Californian metal 3D printer manufacturer VELO3D has announced that it has raised $12M in fundraising with the addition of new strategic investors.
Initially revealed in a LinkedIn post by VELO3D Founder and CEO Benny Buller, the news follows the company’s announcement in April that it had raised $28M in a Series D funding round. Total funding for VELO3D now stands at $150M.
“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,” said Benny Buller in an official statement.
The Sapphire 3D printer
VELO3D is a developer of Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) additive manufacturing systems and print preparation software. Founded in 2014, the company initially operated in stealth mode for its first 4 years, having raised $22.1 million in a Series A funding round in 2015.
VELO3D first revealed its Sapphire DMLS system in 2018 at the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS). Key to the Sapphire system is VELO3D’s intelligent fusion technology, which simulates and predicts part deformation to eliminate support structures. The intelligent fusion process achieves this by counterbalancing the deformation by adjusting the part design, and works with the feed-forward closed-loop melt pool control and in-situ metrology data to produce a part with minimal to no support structures.
The commercial availability of the Sapphire system was announced in 2019. VELO3D generated nearly $30 million in sales and gained seven new customers in that same year, many of which have since gone on to place repeat orders. The Sapphire system has attracted customers from the aerospace sector since its commercial launch, including an order of seven Sapphire 3D printers from an unknown aerospace manufacturer.
Then, in April 2020, VELO3D revealed its plans to launch the next-generation Sapphire metal additive manufacturing system, developed with a focus on build-chamber size. While the previous system had a build volume of 315 mm diameter by 400 mm height, the new Sapphire 3D printer extends the height to 1m.
It was later in that month that VELO3D then announced its new $28 million Series D funding, which included new investors Piva, a Californian venture capital firm, which led the round with the largest investment. Piva is backed by PETRONAS, a government-owned oil and gas company based in Malaysia. Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corp, a Japanese multinational industrial gas manufacturer also joined the round alongside existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Playground, and Khosla Ventures.
Sustained momentum for VELO3D
Continuing its strong momentum, VELO3D’s new $12M funding will be used by the company to grow its product portfolio with new machines and alloys, while also providing further support to customers. The company now has a global customer footprint that includes Japan, Korea, and Australia.
VELO3D also expects the new investment will help the company to reach sustainable profitability by mid-2022. Buller concludes:
“In this unprecedented time of uncertainty, this funding will allow us to keep expanding our business and reach profitability.”
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