Corporate

Stratasys Completes Merger with Objet

After an overly long journey through regulations and legalities, two 3D printing industry giants Objet and Stratasys have completed their merger.    The new company, which will be among the largest in the industry, will be known as Stratasys, with dual headquarters in both Minnesota (former Stratasys HQ) and Israel (former Objet HQ).    The… Continue reading Stratasys Completes Merger with Objet

BREAKING: Staples to Use Mcor IRIS in Copy Centers

In a blockbuster announcement, Mcor, the makers of the IRIS color 3D printing system based on plain old paper, say they’ve struck a huge deal with print services giant Staples to supply 3D printing equipment for their numerous print and copy centers.    This will obviously take a while to implement, so Staples Printing Division… Continue reading BREAKING: Staples to Use Mcor IRIS in Copy Centers

3D Systems Gets Raided!

No, it’s not what you’re thinking; this raid was a “Bear Raid”. A “Bear Raid” is a stock trading scenario in which pundits attempt to artificially lower the price of a stock for their own profit.    It started last week when a couple of provocative articles appeared on Seeking Alpha, suggesting that 3D Systems’… Continue reading 3D Systems Gets Raided!

Formlabs Vs. 3D Systems

Even more 3D Systems news today! Perhaps this was inevitable, but 3D printing giant 3D Systems has filed lawsuits against Kickstarter-fueled Formlabs, who recently closed a USD$3M campaign to raise funds to produce their new resin-based personal 3D printer.   Resin-based 3D printing, also known as Stereolithography, was invented by 3D Systems’ founder, Chuck Hull… Continue reading Formlabs Vs. 3D Systems

Stratasys Reports 3Q12 Results

As one of the two publicly-traded major 3D printing companies, Stratasys’ financial results are always interesting to examine.    They’ve been on a tear in recent years, consistently setting new records for various financial statistics. This quarter seems no different: their revenue increased a massive 40% in 3Q12 from 3Q11, while units increased 52% to… Continue reading Stratasys Reports 3Q12 Results

3D Systems Announces Quarterly Results

As one of the two mega-3D publicly-held printing companies in existence today, 3D Systems is obligated to formally report on their finances periodically. We like view them as a kind of bellwether on the state of the 3D printing industry. So how did they do this quarter?   Apparently very well. Their revenue increased a… Continue reading 3D Systems Announces Quarterly Results

Shapeways to Open NY Factory

Popular consumer-focused 3D print service is expanding! In New York, specifically Long Island, they’re spending USD$28M to set up a 25,000sf, 50-person facility that Shapeways calls, “The Factory of The Future”.    The facility is expected to hold some 30-50 advanced 3D printers as well as providing a physical space for maker community innovation. The… Continue reading Shapeways to Open NY Factory

Millions To Form 1

We’ve all heard about the success of Formlab’s incredible fundraising success on the launch of their new Form 1 resin-based 3D printer, but how well did they do?    Their Kickstarter campaign has officially closed today and the results are beyond startling:  They’ve raised exactly USD$2,945,885 They’ve received orders for 1,028 Form 1 machines by… Continue reading Millions To Form 1

UK to Invest an Additional £7 million in A.M.

On the heels of a story we reported last week, the Technology Strategy Board, an advisory group to the UK’s Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, has announced it will invest £7 million to help spur innovation in additive manufacturing.   MP David Willet’s had this to say about the program, “3D printing technologies offer… Continue reading UK to Invest an Additional £7 million in A.M.

