What would you do with $1.5 million? Me? I’d probably invest some of it in a mutual fund, buy a house, donate some to my parents’ charity, and lease an electric Fiat. Maybe buy a Mini Darwin kit and a small DLP 3D printer. These graduates from the University of Texas at Austin? They’d fund their 3D printing start-up.
Structured Polymers has just raised $1.2 million of start-up capital through local crowd funding platform MicroVentures. In addition to $300k raised by other means, the Austin graduates behind the firm have all they need to start selling plastic powders for industrial 3D printing. The company began in 2012 through the Austin Technology Incubator, where its founders developed a proprietary method for 3D printing with “better and stronger materials.”
After the expiration of a few key patents related to selective laser sintering this year, it’s suggested that SLS 3D printers could drop in price by 30% to 50%, giving Structured Polymers the perfect opportunity to supply their own low-cost materials. Co-founder and CEO of Structured Polymers, Vikram Devarajan, explains how his firm is in a prime position to enter the market, “We are at a major turning point in the 3D printing industry due to 20-year-old hardware patents expiring. This presents new opportunities in the commercial 3D printing market in particular, and Structured Polymers is set to capitalize on these changes by offering more specialized materials at lower costs than the limited materials available now.”
MicroVentures allowed the company to quickly raise funds from 65 different investors. Bill Clark, President of MicroVentures, describes the startup’s unique selling point, “3D printing is not a fad, but the impetus for a new industrial revolution in the U.S. There hasn’t been real material innovation in this industry in more than 20 years. We think Structured Polymers is positioned to be a major winner in this market, as no matter who wins the battle for hardware market share, every 3D printer will need the kind of advanced ink this company is developing.”
Perhaps more interesting than the company’s powdered materials is who could be on their team. In addition to the UT graduates, their LinkedIn and Gust.com profiles claim that the original inventor of selective laser sintering technology is a member of Structured Polymers. Dr. Carl Deckard developed SLS while studying at UT Austin, eventually founding DTM, Inc., before it was later purchased by 3D Systems. If it’s true that the pioneer is a part of the Structured Polymers endeavour, then this may not just be another start-up.
Source: Statesman.com
Featured Image Source: Novomet
