Byline: Gregg Kell | Spotlight on Startups
The aerospace and defense supply chain is under pressure from every direction at once. Spirit AeroSystems operated at 70% of planned fuselage output in 2024 due to shortages of fasteners, hydraulic fittings, and basic prepreg materials. Titanium sponge prices jumped 22% after Russian export restrictions. Aluminum extrusion lead times stretched to 52 weeks. And the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 35,000 unfilled machinist and composite-technician roles by 2028 — a 15% workforce gap that no apprenticeship program will close before the end of the decade.
Against this backdrop, the way most aerospace hardware teams source custom precision parts hasn’t changed. Someone has a list of suppliers. They email 20 of them. They hope a few respond. They hope the parts arrive on time and in spec.
Shan Mohta spent years living that process — at Microsoft, Apple, and Skydio — before deciding it was a solvable problem. The company he co-founded with Anish Bhardwaj, Vendra, is his answer: an AI-powered, ITAR-compliant manufacturing platform that connects aerospace and defense hardware teams directly to vetted U.S. suppliers, automating the sourcing process from RFQ to delivery.
“When I started working with Anish to build Vendra, it wasn’t a solution in search of a problem. I was literally solving a problem I dealt with for years.” — Shan Mohta
Backed by the Y Combinator Summer 2024 cohort and exhibiting at Space Tech Expo USA 2026 in Anaheim, Vendra is positioning itself as the supply chain infrastructure layer the U.S. aerospace and defense industry has needed — and the reshoring mandate is now demanding.
The $1 Trillion Parts Problem Nobody Has Solved at the Platform Level
The aerospace parts manufacturing market stood at $1.02 trillion globally in 2025 and is projected to reach $1.39 trillion by 2030, growing at a 6.39% CAGR. In the U.S. alone, the sector is valued at $540 million in custom precision parts and is expanding steadily as defense procurement accelerates and commercial aviation backlogs remain at record levels.
But market size figures obscure the operational reality on the ground. The problem is not that the manufacturing capacity doesn’t exist — it’s that the system connecting hardware teams to that capacity is broken.
“A&D teams are under pressure to move faster, scale production, and build in the U.S., but custom manufacturing today is coordinated manually across supply chain teams and legacy platforms. Vendra’s software analyzes customer parts and requirements, matches them to the ideal supplier in our network based on capability, capacity, historic performance, and pricing — then manages production through delivery.” — Shan Mohta
The gap between what buyers need and what legacy platforms deliver is structural. Platforms like Xometry and Protolabs operate as digital middlemen — they take a cut, obscure supplier identity, and offer limited visibility into production status. For a consumer electronics team, that tradeoff might be acceptable. For an aerospace program managing ITAR-controlled flight hardware with a launch window, it is not.
The reshoring pressure compounds the urgency. The DoD’s National Defense Industrial Strategy Implementation Plan for fiscal year 2025 explicitly emphasizes reshoring critical parts and materials to reduce dependence on China and Russia. Defense OEMs like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman manage supply chains spanning hundreds of Tier 1 suppliers and thousands of sub-tier vendors — and every one of those relationships carries compliance risk.
Vendra’s thesis is that this problem requires a platform built from the ground up for aerospace and defense requirements — not a general manufacturing marketplace with an aerospace checkbox.
A Founder Who Lived the Problem at Scale
Mohta’s credibility in this market is not theoretical. He spent years as a mechanical engineer designing custom parts and managing supplier relationships at three of the most demanding hardware companies in the world.
“At every company the process was painfully similar: someone had a list of suppliers they used, we would email 20-plus suppliers to get a few quotes, and we hoped that people would respond and actually make the parts in time. Or we would default to an existing digital manufacturer, but had little faith the parts would be in spec.” — Shan Mohta
The core insight Mohta brings from those years is specific: the problem isn’t finding a supplier who can theoretically make a part. It’s finding a supplier who has demonstrated experience with the specific complexities of that part, has current production capacity, and is motivated to take the work. No legacy platform surfaces that information systematically.
