Essentium secures $22.2M to scale HSE 3D printing platform
BASF Venture Capital led the Series A funding round
Industrial 3D printing company Essentium, Inc. reported today it has raised $22.2 million through a Series A funding round led by BASF Venture Capital. Other investors that participated in the investment round include Materialise, Genesis Park and other existing seed round investors. The large investment will enable Essentium to scale its manufacturing, engineering, international distribution, sales and marketing operations for its recently launched High Speed Extrusion (HSE) technology.
This is not the first time BASF and Texas-based Essentium have cooperated; in 2017, the companies partnered to enhance the production of robust parts using filament-based technologies. This past November, the companies announced that BASF Venture Capital would lead a Series A funding round, along with Materialise, to support and accelerate Essentium’s HSE platform. Further strengthening their partnership, Sven Thate, BASF Venture Capital Investment Manager, will now be joining Essentium’s board.
Though $22.2 million may not seem like a lot compared to the $160 million raised by Desktop Metal (which the company announced yesterday), it is, in fact, still a significant sum to be raised by a 3D printing company. According to Essentium, its financing round is one of the highest in the history of AM.
The investment will enable the company to further pursue and expand its additive manufacturing platform and materials which offer the ability to produce high strength parts that compete with injection molded components for automotive, aerospace, biomedical and other industries .
“Industrial additive manufacturing is ripe for transformation,” said Essentium co-founder and CEO, Blake Teipel. “The problem/solution paradigm is made clear through independent research we commissioned among executives in industrial manufacturing where 100% of respondents reported obstacles in using 3D printing for large scale production, and 88% stated that their industries will save billions of dollars in production costs when the barriers are eliminated. Eliminating these barriers is what Essentium is delivering on.”
Essentium’s HSE platform boasts print speeds up to 10 times faster than its competition, while also delivering on strength thanks to its FlashFuse electric welding solution. The latter utilizes nanomaterial and hardware technology to solve Z-strength, layer adhesion issues. The $75,000 3D printer also comes equipped with a high temperature nozzle—it can heat from 20°C to 600°C in less than three seconds—enabling the use of reinforced and filled materials.
“Unleashing and accelerating the potential of additive manufacturing for our customers is a priority for BASF,” added Thate. “Our investment, together with the strategic market partnership BASF has with Essentium, advances this strategy.”
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