Atlanta-based 3D printing business 3D Printing Tech has announced the strategic acquisition of 3D printing service provider and competitor Voodoo Manufacturing, which closed its doors last year.
The move will enable 3D Printing Tech to continue offering 3D printing services to the general public and accelerate its growth, while taking the company one step closer towards operating one of the largest fused deposition modeling (FDM) printing farms in the US.
“We think this acquisition is going to shake up the 3D printing industry,” said Josh Stover, Co-Founder of 3D Printing Tech. “As an industry, the technology and equipment we use have evolved to the point that we can print just about anything our clients dream up, but we are also better at incorporating 3D printing technology to solve everyday manufacturing challenges.
“The industry is prime for a rebirth, a resurgence, and having a regional shop like 3D Printing Tech come in and eat up the giant is going to be disruptive.”
Providing affordable manufacturing
Founded in 2015 by former Makerbot employees, Voodoo Manufacturing had built up a manufacturing system of over 200 3D printers capable of producing thousands of parts a week at the point of closing.
After receiving a final seed investment of $1.5 million in 2017, the firm’s total valuation stood at $10 million. Voodoo proceeded to launch a series of services over the next few years, including its Fulfilled by Voodoo (FBV) full-stack management and fulfillment service designed to make it easier for businesses to sell 3D printed parts online, and its dental manufacturing and distribution service, Voodoo Clear Aligners. Voodoo also launched a Shopify app to enable the ecommerce platform’s 600,000 vendors to fulfill orders via its FDM print farm, as part of its FBV service.
However, in August last year the company announced it was to close its doors permanently, citing uncertainty around the Covid-19 pandemic as the root cause. Voodoo had attempted to pivot its operations in a bid to stay afloat by repurposing two of its manufacturing facilities to produce PPE for medical professionals. Despite printing and distributing more than 15,000 face shields across the US, the firm’s operational costs were too high and ultimately led to its closure.
Eyeing FDM print farm growth
3D Printing Tech was also founded in 2015, and offers a range of 3D printing technologies and design, modeling, and scanning services. The firm’s industrial customers include the likes of the US airline Delta, Coca-Cola, NASA, IBM, and Marvel, among others.
Over the past five years, 3D Printing Tech has expanded to operate reportedly one of the largest selective laser sintering (SLS) printing farms in the south of the US. The acquisition of Voodoo now takes the company a step closer to operating one of the US’ largest FDM print farms too, showing the ambition for growth held by the company’s founders.
In addition to announcing the acquisition of Voodoo, 3D Printing Tech will also enter the equipment market this month as a reseller of 3D printers from the likes of XYZ, 3D Platform, and Raise3D.
“3D Printing Tech does more than fill 3D printing orders,” said 3D Printing Tech Co-Founder, Jason Daenzer. “We are committed to helping people understand how to use 3D printing in their unique projects, whether those are in production, manufacturing, or design. A lot of people come to us with a surface-level understanding of 3D printing and they stay with us because we help them see how 3D printing can help get them from point A to B, oftentimes growing their businesses and creating efficiencies in manufacturing and production.”
“We’ll be able to help many more people with our value-added services moving forwards.”
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Featured image shows Formlabs 3D printers in Voodoo’s Brooklyn factory. Photo via Voodoo.
