Market Insights

The best 3D printing startups of 2018

3D printing startup of the year is proving to be a popular category in our 2018 3D Printing Industry Awards.

In addition to the 10 3D printing startups shortlisted during the nomination process, our readers have used the wildcard option to vote for more than 70 additional enterprises.

We’ve included the wildcard option to ensure that the 3D Printing Industry Awards fully reflects the rapidly evolving additive manufacturing landscape.

Our readers are voting for startups across the 3D printing eco-system, covering enterprises involved in hardware, materials and software. The 3D printing startups included manufacturers of highly reliable desktop FDM 3D printers, high resolution DLP 3D printers, metal 3D printers, nanotechnology for 3D printing and the first company to bring a smartphone 3D printer to market.

Desktop Metal CTO & Co-founder Jonah Myerberg accepts the award for 3D Printing Industry Start-up of the Year.
Desktop Metal CTO & Co-founder Jonah Myerberg accepts the 2017 award for 3D Printing Industry Start-up of the Year.

Do you think the best 3D printing startup of 2018 is focused on topology optimization, generative design or connecting and optimizing the digital thread, bringing blockchain security to the additive manufacturing world?

In this category we also see a billion dollar tech-unicorn, silicon valley’s original startup and a company that only officially emerged from stealth mode this week and is bringing a new 3D printing technology to market.

These are some of the best 3D printing startups of 2018, as voted for by our readers:

3DCompare
Cubicon

Snapmaker
nTopology

nTopology's trophy. Image via nTopology.
nTopology used their Element generative design tool to design an entry for the 2018 trophy competition. Image via nTopology.

Align Technology
Clariant
XJet
T3D

A 3D print from the T3D. Photo by Michael Petch
A 3D print from the T3D smartphone 3D printer in Taiwan. Photo by Michael Petch.

Robo 3D
Ambionics
Aurora Labs
BCN3D

Dual extruders prepare to print either side of the BCN3D Sigmax at TCT 2017. Photo by Michael Petch for 3D Printing Industry
Dual extruders prepare to print either side of the BCN3D Sigmax at TCT 2017. Photo by Michael Petch.

Desktop Metal
Hitch3D Printing
HP Inc.
LINK3D
Markforged

The 3D Printing Industry Awards trophy sitting pretty at Markforgeds formnext booth. Photo by Beau Jackson for 3D Printing Industry
The 2017 3D Printing Industry Awards trophy sitting pretty at Markforged’s formnext booth. Photo by Beau Jackson.

SprintRay Inc.
3D Print N Scan Ltd
3D Printing Studios
Evolve Additive Solutions

Schematic of Evolve Additive Solutions' electrophotography-based additive manufacturing system. Image via US patent 8488994 B2
Schematic of Evolve Additive Solutions’ electrophotography-based additive manufacturing system. Image via US patent 8488994 B2

Apium Additive Technologies GmbH
Impossible Objects Inc.
Learn by Layers
Xaar
Voodoo Manufacturing

Do you agree? Let us know and vote for any of these, or another, 3D printing startup by writing the name in the box marked ‘other’ on the form.

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