“There was no systematic way to find a manufacturer who had demonstrated experience with the complexities of the specific part I’d designed that actually has production capacity and wants to take on the work.” — Shan Mohta
The aerospace and defense version of this failure mode is, as Mohta frames it, even more consequential. A delayed quote, a supplier capacity issue, or a part out of tolerance doesn’t mean a delayed product launch — it means a missed build, a delayed test, or a missed launch window. Vendra’s co-founder and CTO, Anish Bhardwaj, brings the engineering infrastructure that makes the platform work at scale.
How Vendra Handles ITAR, Compliance, and the Trust Problem
For any platform serving aerospace and defense, compliance is not a feature — it is the price of entry. Vendra’s approach to ITAR and supplier verification is one of the most rigorous in the market, and Mohta is explicit that it shapes every aspect of how the platform is built and operated.
“ITAR compliance is not optional in aerospace and defense, and it shapes everything from which manufacturers we onboard to how data is handled on the platform.” — Shan Mohta
Vendra’s supplier vetting process operates on two tracks. The first is capability verification: understanding each manufacturer’s specific machines and current utilization, conducting in-person audits and line walks, and reviewing quality control processes. The second is compliance verification: ITAR registration status, DDTC and SAM.gov registration, and controls governing who can access export-controlled technical data and how it is stored.
The infrastructure is built accordingly. All Vendra systems are deployed on AWS GovCloud, with data encrypted in transit and at rest. ITAR and export-restricted data travels via secure links with role-based access control, full logging, and the ability to revoke access at any time. Access is limited to the necessary suppliers and project stakeholders — a principle of minimal exposure that aerospace procurement teams recognize immediately as the correct posture.
“Aerospace and defense teams need to know exactly how their data and parts are being handled. That trust is essential when customers are sending Vendra flight hardware and mission-critical parts.” — Shan Mohta
Critically, Vendra makes its compliance documentation available for customer review — audit trails, supplier vetting records, and data handling practices. Hardware teams can review Vendra’s compliance posture and submit an RFQ directly. For a program manager evaluating a new platform vendor, that transparency is the difference between a conversation and a nonstarter.
The AI Layer: From RFQ to Manufacturing Plan
Vendra’s 2026 aerospace roadmap is centered on deepening the AI capabilities that underpin its supplier matching and production management platform. The technical ambition is substantial: a system that reads 2D drawings, 3D CAD models, materials specifications, tolerances, finish requirements, inspection documentation, and delivery requirements — and converts that information into an actionable manufacturing plan matched to the right supplier.
“The goal is to understand the part at a technical level and match it to the right U.S. supplier based on real capability, capacity, quality history, pricing, and delivery performance.” — Shan Mohta
This matters because the complexity of aerospace precision parts is not uniform. A CNC-machined titanium bracket for a satellite bus has different manufacturing requirements than a sheet metal assembly for a UAV airframe or an additively manufactured component for a propulsion test article. The supplier who is best suited for one is not necessarily best suited for the others — and no human-curated list of vendors captures that matching at scale.
The outcomes Vendra is already producing are concrete: up to 30% faster production than legacy platforms and a sub-1% rework rate across thousands of delivered parts. There are, by Mohta’s account, Vendra-sourced parts currently in orbit.
“There is an enormous amount of manufacturing capability in the United States, but it is still fragmented and underutilized. Vendra is building the data layer to automate supplier qualification and part-to-supplier matching. Every part, every sourced RFQ, and every delivered order improves how we match and route parts in the future.” — Shan Mohta
Space Tech Expo 2026 and the Customers Vendra Wants to Meet
Mohta attended Space Tech Expo last year as a visitor. He walked the floor, met potential customers, suppliers, and partner companies. Since then, Vendra has grown significantly across aerospace and defense. Exhibiting at the 2026 show in Anaheim is the natural next step — and the audience is precisely matched to Vendra’s current growth priorities.
“Space Tech Expo USA brings together a very specific audience that matters most for Vendra’s aerospace and defense focus today: engineers and supply chain teams who are actively sourcing components and looking for manufacturing partners that deliver parts reliably.” — Shan Mohta
The ideal conversation at the show, as Mohta describes it, is with a hardware team currently managing RFQs manually or through a legacy platform — spending time tracking down quotes, chasing suppliers, and worrying about part quality rather than building hardware.
