Formlabs raises $150M
The large round will approach increasing the business’s global headcount and assisting Formlabs scale its innovation toward mass production– a longstanding sticking point for the majority of 3D printing tech.
The news comes during a type of renewal as the once-beleaguered industry is seeing a huge uptick in interest– and financing. Of note, Desktop Metal, Shapeways, Velo3D and Markforged have all announced strategies to go public by means of SPAC. The company keeps in mind a recent study that jobs that the market will hit more than $51 billion by 2026. The news gets here as innovation is enhancing, products are diversifying and business are searching for ways to introduce additive manufacturing into mass production.
“Today, most 3D printing innovation is still too expensive and difficult to utilize for widespread adoption,” CEO Max Lobovsky stated in a press release tied to the round. “Our laser concentrate on improving the user experience and quality of these makers while lowering the cost is central to our success and the development of the industry. With this investment, we plan to expand our present portfolio of SLA and SLS innovation and accelerate our product development to continue providing on the expectations of the 3D printing market.”
Founded in 2011 by MIT Media Lab students, Formlabs has been something of an abnormality in the world of 3D printing. The company adapted a previously industrial technique of additive production (stereolithography) to a desktop type factor. It was enough to keep the company going amidst a bubble burst for the industry.
There was a huge raise for the 3D printing industry this morning, as Massachusetts-based Formlabs announced a $150 million Series E. The round, led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2, efficiently doubles the worth of the unicorn to $2 billion dollars.