MakerBot Expands Retail Presence in Europe

Shortly after opening its own dedicated retail shop in New York, MakerBot announced it’s pursuing retail arrangements in France. They’ve partnered with le FabShop to resell all current MakerBot products, including their most recent device, the Replicator 2.    Le FabShop, a French makerspace based in Brittany, does not have a physical retail store, but… Continue reading MakerBot Expands Retail Presence in Europe

Rapidform Joins 3D Systems

In yet another acquisition, 3D Systems has acquired 3D software maker Rapidform.    Rapidform is well known in the 3D industry and provides reverse-engineering software. That means their software accepts a 3D scan and then transforms it into a usable, parametric CAD model. In practice it isn’t totally magic and produce the CAD model at… Continue reading Rapidform Joins 3D Systems

The Craziness of 3D Printing Stocks

As we’re now in the “Peak of Inflated Expectations” of 3D printing, according to Gartner, the stock market is taking a very close look at publicly available stocks for 3D printing companies.    Needless to say, the prices of the two publicly traded 3D printing companies, 3D Systems and Stratasys, have been exhibiting some unusual… Continue reading The Craziness of 3D Printing Stocks

Bre’s Not A Bad Guy

One has to sympathize with Bre Pettis, CEO of MakerBot. While he’s had huge successes in the past few years, most recently by announcing the professional-targeted Replicator 2, he’s also caught some flack from the open source community.    As we explained the other week, some members of the open source community are upset because… Continue reading Bre’s Not A Bad Guy

3D Systems Gets A TIM

3D Systems has acquired another regional 3D print service bureau: The Innovative Modelmakers BV, a Dutch company. According to 3D System’s press release, TIM is a “leading full service provider of on-demand custom parts services”.    They plan on integrating TIM’s business into the 3D Systems’ already operating On Demand parts service, specifically 3D Systems… Continue reading 3D Systems Gets A TIM

Startling Form 1 Update

We discussed the sudden announcement of Formlabs’ amazing Form 1 resin-based 3D printer yesterday, but we need to talk about it some more. Something amazing is happening.    The Formlabs is raising funds for device production on Kickstarter and set a goal of USD$100,000 within 30 days of launch. How close are they to meeting… Continue reading Startling Form 1 Update

Analysis: MakerBot’s Monster Announcements

Yesterday a series of startling announcements erupted from MakerBot’s Brooklyn NY headquarters, changing the flavor of MakerBot forever. MakerBot announced two new personal 3D printers, the Replicator 2 and Replicator 2X, as well as new software, a service program and a retail operation.    The announcements appeared to us to take a huge step in… Continue reading Analysis: MakerBot’s Monster Announcements

Quantum International Invests in 3D House Printing?

An interesting press release came from Quantum International the other day. Quantum appears to be an investment firm specializing in various robotic technology. In their press release they talk of USC Professor Behrokh Khoshnevis’s work in developing large-scale concrete 3D printers capable of 3D printing whole houses. They say:    Quantum International Corp. (OTCBB: QUAN)… Continue reading Quantum International Invests in 3D House Printing?

Modern Meadow’s Meats’ Organovo Roots

A new bioprinting startup suddenly appeared: Modern Meadow, courtesy of a small investment by Internet billionaire Peter Thiel. It’s goal is to develop lab-grown “food grade animal protein”, also known as “meat”. The idea is to produce the protein without the massive environmental cost of actual cows, pigs and other meat-laden critters. Their one-line pitch… Continue reading Modern Meadow’s Meats’ Organovo Roots

3D Systems Announces 2Q2012 Results

3D printing giant 3D Systems has announced their financial results for the second quarter of 2012, and it appears they’re doing just fine.    Compared to this quarter last year, their revenues are up a huge 52%, growing to USD$83.6 million. Evidently all their businesses report growth in this quarter, indicating a very strong operation.… Continue reading 3D Systems Announces 2Q2012 Results

What’s Down With Organovo?

A few short weeks ago we wrote a piece entitled, “What’s With Organovo?”, in which we pondered why the stock price of this bioprinting startup soared beyond belief. It seemed at the time there was no reasonable explanation for the stock price’s stratospheric behavior.    This week the answer has appeared: there really was no… Continue reading What’s Down With Organovo?

