Additive Industries, a Netherlands-based metal 3D printer manufacturer, has received a €10 million loan from BOM Brabant Ventures and Highlands, a current shareholder of Additive Industries.
The money will be used to implement Additive Industries long term international growth strategy. Jonas Wintermans, co-founder of Additive Industries and Board Member of Highlands said, “From the start we have worked hard to build a stable and solid financial basis for the long term plans of Additive Industries. We have great confidence in the ambitions of the team.”
“This loan is both a proof-point in the company history that underlines the trust we have in the team, as well as an essential fuel for further development of the business.”
Automating metal 3D printing
Established in 2012, Additive industries is known for its modular approach to powder bed fusion metal 3D printing via the MetalFAB1. The 3D printer is based on an open approach to materials, meaning that customers can use metal powder of their own choice.
Currently, printing profiles are available for titanium (Ti6Al4V), aluminium, (AlSi10Mg), stainless steel (316L), and inconel (IN718).
Moreover, since the Additive Industries partnership with the SMS Group, automated serial production of metal is being explored using the MetalFAB1. Their Scale4Series is a manufacturing plant which exploits the modular architecture of MetalFAB1 to combine machines in order to increase production volume.
Now, with the help of recent funding Additive Industries hopes to increase its R&D and Process & Application Development Centers.
Ilko Bosman, CFO of Additive Industries said, “We are grateful for the continuous support we have received from Highlands since our inception as well as for the new partnership and trust of BOM Brabant Ventures. We will invest the funds in advancing our process & application development activities, increasing R&D and expanding our support infrastructure. Customer satisfaction is our number 1 priority.”
Apart from Eidenhoven, Additive Industries already has Process & Application Development Centers in California, USA, Singapore, and Bristol, UK.
Venturing into additive
The Brabant Development Agency (BOM) was established by the Province of North Brabant and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy in 1983 as a public company. The purpose of the Agency is to bridge the gap between entrepreneurs, institutes and government organizations.
The investment venture branch of BOM, Brabant Ventures, invests in startups from various industries such as robotics, software, and medical technology. Some of its partner companies include Smart Robotics, CytoSmart, a maker of cell culture monitors, and Cristal Therapeutics, a maker of nanomedicine for cancer.
The amount of money invested in such ventures ranges between €150,000 and €5,000,000, and BOM acts as a minority shareholder.
One of BOM’s investment criteria is that the company being invested in must be located in or around Eindhoven, and have a positive impact on the North Brabant province (where Additive Industries is based).
Miriam Dragstra, CCO of Brabant Development Agency (BOM), “Additive Industries plays an important role in ‘smart industry’ developments in Brabant, one of the cornerstones in our investment policy”
“The company has everything in place to become a leading global player in its market. Both employment and innovation of Brabant manufacturing industries benefit from this. Therefore, we are proud to be financing Additive Industries’ growth plans and assist the ambitious management team to expand their global footprint”.
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Featured image shows the MetalFAB1. Image via Additive Industries.
