What began has venture focused on 3D printable hydroponics systems for urban farming called 3Dponics, has since grown to include a CAD modeling tool, dubbed 3DCreative.ly, and, more recently, a global price search engine for 3D printing called 3Dprintler. And, at least according to the company’s blog, they’ve turned down a seven-figure investment proposal in the process.
As a sort of Kayak for 3D printing, 3Dprintler is meant to allow anyone to compare prices for 3D printing services across a wide variety of platforms, including Sculpteo, makexyz, i.materialise, and, now, Shapeways. Users simply upload their 3D models to the site, select the proper materials, and, after comparing prices across these services, place an order through 3Dprintler. While developing this product, CEO Michael Golubev says in a blog post, that they’ve rejected some pretty big investments. And he goes onto to explain why:
In late summer 2015, a group of investors showed interest in funding our startup. It was exciting. They had a real interest in the booming 3D-printing market, especially when the value proposition was so obvious. They were bringing valuable energy to our project. Seven figures worth of energy.
Negotiations continued until December, then we refused their investment. Why did we turn down investment into our 3D-printing startup? The answer has three parts: terms, control and governance structure. If you’re an entrepreneur, you need to have a grasp on contract terms, how to control your company, and how governance works in investments. At the end of the day, the value proposition of 3Dprintler is so good that we choose to be free and continuing bootstrapping our business until we find a suitable investment offer. We’re lucky because we can turn down that kind of money. We haven’t reached the end of our runway—yet. The possibilities are still out there that we might find the right investor. It might even be you, reading this.
In late summer 2015, a group of investors showed interest in funding our startup. It was exciting. They had a real interest in the booming 3D-printing market, especially when the value proposition was so obvious. They were bringing valuable energy to our project. Seven figures worth of energy.As some folks in the 3D printing industry have learned, taking on investors is not always a good thing. The post goes on to provide any lessons for entrepreneurs that might be looking for investors that the 3Dprintler team learned through the process of working with venture capitalists. They’re quite specific, so, if you’re one of these entrepreneurs, I recommend reading the post to learn some tools that sound like they might be a great help.
Otherwise, if you’re going to CES from January 6 – 9, you can ask the 3Dprintler team in person, where they will be at The Sands, Eureka Park startup pavilion booth #80655.