Global 3D Printing Market to Reach $2.99 Billion by 2018

According to a new report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc. (GIA), the global market for 3D printing is projected to reach US$2.99 billion by the year 2018, driven by the advent of newer technologies, approaches and applications. Expanding use of the technology in manufacturing final products, declining cost of printers and increasing use of 3D… Continue reading Global 3D Printing Market to Reach $2.99 Billion by 2018

HP and Stratasys Divorce

Somehow this wasn’t a complete surprise, as we’d been hearing rumors of difficulties in the relationship between IT Giant HP and 3D Printing leader Stratasys. Now it’s come to a close, with Stratasys announcing that the two companies have “have agreed to discontinue their manufacturing and distribution agreement for 3D printers, effective at the end… Continue reading HP and Stratasys Divorce

3D Printing in the USA

It’s interesting to read about 3D printing, but sometimes it’s just a whole lot better to visualize things. That’s precisely what 3DP blogger Nadra Angerman did when she produced this fascinating infographic that attempts to show many of the 3D printing establishments across the USA. Check out the full infographic at the link below.   … Continue reading 3D Printing in the USA

The Phenix vs. EOS Patent War Heats Up

We’ve been advised that Phenix Systems has filed a lawsuit against 3D printer manufacturer EOS. This is more than likely in response to EOS’s filing of a lawsuit against Phenix Systems for alleged patent violation.    The new lawsuit from Phenix alleges that EOS has violated United States patent number 6,767,499 (Fast Prototyping Method by… Continue reading The Phenix vs. EOS Patent War Heats Up

What’s With Organovo?

You may recall Organovo? They’re a bioprinting startup that is attempting to 3D print a variety of biological tissues, including Actual Human Organs! They say:    Organovo’s powerful NovoGen Bioprinting platform creates human tissues starting with any cell source. From disease models to tissue creation, bioprinting solves urged needs in biological research.   Their goal… Continue reading What’s With Organovo?

EOS Teams Up For Metal 3D Printing

3D printer manufacturer EOS has signed an agreement with Cookson Precious Metals to jointly develop a variety of applications related to metal 3D printing. According to the press release, “Under this agreement, both companies will introduce and further develop precious metal-based applications to the jewelry and watch industry”.    But what does this mean, exactly?… Continue reading EOS Teams Up For Metal 3D Printing

MakerBot Relocates, Expands

MakerBot has evidently outgrown its current BotFarm location on Dean St. in Brooklyn, NY and has acquired new office space to expand its rapidly growing operations.    Now with a staff of 125, the company has grown significantly since 2009 when its three founders were the only employees. Originated in the tiny “BotCave”, they expanded… Continue reading MakerBot Relocates, Expands

3D Systems Picks Up FreshFiber

In yet another acquisition, 3D Systems has acquired FreshFiber BV, a maker of some very cool mobile phone covers – all using 3D printing techniques. Their tagline: “3D Designed, personal cases for your phone”.   The Dutch company made headlines earlier when it became one of the first big-time 3D printed products to make product… Continue reading 3D Systems Picks Up FreshFiber

Phenix Systems Defends Its Position

You may recall our post the other week regarding a lawsuit filed by 3D printer manufacturer EOS against Phenix Systems. We were contacted by a representative from Phenix with an official statement countering EOS’ claims.   The statement reads:    Phenix Systems, is aware that EOS has filed a lawsuit alleging patent infringement, although EOS… Continue reading Phenix Systems Defends Its Position

Google Sells SketchUp!

Big news! Google has sold off the hugely popular SketchUp 3D modeling tool to Trimble. Wait, who are Trimble, exactly? They’re a “leading provider of advanced location-based solutions that maximize productivity and enhance profitability”. In other words, they leverage GPS and other location tech to develop point products for quite a few different industries.   … Continue reading Google Sells SketchUp!

