This week at the Inside 3D Printing Conference and Expo in Santa Clara, seven unique 3D printing startups took a shot at winning the 4th Annual 3D Printing Startup Competition. Each startup was given three minutes to present a model of their business and how it utilizes 3D printing technology to the panel of judges, which included Tyler Benster (Asimov Ventures), Steve Dow (VC veteran), Gareth Keane (Qualcomm Ventures), and Anarghya Vardhana (Rothenberg Ventures). The grand prize of the competition was $15,000 as an uncapped convertible note from Asimov Ventures, to be used to help the winning startup further develop their business model. Ultimately, the judges decided that the startup Metamason had the most promising business model out of the seven startups that presented at the Santa Clara Convention Center.
“We had a great competition here today, with seven fine companies competing,” said Tyler Benster of Asimov Ventures. “The judges felt that Metamason was a cut above the rest, and demonstrated not only a strong fundamental business, but also an innovative use of 3D printing that could change lives.”
There was an abundance of great tech startups within the competition, such as Savvy Society (2nd place), which is working to empower young women by teaching online design and 3D printing techniques; and AstroPrint (3rd place), which is a cloud-based 3D printing ecosystem. But the startup that truly captured the awe of the competition judges was Metamson, which is using 3D printing to create personalized and on-demand CPAP masks in silicone material. The startup utilizes 3D scanning techniques to model the silicone mask to each particular patient’s facial features. These CPAP (short for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) masks are made to help with therapy for obstructive sleep apnea, and, by using 3D design and printing, these masks, specially tailored for each patient, should help drive down production costs while improving the condition of the user’s medical issue.
“We look forward to helping world with better-fit products, so we are no longer in a world of great products…we are in a world of perfect products, and that is what Metamason is all about,” said CEO and founder of Metamason, Leslie Karpas.
Metamason now joins an acclaimed list of past competition winners, including 3D Hubs and Wiiv Wearables, all of whom have received a nice chunk of prize money to further develop their 3D printing technology startup. Metamason is doing a great service for those who need CPAP masks to combat their sleep apnea, and their use of 3D printing just makes it that much more cost-efficient and customizable.
