Via its subsidiary, Prodways, Groupe Gorgé is continuing to establish itself as a premier manufacturer of industrial 3D printers, particularly in its home country of France, where the company was honored with the 2014 Prix de l’Audace Créatrice, the annual prize awarded to innovative French companies that execute entrepreneurship and effective risk-taking to realize growth. The firm’s Chairman and CEO, Raphaël Gorgé, was awarded with the prize by none other than the President of France, François Hollande, at the Élysée Palace.
The Prix de l’Audace Créatrice was created in 1996 by Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière to acknowledge entrepreneurs with, according to the Groupe Gorgé press release, “a spirit of conquest, an appetite for risk and the determination to create wealth in France.” In the past 24 years of the company’s existence, Groupe Gorgé has grown from 90 employees to over 1,300, spanning 12 countries and four continents. The company, which focuses on a variety of high-tech fields, has made itself known most recently for entering the 3D printing field with the acquisition of Prodways. Uniquely, Prodways’s MOVINGLight 3D printing process uses a moving DLP projector and LED lights to harden UV-curable resin in a process that is fast and high resolution.
The company’s CEO, Raphaël Gorgé, had this to say about the award, “Receiving this prize is an important event for Groupe Gorgé. We are very pleased that our innovation, investment and daring – which the Group has demonstrated since its creation – are rewarded today. Our Group was able to make strategic decisions at the right times, while taking measured risks. I believe a company must be daring in order to seize opportunities and expand in promising markets. That is how we created the strong growth prospects facing us today.”
After acquiring Prodways, Groupe Gorgé positioned itself as one of the few large 3D printing companies in the nation, representing France’s leading industrial 3D printing technology. For that reason, the company may merit the 2014 Prix de l’Audace Créatrice and the attention of those keeping a keen eye on developments in the industry.