“If you’re spending more time wondering where your parts are than actually building hardware, we would love to talk.” — Shan Mohta
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Vendra do for aerospace and defense hardware teams? Vendra is an AI-enabled manufacturing platform that connects aerospace and defense companies to a vetted network of U.S. suppliers for custom precision parts — covering CNC machining, additive manufacturing, and sheet metal fabrication. Hardware teams submit one RFQ and Vendra’s platform handles supplier matching, quote collection, production management, and delivery, replacing a manual process that typically involves emailing 20-plus suppliers and hoping for responses.
How does Vendra handle ITAR compliance? Vendra vets every manufacturer through in-person audits, capability reviews, ITAR registration checks, and DDTC/SAM.gov compliance verification. All systems run on AWS GovCloud with data encrypted in transit and at rest. ITAR-controlled technical data is transmitted via secure links with role-based access control, full logging, and revocable access. Compliance documentation is available for customer review.
How is Vendra different from Xometry or Protolabs? Legacy platforms operate as digital middlemen — they obscure supplier identity, mark up pricing, and offer limited production visibility. Vendra’s aerospace platform provides direct access to suppliers with full transparency on pricing, production status, and part specifications. The AI layer reads CAD and 2D drawings to match parts to suppliers based on demonstrated capability and current capacity — delivering up to 30% faster production and sub-1% rework across thousands of delivered parts.
Who founded Vendra and what is their background? Vendra was co-founded by Shan Mohta and Anish Bhardwaj as part of the Y Combinator Summer 2024 cohort. Mohta is a mechanical engineer who spent years designing custom precision parts at Skydio, Apple, and Microsoft. Bhardwaj serves as CTO and leads platform software and AI development.
What kinds of parts does Vendra source? Vendra’s supplier network covers CNC machining, additive manufacturing, and sheet metal fabrication, with a focus on precision parts for aerospace, defense, space, and high-tech applications. The platform manages parts from prototyping through production with ITAR-compliant handling for export-controlled programs.
What results has Vendra delivered for customers? Vendra customers achieve up to 30% faster production compared to legacy platforms, with sub-1% rework across thousands of delivered parts. Vendra-sourced parts have been delivered into active aerospace and defense programs — including hardware currently in orbit.
The Open Question: Can a YC-Backed Startup Displace Legacy Platforms in the Most Risk-Averse Procurement Market in the World?
Aerospace and defense procurement is, by design, conservative. The qualification processes are long, the switching costs are real, and the consequences of a supply chain failure are severe enough that program managers default to known vendors even when those vendors are underperforming.
Vendra’s bet is that the combination of a demonstrably broken status quo, a compliance-first architecture, and concrete outcomes data — 30% faster, sub-1% rework, parts in orbit — will overcome that institutional inertia. The reshoring mandate from the DoD accelerates the timeline: program managers who might have continued tolerating a slow legacy platform now have a policy-level reason to evaluate alternatives that keep manufacturing in the U.S.
Mohta’s personal credibility in the market — not as an outsider with a platform play, but as an engineer who spent years as the frustrated customer Vendra now serves — is the proof of concept that differentiates Vendra’s pitch from a generic procurement software story.
“Vendra’s mission is to enable American companies to build faster by making manufacturing more accessible, reliable, and intelligent.” — Shan Mohta
The open question is whether a lean, well-backed team can build the supplier network density and customer base to establish Vendra as the default platform before a better-capitalized competitor replicates the compliance architecture. The data suggests the window is open — and that Vendra is moving through it.
About Shan Mohta Shan Mohta is the Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Vendra, an AI-powered, ITAR-compliant manufacturing platform for aerospace and defense hardware teams, backed by Y Combinator (S24). He is a mechanical engineer who previously designed custom precision parts at Skydio, Apple, and Microsoft. Vendra is based in San Francisco, CA.
Spotlight on Startups (https://SpotlightOnStartups.com) publishes founder profiles, market analysis, and company spotlights for operators, investors, and buyers navigating emerging sectors. This profile is part of the Founder Spotlight Studio series.