As we had anticipated it in our interview with marketing manager Harris Kenny: Colorado-based Aleph Objects has been recording impressive revenue growth and, judging by the current performance, +809% is just the beginning. The company, whose only line of product currently consists of the LulzBot TAZ and LulzBot Mini 3D printers, went from $523,706 in 2012 to $4,761,390 million in 2014. This means that revenues have increased nine-fold in just two years.
Furthermore, as of May 2015, the company’s revenues surpassed its sales for all of 2014, setting it on track for another year of strong growth. In fact, the company has recently been recognized by four different awards programs in their home state. These include: the Mercury 100 – Fastest Growing Company in Northern Colorado (784% at the time of submission, a revenue correction raises this to 809%); the Fort Collins Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year (as a Large Company Finalist); a top 50 (over 1,200 applicants) spot in the Colorado Companies to Watch; and the Made in Colorado Top 250 Manufacturers.
As is the case for many young 3D printer manufacturers, Aleph Objects’ growth has been a boon to the local economy, creating both jobs and value. In a year and a half, the company went from 17 to 84 employees, headquartered in their 17,000 square foot Loveland facility. The count grows to over 200 counting the “robotic workers”, that is a cluster of 144 LulzBot 3D printers that “self replicate”, 3D printing parts for more machines.
LulzBot disclosed this and other data in our recent interview, as the company adopts a fully open source, free software and libre innovation business model which means that everything is out in the open and fully disclosed. This approach does not seem to hinder the revenue making aspect of the business, which remains a fundamental part of any company working to grow in the industrial landscape, open or not.
