3D model community MyMiniFactory announced they’ve now attracted over 100,000 registered users.
This is a very significant number. First, it’s a LARGE number. Few other 3D print communities could boast of such large numbers. Secondly, this number represents a very substantial proportion of the desktop 3D printers currently active in the world. We (and no one) is certain of that number, but it is likely in the low hundreds of thousands. If you believe that MyMiniFactory members own 3D printers, then perhaps a third of all 3D printer owners use MyMiniFactory.
The London-based company, which we visited earlier this year, has been doing impressive things. First and foremost, they take extraordinary steps to ensure their 3D models are indeed printable by actually printing every single submission! (You should see how much filament they use!) If a submission is not printable, they work with the submitter to make it so. We’re not aware of any other 3D model repository that takes such steps.
Indeed, some of the 3D model repositories are focused on “openness”, which sometimes means “anything, even if it’s not printable”. This makes for a lot of 3D models, but increases the signal to noise ratio considerably.
Meanwhile, MyMiniFactory has taken a very “social” approach to their 3D models, engaging with people at all levels. They’ve launched a variety of initiatives to get more people involved and connected, all around the technology of 3D printing and scanning.
The company has also raised a significant amount of capital during their recent Seedrs campaign, resulting in a company valuation of an incredible USD$15M.
To celebrate their milestone, the folks at MyMiniFactory have released a monstrous, near-life-size 3D model of a champagne bottle with exploding cork. We’re printing it now, but it will take some hours to complete.
Is 100,000 the limit? While the company says they’d like to 1,000,000, we think that may not happen for some years yet as the base of 3D printer operators has a long way to go to get to that level. But we’re quite certain it will happen.
The signs seem to look very good for MyMiniFactory. If you haven’t signed up to make use of their 3D models, you definitely should.
Via MyMiniFactory
