Participated · Equity · Apr 2024

Framework designs and sells easily repairable laptops, offering buyers the option to purchase devices with no software or fully equipped with an operating system. The company emphasizes modularity and user repairability as core product attributes. Framework is pursuing strategic partnerships and investor relationships to support expansion and product collaborations. Cooler Master is a strategic partner-turned-investor and was the supplier for the Framework Laptop 16 thermal system; it also produced a compatible case enabling Framework Laptop mainboard re-use. Founder Nirav Patel highlighted that new investors were chosen for strategic connections, expertise, and partnership potential. Financially, Framework announced a US$17 million fundraising led by Spark Capital and is simultaneously raising a US$1 million community round for accredited investors. Framework designs modular, repairable consumer electronics, starting with the Framework Laptop, with repairability and upgradeability built into product design. The company was founded in late 2019 by former Apple and Oculus/Facebook engineer Nirav Patel and is Bay Area–based. Framework announced an $18 million Series A and says it did not need funding to keep the lights on. The company plans to use the capital to grow product offerings to bring upgradeability, customization, and repair to more consumer electronics and to increase headcount. Framework has drawn a roadmap for the next two years; the article notes smartphones as a plausible future target while cautioning that market is crowded and mentioning Amsterdam-based Fairphone as a current competitor in user-repairable phones.