Direct answers
Questions, answered straight.
Is this a virtual trade fair with 3D halls and avatars?
No. It is a curated supplier catalog with real machine-floor video, a meeting calendar, and private RFQ rooms. No metaverse, no avatars, no booth-building. The fairs that did that in 2021 are gone for a reason.
Who gets visitor access?
Procurement, sourcing, supplier development, supplier quality and engineering at manufacturing companies. Business email only, role checked, approved by a person within 1 business day. Free-mail addresses, consultants fishing for contacts and scrapers are not approved.
What does a visitor pay?
Nothing, forever. The supply side funds the expo. There is no premium visitor tier and no paywall in front of any booth once you are approved.
What does an exhibitor pay?
Founding cohort (capped at 25 booths, 5 per hall) exhibits free until 31 March 2027, then locks EUR 1,200 per year through 2028. Standard rate from Q2 2027 is EUR 200 per month or EUR 2,000 per year. Plus a refundable EUR 500 charter deposit. No commissions to the operator, no per-lead fees. Separately, the charter's 3NEXT clause commits 3 percent of every deal closed through SDE to go forward, to the 3NEXT fund, not to Stratosteel.
How does the audit work?
Stratosteel verifies every booth before it opens: machine list against the floor, certificates against the issuer, references by call, envelope claims against crane and furnace reality. On site where possible, by live video where not. The badge states exactly what was verified and when. Two states only: audited on site, or audit scheduled.
What is the charter?
Four rules both sides sign: real capacity only and no ghosting, honest envelope claims that survive audit, 3NEXT (3 percent of every deal closed through SDE goes forward to the next generation, built into the deal), and the exhibitor deposit as skin in the game. Read it in full on the charter page.
What happens if someone books a meeting and does not show up?
Charter violation. Every booked meeting is held or rescheduled within 48 hours. Two unexcused no-shows pause the account, exhibitor or buyer. Repeat violations forfeit the exhibitor deposit to the 3NEXT fund.
Are prices public on the platform?
No, and that is deliberate. No public price bidding, no RFQ auctions, no race to the bottom. Pricing happens between humans in meetings and in private RFQ rooms.
How do RFQ rooms work?
An approved buyer opens a private room: capability, material, quantity, drawing upload behind an NDA accepted in-platform. Stratosteel invites up to 5 matching exhibitors. Quotes go to the buyer only. Files live in private storage with expiring links, never public.
What is FaXtory Live?
The live event week inside the expo, 16 to 20 November 2026. One sector per day: Mining, Energy, Marine, Rail, Heavy Equipment. Verified suppliers walk buyers through their real shop floors live on mobile, with live questions. The catalog and booking stay open all year.
Is Stratosteel competing with the exhibitors?
Stratosteel is itself a manufacturer and supply chain architect, stated openly on every relevant page. The routing rule: unmet demand only. If a visitor request matches an exhibitor, it goes to the exhibitor. Exhibitor leads belong to exhibitors.
Where is the data hosted and what about GDPR?
EU hosting region. Business contact data is processed for access management and meeting coordination, minimized, and deleted on request. Drawings live in private storage with signed, expiring links. Full details on the privacy page at /privacy.
What languages does the expo run in?
English for v1. German is planned next. Booth videos can be in the maker's language with English captions.
I am still on the fence.
Write directly: expo@stratosteel.com. A person answers. No deck, no CRM trap.
Founding phase · applications open
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Both forms take two minutes. Both are read by a person, not a filter.