products | CNC milling machines, screen printing equipment |
Number of employees | ~20 (2025) |
| Website | www |
History
Origins
In 2015, Maxime Gravet and Martin Duchêne co-founded LEONAR, a design and engineering firm based in Brussels. To fabricate prototypes for their clients, they built a CNC milling machine drawing on resources from the open hardware community. In 2018, they began exploring the possibility of making manufacturing tools more widely accessible through open-source machine design. They were joined by Roldan Descamps, an engineer with a background in bioengineering, and the three co-founded Mekanika in 2019.[1] The company started operations in the fabrication workshop of the Microfactory, a shared workspace in the Anderlecht district of Brussels.[1]
Growth
In February 2021, Mekanika launched the Evo, a desktop CNC milling machine, through a Kickstarter campaign. The campaign raised €193,167 from 149 backers.[2] The company subsequently launched the Pro (a professional-grade CNC machine) and the Fab (a panel-format CNC machine for larger production), as well as a range of screen printing equipment.[3]
In 2022, the company announced a fundraising round of €1.5 million from impact investors including Beefounders, Change (Crédal Social Innovation Fund), Finance.brussels and Sambreinvest.[4] By 2025, the company had grown to approximately twenty employees and over two thousand machine users across Europe.[1]
Products and design philosophy
Mekanika produces three families of machines: CNC milling machines (Evo, Pro and Fab) and screen printing presses. All machines are sold as assembly kits and follow an open-source hardware approach: full design plans are published on GitHub and on Wikifactory, allowing users to understand, modify and repair their equipment.[5][6]
A central feature of Mekanika's design philosophy is modularity and resistance to planned obsolescence. The Evo machine, for example, can be upgraded to a Pro-level machine through upgrade kits, without requiring the purchase of a new machine. When users upgrade, Mekanika takes back unused components for refurbishing and resale as B-stock machines, often directed toward educational institutions.[6] The machines use approximately 80% standard components and 20% parts that can be manufactured locally using Fab lab technologies such as milling, bending and 3D printing.[7] All machines are designed for disassembly: nothing is welded or glued, and every part can be unscrewed and replaced.[6]
The company also offers free video tutorials, educational content and technical support, and maintains a community platform on Discord for peer-to-peer knowledge sharing among users.[8]
Awards and recognition
In 2025, the Evo CNC milling machine received a German Design Award in the "Excellent Product Design - Workshop and Tools" category. The jury highlighted the machine's modular architecture, upgrade capabilities and open-source approach as supporting the right to repair and sustainability.[7]
In 2024, Mekanika obtained the Label Entreprise Écodynamique (Ecodynamic Enterprise Label) from Brussels Environment with the maximum score of three stars, recognising the company's environmental management practices including its circular upgrade programme and design-for-disassembly approach.[9]
Mekanika was also a featured technological partner at FAB25, the 25th international Fab lab Conference held in Brno and Prague in July 2025. CEO Roldan Descamps spoke alongside figures including Josef Průša (founder of Prusa Research) and Massimo Banzi (co-founder of Arduino).[10]
Research and collaborations
OPEN!NEXT
Between 2019 and 2022, Mekanika participated in OPEN!NEXT, a Horizon 2020-funded European research project on collaborative open-source hardware product development. As part of the project, Mekanika co-organised a public design marathon with Waag (Amsterdam) in September 2022, titled "From Black Box to Open Box", exploring collaborative frameworks for open-source machine design.[11][12]
LAUDS Factories
Since 2024, Mekanika has been a partner in LAUDS Factories (Local, Accessible, Urban, Digital, Sustainable), a Horizon Europe research and innovation project (2024–2026) focused on sustainable urban manufacturing. The consortium includes partners such as the Technical University of Berlin, Grenoble INP, Fab City Hamburg, SUPSI and others.[13]
Distributed Design Platform
Mekanika contributed to the 2021 publication This Is Distributed Design, the fourth book in a series produced by the Distributed Design Platform, a Creative Europe-funded network of cultural institutions, Fab Labs and makerspaces. The book presents perspectives on distributed and open design practices.[14][15]
Conference presentations
Mekanika CEO Roldan Descamps has presented at international conferences on topics related to open-source hardware business models and local manufacturing communities, including:
- FAB23 (Thimphu, Bhutan, July 2023): a talk titled "Local manufacturing: how to create resilient communities in a globalized world", part of the Fab City Summit programme.[16]
- FAB25 (Brno/Prague, Czech Republic, July 2025): a talk on Mekanika's journey to profitability as an open hardware company.[10][1]
- OSHOP 2025 (Chemnitz, Germany, November 2025): Head of Design Martin Duchêne presented at the 2nd Open Source Hardware Conference, organised by the Hi-Acts innovation platform.[17]
Education and craft partnerships
Mekanika has established partnerships with vocational training institutions in the French-speaking construction and woodworking sectors. The company participates in events organised by the CCCA-BTP (Comité de concertation et de coordination de l'apprentissage du bâtiment et des travaux publics), including their Journées de l'Innovation Pédagogique focused on building trades.[18] The company was also featured at Numéri'bois, a 2025 event organised by the Compagnons du Devoir dedicated to digital tools in woodworking and cabinetmaking, where Mekanika's machines were presented alongside CNC and digital fabrication demonstrations.[19]
Sponsorships and cultural engagement
Mekanika sponsors several organisations in the maker, design and cultural sectors, including RFFLabs, the French network of Fab labs;[20] MAD Brussels, the Brussels centre for fashion and design;[21] and the Faire Festival, a French event dedicated to maker culture and digital fabrication.[22]