US-based technology company that develops autonomous, software-defined metal 3D printing factories Freeform has closed a $67 million Series B round, with participation from Apandion, AE Ventures, Founders Fund, Linse Capital, Nvidia’s NVentures, Threshold Ventures, and Two Sigma Ventures, bringing capital, operational expertise, and strategic support.
Freeform CEO and co-founder Erik Palitsch said the funding will allow the company to transform its existing GoldenEye metal printing system, which operates with 18 lasers, into the next-generation Skyfall platform. The upgraded system is designed to use hundreds of lasers, increasing production capacity and enabling high-volume manufacture of complex, mission-critical metal components.
The investment also advances Freeform’s broader vision of a fully integrated, AI-driven factory, where robotics, sensing, simulation, and machine learning operate as a unified system to scale manufacturing more efficiently than conventional approaches.
Scaling Manufacturing with Skyfall
Freeform aims to bridge the gap between human creativity and the physical systems needed to realize ideas. Traditional manufacturing often relies on fragmented tools or third-party integrations, producing only incremental improvements. “By unifying these capabilities into AI native factories, we unlock new classes of products that could not exist before, while enabling faster iteration, higher yield, and scalable production, bringing physical manufacturing closer to the pace of human ideation,” the company said.
At the center of this approach is the Skyfall laser melting platform, which enhances speed, flexibility, and scale. Skyfall is expected to increase production capacity by more than 25x, producing thousands of kilograms of high-quality components per day while expanding material options over tenfold, accommodating a wide range of metals, alloys, and advanced composites.
High-performance computing, particularly GPUs, forms the backbone of Skyfall, enabling real-time sensing, simulation, and process control. This integration allows Freeform to provide a turnkey service, moving customer designs seamlessly from digital models to production-ready components entirely under one roof.
Palitsch calls the system “AI native,” noting that a partnership with Nvidia provides access to advanced GPU clusters. “I think we’re the only manufacturing company out there with H200 clusters on-site,” he told TechCrunch, explaining that Freeform runs real-time, physics-based simulations across the full manufacturing workflow.
While specific clients are confidential, Freeform is already delivering hundreds of mission-critical parts weekly. To support growth and meet its increasing backlog, the company plans to expand its workforce by up to 100 employees and enlarge its production facility.
AI and 3D Printing Enter the Production Era
Additive manufacturing is gradually evolving from standalone 3D printers and manual workflows into occasionally AI‑augmented, factory‑level systems designed for repeatable production. One early example is Ai Build’s autonomous 3D printing factory, which combines cloud‑based AI software, robotic extruders, and factory‑floor enclosures to manage fleets of robotic AM cells with minimal human oversight, effectively enabling connected, data‑driven printing operations that can scale beyond prototyping.
Although not full “AI factories,” integrations such as AI‑enhanced build preparation and workflow optimization show how software is beginning to bridge discrete tasks into more cohesive production pipelines that require less manual intervention and offer higher consistency. Synera’s integration with Materialise’s Magics SDK embeds trusted build preparation tools into an AI‑driven platform, helping teams automate file repair, support generation, and slicing as part of a connected digital workflow. Rapid Fusion’s AI‑powered assistant Bob works alongside robotic AM systems to enhance operations and maintenance, using predictive insights to reduce downtime and support more autonomous industrial printing environments.
These examples illustrate the industry’s movement toward intelligent, integrated systems where AI is embedded into sensing, control, and decision-making across the AM workflow.
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Featured image shows Freeform metal 3D printer. Image via Freeform.