EOS Files 3D Printing Patent Infringement Lawsuit

Oh oh – we’re now seeing major lawsuits flying in the 3D printing industry for perhaps the first time. EOS, the Munich-based manufacturer of laser sintering 3D printing gear, has filed suits against Phenix Systems of France.    Apparently this scenario began when Phenix produced their PXL, PXM, PXS and PXS Dental 3D printers, all… Continue reading EOS Files 3D Printing Patent Infringement Lawsuit

3D Systems Added to S&P SmallCap 600 Index

Standard and Poors have added 3D Systems to their SmallCap 600 index. The index is a basket of (surprise) 600 companies whose aggregated stock prices offer insight into medium-sized company performance. 3D Systems was able to be added after one of the existing companies, Taleo, was acquired by Oracle (making it definitely not a Small… Continue reading 3D Systems Added to S&P SmallCap 600 Index

Massive News: Objet and Stratasys Merge

Stratasys announced they’ve merged with the largest remaining large commercial 3D printer manufacturer, Objet of Israel, creating the now-largest 3D printing company with a market capitalization of USD$1.4B.    The newly merged company was created by merging stock such that Stratasys shareholders will own 55 percent and Objet shareholders 45 percent. The new company retains… Continue reading Massive News: Objet and Stratasys Merge

3D Systems Picks Up Robots, And More

Industry giant 3D Systems has made another acquisition, and this one appears to be a little different than previous purchases. They’ve acquired specialty 3D print service MyRobotNation, whom we’ve written about in the past. MyRobotNation’s specialty is, well, robots. Personalized robots.    The service provides users with a very easy to use (and fun) interface… Continue reading 3D Systems Picks Up Robots, And More

Open3DP is Now Open3DP

The busy folks at the University of Washington’s Solheim Additive Manufacturing Laboratory in their Mechanical Engineering Department have opened up again.    Opened up? That’s right, they were “intellectual property” closed for several weeks as their legal department imposed a rather crushing IP regime upon them. However, they’ve managed to overcome this by convincing their… Continue reading Open3DP is Now Open3DP

Open3DP is Now Open3DP

The busy folks at the University of Washington’s Solheim Additive Manufacturing  Laboratory in the Mechanical Engineering Department have opened up again.    Opened up? That’s right, they were “intellectual property” closed for several weeks as their legal department imposed a rather crushing IP regime upon them. However, they’ve managed to overcome this by convincing their… Continue reading Open3DP is Now Open3DP

RMIT’s AMP Needs a TC

So many acronyms! Let’s translate the headline for you: the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology’s RMIT University’s Advanced Manufacturing Precinct (AMP) is looking to hire a new Technical Coordinator.    Why do we find this posting of interest? Because:    RMIT University’s Advanced Manufacturing Precinct (AMP) facility brings together research, design and advanced manufacturing in… Continue reading RMIT’s AMP Needs a TC

3D Systems’ 2011 Financial Results

3D Printing industry leader 3D Systems recently announced their year-end financial results for 2011. We wondered how the incorporation of their many newly acquired companies affected their results.    Overall it seems that the acquisitions have assisted 3D Systems in raising their results. Here’s the highlights as we saw them:    Full year revenue increased… Continue reading 3D Systems’ 2011 Financial Results

3D Printing Muscles

Organovo, the 3D Bioprinting startup, announced they’ve received USD$6.5M in a private placement investment to bolster their research budget.    Organovo has been working on the problem of 3D printing live human tissue – but not with the intention of surgically inserting said tissue into live humans. No, instead they wish to create live human… Continue reading 3D Printing Muscles

Thingiverse Terms Changed

3D Model download site Thingiverse has made a dramatic change in its licensing terms. As most startups tend to do, the initial version of legal terms are typically cobbled together from other sources. MakerBot Chief Bre Pettis writes:   I went and looked at Blip.tv’s and Etsy’s and Youtube’s and I basically copied them and… Continue reading Thingiverse Terms Changed

Open3DP Goes Closed3DP?

The folks at the University of Washington who’ve been doing stellar work researching 3D printing in concrete, ceramics, glass and other unusual materials have gone dark, so to speak.    It appears that the suits at their university have issued new rules regarding participation with outside groups. Specifically, they say:   it has become increasingly… Continue reading Open3DP Goes Closed3DP?

