AREVO, a company dedicated to direct digital additive manufacturing of composite materials, has announced a $12.5 million Series B financing round, and the introduction of a new CEO.
The funding will contribute to ongoing R&D efforts, the round was led by Japanese global glass manufacturing company Asahi Glass, with Sumitomo Corporation of Americas, Leslie Ventures and Khosla Ventures.
Jim Miller, former VP of WW Operations at Google and VP of Supply Chain at Amazon, has formally joined AREVO as the new CEO.
“AREVO is at an exciting inflection point in its business right now,” commented Miller,
“We have the technology, team and tools to commercialize our software and fabrication process to build high strength parts that the manufacturing industry hasn’t been able to conceive and construct before.”
The development of “True 3D printing”
AREVO has a multi-axis robotic additive manufacturing platform they refer to as “Free Motion Printing” or “True 3D printing.” With this system, composite fiber projects are afforded a high degree of design flexibility and scale.
In its most recent project, AREVO successfully completed a 3D printed frame for a high-performance commuter bike.
The vision for this technology is that it will be used to make strong, lightweight parts, capable of replacing heavier metal parts – potentially valuable to transport, aerospace and automotive.
Into mainstream manufacturing
AREVO’s $12.5 million investment comes just two years after a $7 million series A funding round led by Series B contributor Khosla Ventures.
“AREVO’s approach is a significant leap forward as it is truly 3D printing rather than stacked 2D printing, which is what most of us are accustomed to,” said Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures.
“AREVO is the company that can finally move 3D printing beyond novelty applications and into a mainstream manufacturing necessity with its unique nexus of software, robotics, and composite materials.”
In 2017, the company also closed a deal with In-Q-Tel, to “drive development of AREVO’s Composite Additive Manufacturing Technology for the U.S. Intelligence Community.”
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Featured image shows AREVO’s 3D printed bike frame. Photo via AREVO
