![Aurora Labs’ parallel metal 3D printing concept [Source: Aurora Labs]](https://fabbaloo.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/image-asset_img_5eb09d0e82f53.jpg)
Aurora Labs has received a significant investment.
The Australian 3D printing company is in the midst of developing a radically new method of metal 3D printing that could be amazingly faster than any current technique. Their goal has been to be able to 3D print one tonne of metal material per day, a feat currently not doable with any metal 3D printing process.
They finally revealed their new concept at formnext, where we saw their key secret: using parallel powder recoaters and lasers simultaneously. The approach should be quite feasible to implement because it is essentially a well-known process that’s been made to operate in parallel.
As you might imagine, their stock price (they are traded on the Australian ASX, and are one of the very few 3D printer companies that are publicly traded) rose with that announcement. However, it seems that their stock price has gradually dropped over time since that announcement.
It would seem quite strange for that to happen, given the blockbuster nature of their technology announcement. However, it may be that investors are having concerns regarding either Aurora Labs’ ability or speed in producing the technology.
That may be alleviated with their recent private placement announcement. For those not familiar, a private placement is a type of group investment in a firm outside of the normal public trading. In this case a broker collected a series of smaller investments and bundled them up together to form the placement.
The amount of investment is AU$5M (US$3.5M), and apparently represents approximately 17.5% of the company’s outstanding shares.
This amount may not be sufficient to deploy a completed product to the world through a large sales force, but it could be sufficient to complete the development of Aurora Labs’ Rapid Manufacturing Technology (RMT).
It may be that Aurora Labs’ stock price rises on this announcement, although the placement will dilute the value of existing shares to some degree.
Regardless of the background of the investment, my hope is that it does permit Aurora Labs to complete the RMT development, because the technology they seem to have invented is clearly something the world needs.
Via Aurora Labs
A blog post reveals much of what happens behind the scenes at 3D print service Shapeways.