BotMill Improves Service

BotMill is one of many companies producing RepRap-based 3D printers, and perhaps it’s one of the largest. In the past our posts on BotMill have sometimes been met with negative comments regarding their service and this negativity appeared in other forums as well.    We’re not certain whether the negative comments are true or false,… Continue reading BotMill Improves Service

MakerBot Reaches Retail

New York City-based retailer AC Gears now sells MakerBot’s Thing-O-Matic personal 3D printer, in another step by growing Brooklyn-based manufacturer MakerBot’s strategy to get more MakerBots in the hands of more people.    AC Gears is “New York’s Gadget Emporium”, selling a quite amazing selection of cool stuff such as a Breath Tester, LED lantern… Continue reading MakerBot Reaches Retail

T-Splines Eaten by Autodesk

If you use Rhino3D or Solidworks for preparing your 3D models you might have heard of T-Splines. It’s a special plug-in that permits easy creation of organic shapes and thus greatly extends the usefulness of Rhino3D and Solidworks, at least for some designers. But that may change abruptly. The other week 3D software giant Autodesk… Continue reading T-Splines Eaten by Autodesk

Dozens of MakerBot Jobs!

Popular 3D printer manufacturer MakerBot is hiring. And boy, are they ever! A recent check of their jobs list revealed a startling number of required positions in wildly different roles. It’s almost as if MakerBot suddenly gained a ton of money and started recruiting for every job they felt they needed. But then, that’s exactly… Continue reading Dozens of MakerBot Jobs!

A Tour of Buildatron

PC Magazine took a tour of a Brooklyn, NY-based 3D printer manufacturer, and it wasn’t MakerBot. It was Buildatron, an up and coming personal 3D printer operation whose signature feature is a stunning metal case.    What did they find? They found a tiny manufacturing space, likely very similar to most other personal 3D printer… Continue reading A Tour of Buildatron

Printrbot Hits The Jackpot

Projects appearing on the Kickstarter public venture funding service sometimes surprise everyone with their success, but Printrbot’s results seem to make all others look bad. Their concept for a personal 3D printer was presented on Kickstarter in hopes of raising enough cash to produce a number of units and launch their business. But get this… Continue reading Printrbot Hits The Jackpot

Stratasys Drifting Away from HP?

In early 2010 big-time 3D printer manufacturer Stratasys signed an agreement with even-bigger-time 2D printer manufacturer HP to market 3D printers. The deal involved Stratasys producing HP-labeled printers that would be marketed through HP’s massive reseller networks. They started sales in Europe later that year. Now we see this arrangement may not be proceeding as… Continue reading Stratasys Drifting Away from HP?

3D Systems For Investors

We managed to get a peek at a 3D Systems investors presentation. This is a rather large slide deck with plenty of investor-related data as most investor presentations tend to be, but there were also lots of very interesting statistics and information. We read through the entire piece and found the interesting tidbits for Fabbaloo… Continue reading 3D Systems For Investors

Massive News: 3D Systems Acquires ZCorp!

In an almost unbelievable announcement today, 3D Systems has apparently acquired ZCorp, one of their major competitors. In addition to ZCorp, 3D Systems also picked up Vidar, a leading manufacturer of medical film digitizers. The cost of these two simultaneous acquisitions puts a USD$137M dent into 3D Systems’ wallet, which will be refilled by a… Continue reading Massive News: 3D Systems Acquires ZCorp!

Tinkercad Gets Funding

First it was MakerBot with a USD$10M injection, and now it’s Tinkercad, that friendly online 3D modeling service that practically anyone can use. They’ve just received a boost of USD$1M from True Ventures with angel investment from Eghosa Omoigui, Taher Haveliwala, Jyri Engestrom, and Joshua Schachter.    This is huge news for the small startup… Continue reading Tinkercad Gets Funding

3D Systems Acquires Huntsman Technology

3D Systems continued its acquisition strategy this week by picking up not a company but a technology. They’ve recently been acquiring whole companies related to 3D printing, but this one is slightly different: they’ve purchased what appears to be the USD$7M/yr revenue rapid prototyping arm of Huntsman, a very large chemical conglomerate.    The specifics… Continue reading 3D Systems Acquires Huntsman Technology

