High-temperature industrial 3D printer manufacturer Roboze and Canadian 3D printing powder producer Equispheres have both received funding announcements worth several million to advance their respective businesses.
While Roboze hasn’t revealed the exact amount of capital it has secured, the firm will use the latest investment to further accelerate its growth in the US and aid the development of a new “super material” in its Italian R&D center.
Equispheres, meanwhile, will use the $3.5 million it received from the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FEDDEV) to ramp up the production of its metal powder materials for 3D printing.
Securing new investors
Alongside its high-temperature FFF 3D printers, Roboze is known for the development of its ‘superpolymer’ ultra-rigid thermoplastic 3D printing materials, such as carbon PA and carbon PEEK. Last year, the company brought its customized superpolymer and composite 3D printing into the production workflow via its Roboze Automate system, following the roll-out of its 3D Parts distributed 3D printing service aimed at helping businesses streamline their supply chains and reduce their costs.
In October, the firm launched its circular economy program for waste material and 3D printed parts in an effort to simultaneously reduce its environmental impact and democratize its 3D printing technology.
Now, Roboze is looking to accelerate its momentum in the US and increase its investment in R&D with its newly-accrued funding.
Roboze’s latest investment comes from a new group of international investors that includes well-known names such as Nova Capital, Lagfin, former Luxottica CEO Andrea Guerra, Citi EMEA Chairman Luigi De Vecchi, The Equity Club CEO Roberto Feraresi, Galileo SPAC CEO Luca Giacometti, and Tecres SPA CEO Denis Faccioli.
“This further fundraising will accelerate our momentum in the United States and will enhance our investments in Research and Development,” said Alessio Lorusso, Founder and CEO of Roboze. “Specifically, the funding will assist in the creation of new super material in our Italian R&D center, where we are building a new chemistry laboratory.
“We are honored to have a group of investors of this caliber, who strongly believe in the vision of Roboze and in the change of production paradigm that our technology is enabling by replacing metals and producing parts without wasting raw materials.”
Accelerating powder materials production
Equispheres, meanwhile, is renowned for its patent-pending method of powder atomization that produces near-perfect spherical metal powders.
The firm has received multiple investments over the last few years to develop and improve its metal powder materials for additive manufacturing. Such investments include a $5 million financing from global aerospace and defense company Lockheed Martin, an $8 million boost from BDC Capital, and a further $8 million from Sustainable Development Technology Canada to scale its material production capacity.
The firm’s most recent funding has been delivered in the form of a $3.5 million repayable contribution from FEDDEV to enable Equispheres to ramp up the production of its patent-pending aluminum 3D printing powders by bringing additional high-speed reactors online.
“Equispheres metal powders have unique properties that enable faster production of stronger, lighter and more reliable 3D printed parts,” said Kevin Nicholds, Equispheres CEO. “This contribution will allow us to scale up our production process and take advantage of an exponentially growing opportunity in the 3D printing space.”
Three new reactors are expected to come online in 2022 in order to scale up the firm’s production capacity to meet surging market demand.
“We are grateful for the Government of Canada’s strong leadership on climate action and programs that support this kind of cleantech innovation,” said Nicholds.
“This significant investment by FEDDEV will support the next steps in our growth: working with partners in the automotive, aerospace and defense sectors to qualify our materials for industrial applications.”
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Featured image shows The Roboze ARGO 1000. Photo by Michael Petch.
