Metafold, a cloud- and API-based 3D engineering platform provider, has secured $1.78 million in seed funding to advance the mass adoption of industrial 3D printing. The funding round was led by Differential Ventures, with participation from Active Impact Investments, Jetstream, and Standup Ventures. Metafold’s platform allows for the design and optimization of complex parts using a geometry computation engine, aiming to fill a gap between the capabilities of 3D printing hardware and the software available.
The technology is intended to drive sustainability by enabling manufacturers to use less raw materials and produce lighter, more energy-efficient parts. The funding will be used to tackle geometry problems that hold back the mainstream adoption of 3D printing. Metafold has already significantly impacted markets such as biotech and sportswear.
David Magerman, founding partner at Differential Ventures, believes Metafold’s technology will be “game-changing for designing and visualizing complex structures in 3D printing, making currently impossible designs possible.”
Metafold’s software solution for sustainability
Traditional desktop computer-aided design (CAD) and engineering (CAE) software was developed for conventional manufacturing techniques, and engineers often require costly, high-performance workstations. In the meantime, 3D printing has enabled new opportunities to innovate with complex shapes that were previously impossible to produce using conventional methods. This discrepancy between the hardware capabilities of 3D printing and the software required to maximize their potential has precluded widespread usage and adoption of 3D printing for production applications.
In response, Metafold has developed an “ultraprecise, lightning-fast geometry computation engine” capable of outputting precise designs for 3D printing complex parts. Metafold’s cloud-based SaaS platform is accessible on any device, enabling design and engineering teams to quickly and easily produce optimized parts with the Metafold web application or leverage the Metafold Engine API to create their own custom tools and integrations. Through this sophisticated geometry support, Metafold enables manufacturers to use less raw material and produce lighter, more energy-efficient parts, thereby assisting customers in achieving their sustainability objectives.
“Sustainability in manufacturing is ultimately driven by two factors—improving the material consumption of existing fabrication methods and designing for optimality over the lifetime use of manufactured goods,” says mathematician Dr. Elissa Ross, co-founder, and CEO of Metafold. “3D printing achieves those goals and has the potential to be even more impactful with the right digital infrastructure. We’re excited to be backed by investors who recognize both the commercial and climate benefits of scaling this extraordinary manufacturing methodology.”
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