Investment will fuel Formlabs’ growth by accelerating the company’s product development and the expansion of its current product portfolio to enable mass production and customization.
Formlabs, a leading 3D printing company, today announced it raised a $150 million Series E funding led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2*, doubling its valuation to $2 billion. Formlabs will use the funds to continue to grow its portfolio of 3D printing technologies, enabling greater mass production and customization, as well as grow its team across its seven offices worldwide.
Formlabs is on a mission to expand access to digital fabrication, so anyone can make anything. With its line of Stereolithography (SLA) and selective laser sintering (SLS) 3D printers, Formlabs has set, and repeatedly improved, the standard for affordable, professional-grade 3D printing and is the number one seller of professional-grade 3D printers worldwide. Formlabs’ variety of printers and printing materials enable users across the healthcare, dental, manufacturing, engineering, education, jewellery, audio and entertainment industries to increase the speed of innovation and cut costs. To date, Formlabs users have printed more than 85 million parts, including tens of millions of nasopharyngeal swabs used on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The 3D printing industry is undergoing a renaissance and Formlabs is leading the way. The 3D printing industry market size is expected to reach $51.77 billion by 2026, and Formlabs is the company to drive this growth forward. Where others have promised printers capable of mass production and end-use quality parts, Formlabs has delivered.”
– Max Lobovsky, CEO and co-founder of Formlabs
Lobovsky added, “Today, most 3D printing technology is still too expensive and difficult to use for widespread adoption. Our laser focus on improving the user experience and quality of these machines while bringing down the cost is central to our success and the growth of the industry. With this investment, we plan to expand our current portfolio of SLA and SLS technology and accelerate our product development to continue delivering on the expectations of the 3D printing industry.”
By innovating and constantly introducing new printing technology – like the Fuse 1, the world’s first benchtop SLS printer – and valuable new materials like BioMed Clear Resin and Rigid 10K, Formlabs is steadily pushing the 3D printing industry forward. Parts made on Formlabs printers can be found in the operating room, dentist chair, your car, and your shoes, with leading companies like Ashley Furniture, Sennheiser, Google, Mayo Clinic, Northwell Health, and New Balance trusting Formlabs printers to develop, prototype and manufacture end-use consumer goods at scale. With its 3D printing offerings, Formlabs will further advance mass customization to enable everything from more personalized healthcare to custom headphones and more.
“We’re incredibly excited to work with SoftBank Vision Fund 2 to help build Formlabs’ next chapter and continue delivering the industry’s most accessible 3D printing technology for everything from prototyping to production. SoftBank has a long history of supporting innovative hardware companies as they scale, expand globally and enter the public markets without slowing innovation. This round helps us continue to build the industry’s most sustainable business and maintain our innovation pace while preparing the company for the next stage of growth.”
– Natan Linder, Formlabs’ co-founder and Chairman of the Board
Deep Nishar, Senior Managing Partner, SoftBank Investment Advisers, will also join Formlabs’ Board of Directors and Kirthiga Reddy, Investment Partner, Softbank Investment Advisers, will be joining as a Board Observer. Nishar and Reddy currently serve on several public and private company boards.
According to Nishar, “We believe the 3D printing industry is currently standing at the precipice of unprecedented growth and is transforming the way products are made. Through its high-performance printers, materials and software, Formlabs is pushing the development of 3D printing technology forward and is enabling the era of mass production and mass customization. We are excited to partner with Max and the Formlabs team to support their ambition to enable anyone to make anything.”
*As of the date of this press release, SoftBank Group Corp. has made capital contributions to allow investments by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 (“SVF 2”) in certain portfolio companies.
About Manufactur3D Magazine: Manufactur3D is an online magazine on 3D Printing. Visit our Global News page for more updates on Global 3D Printing News. To stay up-to-date about the latest happenings in the 3D printing world, like us on Facebook or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
