Investment in the 3D printing industry continues apace with news of $10 million funding round for California based Arris Composites.
Operating in stealth mode for the past two years, this Berkeley based company is developing continuous carbon fiber composites and is targeting the aerospace, automotive, and consumer product sectors.
The Series A funding round was led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA), a venture capital firm with over $20 billion in assets under management. Former GE CEO and Chairman Jeff Immelt, and venture partner at NEA said, “I’m extremely excited about what Arris is building.”
“What we did in automotive to replace non-structural metal with low cost / lightweight injection molded composites in the 1980’s – Arris has now enabled for the rest of the vehicle.”
While precise details regarding Arris Composites are sparse, the company has bold ambitions. A recent statement says the company will, “address the scalability problem of 3D printing and the steep costs and limitations of composite manufacturing, Arris has assembled a team of industry leaders from both 3D printing and conventional high-volume manufacturing. They have developed precisely aligned composites using a novel high-speed manufacturing process that has disruptive design capabilities.”
The company was founded by Ethan Escowitz, Riley Reese, and Erick Davidson. Engineers and material scientists working at Arris bring experience gained at TESLA, Apple, Google, Boeing, Autodesk, Siemens, “US and international labs, high-volume contract manufacturers, Mori Seki Machine Tools, and others.”
Former Autodesk CEO Carl Bass is another advisor and investor and the first part created by Arris was made in his personal shop. Specifically an automotive part manufactured in conjunction with the Masters of Engineering program at the University of California, Berkeley for Shelby Cobra electric conversions.
Ethan Escowitz, founder and CEO of Arris Composites, said, “The product architectures that are now possible with our high-volume manufacturing process unlock a host of competitive advantages for some of the highest revenue and highest value products in the world.”
“Vehicles and consumer products are being redesigned to take advantage of the mass market manufacturing technology of tomorrow. Things are about to get lighter and smaller, and Arris is making that a reality.”
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Featured image shows Arris Composites’ Ethan Escowitz. Photo via Arriss Composites.
