Alphaform is a German, publicly traded 3D printing company that spun out of German 3D printing leader EOS 18 years ago, in 1996. It now has about 235 employees but, strangely enough, a tiny market capitalization of 23 million dollars. That means its stocks appear to be highly undervalued, especially if compared with the burgeoning (though not necessarily overpriced) stocks of companies such as Stratasys and 3D Systems et al.
This may be due in part to low visibility, since yearly revenues stand at 35.1 million (way more than its capitalization while for 3D printing companies it is usually the other way around); and that its core businesses, 3D printing services and bio-medical precision casting, are considered to be two of the major drivers for the 3D printing industry in the upcoming years. The company has now decided to do something about it and has initiated a new business segment that may assure higher visibility, if not necessarily higher profit margins.
Alphaform has thus “formed” a joint venture with investment group Tiburon Unternehmensaufbau GmbH – a seed investor specialized in Internet companies. The newly “formed” Artshapes will be an online shop in which consumers and art market operators will be able to purchase the 3D printed works of famous artists and designers. It will begin with a German-only approach but plans to expand the project reach to other European countries are already in the works.
What will make the shop stand out from other online 3D printing marketplaces will be the fact that the items will not be available at the moment of purchase but will be 3D printed following the order reception, according to the specific sizes and materials chosen by the buyer. In this sense the service is not entirely dissimilar from that offered by Shapeways and, especially, iMaterialise (that also spawned from rapid prototyping service provider Materialise).
Like the Belgian 3D printing service leader, Artshapes will be able to offer an array of 3D printing technologies, including, but not limited to, stereolithography and selective laser sintering. Artshape’s main partner, Alphaform, boasts in-depth knowledge of, and access to, 10 different 3D printing technologies and to over 40 different materials, from plastics to titanium. The company will also provide a choice of surface treatments, from painting to stabilizing metal coating.
For Alphaform’s CEO, Thomas Vetter, this will be a test, not so much for the business of 3D printing on demand for artists and designers (which is already the company’s core business), as much as in terms of using the Internet as a preferred and wide-reaching sales platform. That is where Tiburon, which contributed 44% of the starting capital, comes into the picture. “If it functions trouble free,” said Vetter, “we can introduce this online process in our other main businesses as well.” Should iMaterialise and Shapeways start to worry? Probably not anytime soon: with price tags well above 3,000 euro, Artshapes’ products are targeting a radically different type of customer. If anything the birth of new ventures in the real of 3D printing marketplaces will contribute in growing the public’s awareness.
