BellandTechnology Aquires Xioneer

Well, this is interesting: BellandTechnology has acquired Xioneer. 

Xioneer is an Austrian manufacturer of industrial 3D printers. We took a look at their equipment and found it quite interesting. 

Their machines have some interesting characteristics:

• Input filament is very closely monitored for temperature changes

• The bed leveling is accomplished with an unusual and more accurate 3D scanning approach

• The dual toolhead can be quickly swapped for alternate tools with different capabilities 

All this added together makes a capable industrial 3D printer, one that makes considerable use of soluble support material through its dual extrusion capability. 

Now we learn that they’ve been acquired wholly by BellandTechnology, a thirty-year old Bavarian chemical company that has been stealthily operating via white-label products in the 3D print space for many years, but more recently has been openly marketing their products under the “VXL” brand name. 

We looked at their products earlier and found that they have a very interesting feature: they have developed a soluble support material that is NOT hygroscopic. That is, it will not absorb moisture from the air, which in other soluble materials will corrupt the print. This is a very powerful capability and makes 3D printing with soluble supports far easier. 

The two companies are now joined together, and it seems like a good fit. One provides advanced materials and the other an advanced 3D printer. I have a suspicion there are some strong synergies between the two parties. 

Dr. Andrei Neboian, founder of Xioneer, said:

“By merging our companies, we combine the 3D printing know-how of Xioneer with the materials know-how of BellandTechnology. And this places us in a unique competitive position: a position to tackle 3D printing challenges in a new way, to deliver new solutions. All that with one goal in mind: to promote the FFF technology in both the consumer and the industrial additive manufacturing markets. 

To achieve this, we decided to focus on the entire FFF industry and change our product course accordingly. Therefore, we will expand our service portfolio and we plan to offer innovative add-on systems, components, and accessories for any FFF 3D printer on the market.” 

One of the key synergies will be their marketing budget, which will allow them to potentially double their coverage in the market and likely grow their sales considerably. 

Via VXL Global and Xioneer