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5 Private 3D Printing Companies for Investors to Watch

January 12. 2016. 3 mins read
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While the “3D Printing Industry” seems to have fallen out of favor with investors, the investment thesis hasn’t changed. This is a high growth disruptive technology that is expected to have tremendous growth in the coming years. While 3D printing investors can purchase the Nanalyze 3D Printing Stocks motif for a diversified portfolio of pure-play stocks, they should also pay close attention to startups that may look to challenge the dominant publicly traded 3DP companies. Take Carbon3D for example, a company that expects to print at speeds up to 1000X faster than what is possible today. Here’s a look at 5 more 3D printing startups that investors should keep an eye on.

3D Hubs

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Founded in 2013, Amsterdam based startup 3D Hubs has taken in $4.5 million in funding so far to create a network that allows everyone to access a 3D printer without having to own one. With +25,000 locations worldwide, the Company claims to be providing over one billion people with access to 3D printing within 10 miles of their home. To use the service, simply upload your 3D printing file and select a 3D printer (referred to as a “hub”) based on price and available materials. These “hubs” are everywhere:

3D_Hubs

The “hub” you select will then respond in 24 hours with a confirmation. You can choose to pick up the item or have it shipped. 3D Hubs takes a 15% commission on each transaction.

Update 03/26/2019: 3D Hubs has raised $18 million in Series C funding to help “build the future of on-demand manufacturing” and rapidly expand its team in the US, which is the company’s largest market with over 10,000 clients This brings total funding to $35.9 million to date.   

Formlabs

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Founded in 2011 out of MIT, Formlabs has taken in around $21 million so far to develop an affordable line of 3D printers with Draper Fisher Jurvetson as their lead investor. Formlabs launched their first printer, the “Form 1”, on Kickstarter and successfully raised nearly $3 million in what was one of the most successful crowdfunding campaigns ever. Their latest printer, the “Form 2”, is touted as “the most advanced desktop 3D printer every created” and comes with a price tag of $3,499. This stereolithography (SLA) 3D printer uses its own proprietary resin cartridges to produce objects of exceptional detail according to the reviews we’ve read. At that price point you’d certainly hope so.

Fuel3D
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Founded in 2010 from technology developed at Oxford University, this British company has taken in just under $13 million in funding so far to develop their portable 3D scanner called “Scanify”. At a price point of $1,400, we’re not sure we’d call that affordable but Fuel3D thinks it is relative to what you get; the world’s first handheld point-and-shoot, full color 3D scanner. The Company claims that this price is just one tenth the price of the nearest competing product. Scanify was first introduced through a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2013 which let you pre-order Scanify for just $1,000 and ultimately raised $325,343. Just last week, the Company introduced head and hand scanners at CES 2016 along with a cloud-based processing of 3D images that you scan.

Mcor

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Founded in 2005, this Irish company has taken in around $31 million in funding so far to develop their line of full-color 3D printers that are unlike anything you’ve seen before. This printer uses paper like any other color printer but also hallows you to print in 3D using paper! These printers use sheets of standard business A4 and letter paper, an adhesive dispensing system and a tungsten-tip blade to cut the shape resulting in incredible outputs as seen below:

Mcor_Examples

Mcor now sells 3 different printers at price points of $30,000 and up, with their most recent printer being the world’s first full-colour desktop 3D printer. While you won’t necessarily be buying one to tool around with in your garage, these printers are a viable option to purchasing an equivalent industrial 3D printer which could cost up to $1 million. Wouldn’t this company make a great acquisition candidate for HP (NYSE:HPQ)?

Shapeways

Click for company websiteFounded in 2007 as a spinoff of Philips electronicsDutch company Shapeways has taken in $75 million in funding so far to develop their 3D printing marketplace and community which allows users to upload their designs and have them printed. Users can also create their own stores on the Shapeways platform to sell their designs which are printed using over 20 types of plastics and metals and then shipped by Shapeways to the customer. According to a Techcrunch article published in July 2015, Shapeways has printed over 2.5 million products with 150,000+ designs uploaded monthly to their site. The Company counts HP (NYSE:HPQ) as one of their investors leading us to wonder if this might be another attractive acquisition candidate for HP.

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