Lee-Bath Nelson: “AM Is Most Impressive As An Enabler Of Distributed Manufacturing”

Lee-Bath Nelson is Co-Founder and VP Business at LEO Lane, which offers brands a way to stay in control of the quality and quantity of their parts and products in the additive manufacturing ecosystem.

Prior to founding LEO Lane in 2014, Lee-Bath served as Corporate Director of Business Development at manufacturing equipment manufacturer, Orbotech. Lee-Bath’s career history also includes over a decade as a partner in venture capital funds, most recently as a general partner at Plenus Venture Lending and before that at TDA Capital Partners – a fund that was an early investor in Objet Geometries (now Stratasys).

Lee-Bath holds a PhD in Business from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and has a BA and MSc in Computer Science from The Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. She serves on the board of Sygnia Cyber Consulting and Elron Electronic Industries as well as Ore to Excellence, a non-profit organization that encourages underprivileged children to strive for excellence.

Nora Toure: Lee-Bath, could you let us know about your background and what brought you to 3D printing in the first place?

Lee-Bath Nelson: First and foremost, I’m a software engineer. During my career, I’ve transitioned to the business side including being a partner in venture capital (VC) funds for over a decade. The first VC fund I was a partner at invested in 3D printing manufacturer Objet (today Stratasys). This is where my passion for the 3D printing industry was first ignited and I’ve been following this ecosystem ever since.

A few years ago, I noticed a quiet shift to additive manufacturing (AM) for production. This led me, along with my business partners, Moshe Molcho, and Tessa Blokland, to establish LEO Lane in answer to the growing demand to protect intellectual property, maintain consistency and ultimately, uphold brand integrity when using AM.

Nora Toure: What was your very first experience with 3D Printing?

Lee-Bath Nelson: I vividly remember the first time I saw an Objet 3D Printer live in action. I was astonished that slowly but surely an actual item formed and ostensibly from tiny droplets that the naked eye can’t really see!

Initially, I was suspicious that someone was playing a trick on me. In my defense, VCs tend to be cynical and some people do try to convince them to believe in illusions!

Nora Toure: Could you explain furthermore what LEO Lane is and the services that you are providing?

Lee-Bath Nelson: LEO Lane offers a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution that empowers industrial manufacturers (we call them brands) to securely manage AM, anywhere, any time. Our solution enables corporations to scale-up production while protecting their intellectual property, securing digital assets and enforcing consistency and control of quality and quantity of the items produced, each and every time.

LEO Lane recognizes the importance of collaborating with best-of-breed ecosystem players to deliver a seamless end-to-end, secure solution to customers. Right now, we’re collaborating with many players including the likes of SAP, Materialise, and GE.

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