US-based metal 3D printing technology producer Desktop Metal closed a $115m series D round yesterday that included a range of corporate investors.
The corporates were petroleum provider Saudi Aramco, retailer Lowe’s, home product manufacturer Techtronic Industries (TTI), internet technology group Alphabet, which invested through its GV subsidiary, and General Electric, which took part through its GE Ventures unit.
New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Future Fund, Lux Capital, Moonrise Venture Partners, DCVC Opportunity, Tyche Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), Shenzhen Capital Group and Vertex Ventures, a Singaporean-state backed VC firm, also participated.
Desktop Metal has developed two systems capable of printing 3D metal parts. The first, Studio System, is small enough to fit in an office and can be used by engineers to create complex parts.
The Production System, which is slated for commercial release in 2018, has been designed for affordable, rapid mass production of metal parts. The capital will support commercialisation as well as R&D, sales and a global expansion drive also planned for 2018.
Ric Fulop, co-founder and CEO of Desktop Metal, said: “This latest funding puts us in an ideal position to ship our Studio System in the coming months and our Production System in 2018, while also enabling us to grow our company globally.
“The continued support of our investors underscores the power of our metal 3D printing solutions to help engineers and manufacturers, for the first time, apply metal 3D printing for the entire product development lifecycle – from prototyping to cost effectively mass producing complex metal parts.”
Desktop Metal has now raised $212m since it was founded in October 2015, and is valued at more than $1bn, according to Axios.
GV led the company’s $45m series C round just five months ago at a $340m valuation, investing alongside Lowe’s Ventures and BMW i Ventures, the corporate venturing vehicles for Lowe’s and carmaker BMW respectively.
NEA, Lux Capital and KPCB co-led Desktop Metal’s $14m series A round at the time of its launch, with contributions from 3D printing technology provider Stratasys, Founder Collective, Data Collective, Bolt and unnamed angel investors.
The company added $33.8m from undisclosed existing investors in April 2016 before GE Ventures and Saudi Aramco’s strategic investment arm, Saudi Aramco Ventures, added an undisclosed amount of funding three months later.
Steve Taub, GE Ventures’ senior director of advanced manufacturing, said: “Desktop Metal’s team and technology have delivered on exactly what they’ve promised: a vision to change the way parts are manufactured, with the innovative metal 3D printing technology to make that a reality.
“We see a huge potential for engineers to rethink the way parts and products are made both domestically and abroad.”
– Photo courtesy of Desktop Metal, Inc.