Multi award winning 3D printer OEM Markforged has closed a Series D funding round with a value of $82 million. The round was led by fellow Bay State company Summit Partners, that provides growth equity investments for three areas of interest, including technology.
As in the company’s earlier $30 million Series C round, Markforged received further financial contribution from existing investors M12, Microsoft’s venture fund; Siemens global venture firm Next47; and Porsche SE. Matrix Partners, a San Franciscan early-stage investment specialist, also contributed capital in this round, and had previously helped the company at the seed stage.
According to the official release from Markforged the money will be used to “help accelerate its product roadmap” notably, plans to introduce 3D printers for mass production and new materials. In line with the announcement, the company has also expressed its ambitions for global expansion.
The Markforged vision
Markforged is the manufacturer and developer of carbon fiber and metal 3D printers. It was founded in 2013 by company CEO Greg Mark and fellow MIT graduate David Benhaim, who is the company’s CTO. Its first 3D printer was aptly named the Mark One. This invention has since spun-out into three further iterations, including the Mark Two, which has won the Enterprise 3D printer of the Year award two years in a row.
The Metal X is Markforged’s first foray in metal 3D printing. Announced in 2017, the Metal X recently celebrated it 100 global shipments.
Speaking on the foundations of the company, Mark comments, “Markforged set out to change the pace of human innovation by enabling engineers, inventors and manufacturers to print industrial-grade parts at a fraction of the time and cost of traditional methods.”
As part of this goal, the company has now launched its Additive Manufacturing University program giving more people the opportunity to learn about the technology and its potential for business.
Michael Medici joins board of directors
Series D funding lead Summit Partners has over three decades of experience investing in the fields of technology, healthcare and life sciences, and growth products and services sectors. In this time, the company has raised total capital assets in the region of $20 billion for its clients. Summit’s technology portfolio includes consumer electronics company Belkin, computer security software developer McAfee, and on-demand transportation favorite Uber.
Explaining the interest in Markforged Michael Medici, a Managing Director at Summit Partners, says, “We have been actively monitoring the additive manufacturing market for the last decade […] Markforged has been quietly executing at an incredible pace for the last five years, delivering exceptional products that solve real-world industrial manufacturing needs.”
“Greg and his team are focused on continued product innovation, and we believe the best is yet to come for Markforged and its customers.”
Following the funding round, Medici has now joined Markforged’s Board of Directors. Greg concludes, “We’re very excited to have Summit join us as we help accelerate the next industrial revolution with broadly accessible and reliable 3D printing.”
Markforged has been nominated in the 2019 3D Printing Industry Awards for the third year in a row. Make your votes now to decide this year’s winners.
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Featured image shows red hot sintering of a Metal X 3D printed 17-4 stainless steel sprocket. Image via Markforged.
