Silicon Valley-based VELO3D has just announced that it has received a $20M order for a number of its metal LB-PBF 3D printers. The order came from an existing unnamed aerospace customer and is now VELO’s largest order to date in the company’s two year history.
Benny Buller, founder and CEO of VELO3D, stated: “This significant order validates that VELO3D’s SupportFree process is production-ready. Our recent successes across various industrial sectors show that many OEMs and contract manufacturers are adapting their supply chain to meet the demands of manufacturing mission-critical components. Design freedom, agile production, and quality assurance are requirements that VELO3D is uniquely positioned to meet.”
SupportFree 3D printing
VELO prides itself on its patented SupportFree process, claiming to enable geometric freedom by intelligently reducing supports in intricate passageways, shallow overhangs, and low angles. The all-encapsulating VELO portfolio is made up of the company’s Flow print preparation software, the Sapphire metal PBF printer, and the Assure quality assurance and process control system.
The Sapphire printer is capable of fabricating production-grade titanium, inconel, and aluminum parts for a variety of applications. Features include a dual 1kW laser setup and a 315 x 400 mm build chamber. The printer also houses a non-contact recoater to reduce the risk of part collision and in-situ metrology sensors to provide insight into the build quality of every layer in the part.
Stockpiling capital
In recent months, VELO has raised a considerable amount of capital in various rounds of fundraising. It started off in April, when the company managed to raise $28M in Series D funding. The largest investment in that round came from venture capital firm Piva, with several smaller contributions from PETRONAS, Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corp, Bessemer Venture Partners, Playground, and Khosla Ventures. More recently, VELO raised an additional $12M, bringing the running total to $150M over the company’s lifespan.
Buller concluded: “We are very excited to see this level of interest from multiple industry leaders that use our solution to overcome complex challenges for their businesses and will be announcing more about this in the coming weeks.”
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Featured image shows VELO3D’s Sapphire 3D printer. Photo via VELO3D.
