3D Printers

Q&A with Kumovis – Formnext 2018 startup challenge winner

This week the additive manufacturing industry gathers in Frankfurt, Germany for the annual Formnext tradeshow. In addition to the large and established enterprises are the winners of the 2018 Formnext startup challenge. 3D Printing Industry caught up with these companies to find out more.

The Kumovis team from left to right. Alexander Henhammer, Stefan Fischer, Sebastian Pammer, Miriam Haerst, Stefan Leonhardt.
The Kumovis team from left to right. Alexander Henhammer, Stefan Fischer, Sebastian Pammer, Miriam Haerst, Stefan Leonhardt.

3D Printing Industry: When was your company founded and where are operations based?

Kumovis GmbH was founded in 2017 as a spin-off from the Technical University of Munich. We got to know each other at the Institute of Medical and Polymer Engineering of the TU Munich. Starting some years ago with the first idea of the printer in Munich, our office is still located here.

3D Printing Industry: What does your company do?

We have set ourselves the goal of enabling the additive production of medical products through new 3D printing solutions. To reach this goal we focus on the processing of high-performance polymers, which are already established in medical technology due to the various advantages of the materials. With the Kumovis system these plastics can be processed patient-individualized, time and cost efficient while entailing a high level of design freedom.

3D Printing Industry: How does your company fit into the additive manufacturing ecosystem?

We are providing 3D printing systems for medical applications. With our system the additive production of medical products will be possible. To ensure this we are in close contact with partners, like material providers or software solutions. Kumovis enlarges the AM ecosystem in the field of medical production and processing of high performance plastics such as PEEK.

3D Printing Industry: What are you hoping to gain from exhibiting at formnext 2018?

First of all, we will introduce our revised CI including a new logo as well as a concept for a complete system for clean additive manufacturing and most important, our new 3D Printer, the Kumovis R1. We are looking forward to showing new possibilities of additive production for medical applications as well as future applications.

The Kumovis R27
The Kumovis R1

3D Printing Industry: How would you describe the roadmap for your enterprise over the coming years?

Next year we will deliver the first series of the Kumovis R1 printers to selected customers. Establishing an infrastructure to bring additive manufactured products to patients is our major goal.

3D Printing Industry: Is there anything else you would like our readers to know about?

We are looking forward to discussing our venture in Frankfurt. So come around to meet us at our booths (hall 3.1 – Stand F18 & B30T). And also, even if you don’t have a medical background you should still visit. High performance plastics combined with additive manufacturing could also be an opportunity for a lot of other great applications.

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