MAKE Talks with Bre

There’s a very long interview with MakerBot Chief Bre Pettis in MAKE magazine that we encourage you to read. We went through it looking for clues to MakerBot’s future plans, especially after their recent gigantic infusion of an astonishing USD$10M from investors. Here’s what we noticed:    Bre is still very pumped about MakerBot as… Continue reading MAKE Talks with Bre

Stratasys Expands

3D printing industry giant Stratasys has been spending some money lately – on a new 90,000 sq. ft production facility in Minnesota. The new facility, which is actually a refit of an existing building in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, actually doubles their capacity for building their line of 3D printers.    Evidently Stratasys believes there’s a… Continue reading Stratasys Expands

3D Systems Acquires Kemo

Mark down another acquisition for 3D Systems, who this week announced they’ve picked up Belgian 3D print service Kemo B.V. Modelmaker. This Belgian firm adds to the significant number of 3D print services now under the vast 3D Systems umbrella. Kemo focuses on on-demand custom parts for industry, similar to other services that 3D Systems… Continue reading 3D Systems Acquires Kemo

Free 3D Printers!

We wrote about a mysterious program from MCOR in which they hinted they’d be giving away 3D printers at no charge. Certainly this deserves some investigation, and it turns out it’s actually true! MCOR now no longer sells their paper-fuelled 3D printers. Instead they simply give them away!   But there’s a catch, of course.… Continue reading Free 3D Printers!

3D Systems Acquires Formero

Continuing their sweep across the world acquiring 3D print services, 3D Systems has now absorbed Formero, and Australian 3D print service. Formero focuses on the Asia-Pacific market from their Melbourne base of operations.    With this acquisition 3D Systems now has stretched its global reach quite a bit farther, at least in terms of 3D… Continue reading 3D Systems Acquires Formero

MCOR Gets a New Chair

MCOR, makers of the very unusual paper-based 3D printer, have announced they’ve appointed a new chair of their board of directors. The Irish-born Ryan has had a very long career in California in the electronics industry and now acts as an industry advisor for start-up companies – and now will provide advice and guidance to… Continue reading MCOR Gets a New Chair

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MakerBot Is Hiring (Again)

MakerBot, that Brooklyn, NY-based 3D printing startup that always seems to be in the news is hiring again. We noticed a post recently in which they are trying to recruit yet another worker bee, this time a Customer Support Tech:    You’ll be responsible for eloquently representing a growing DIY 3D printer and technology company… Continue reading MakerBot Is Hiring (Again)

MakerBot’s $10M Challenge

MakerBot chief Bre Pettis made a very big announcement yesterday: They’re taking in the staggering amount of USD$10M in a special investment round! The sixteen listed investors, led by Foundry Group, obviously have huge confidence in MakerBot’s future.    MakerBot has come a very long way from their modest start in early 2009, growing to… Continue reading MakerBot’s $10M Challenge

More on the 3D Systems’ BotMill Acquisition

We were a tiny bit surprised last week when we learned that up and coming 3D printer manufacturer and marketer BotMill was snapped up by industry giant 3D Systems. At the time there was not a lot of information available about this move, so we contacted 3D Systems VP of Global Marketing to clarify the… Continue reading More on the 3D Systems’ BotMill Acquisition

BotMill Acquired by 3D Systems

Buzz on the interwebs last night indicated another 3D Systems acquisition has taken place. This time they’ve scooped up Florida-based hobby 3D printer manufacturer BotMill.    While there doesn’t seem to be an official announcement or press release on this event yet, there is a very telling indication from the graphic on BotMill’s site, as… Continue reading BotMill Acquired by 3D Systems

Autodesk Acquires Instructables

3D software giant Autodesk, makers of Maya, Revit, 3DS Max and AutoCAD announced they’ve acquired Instructables. Instructables provides do-it-yourself instructions for a wide variety of projects, some of which involve 3D printing. Instructables chief Eric J. Wilhelm says:    Autodesk gives us the scale and support to grow and improve Instructables, build some great apps, and… Continue reading Autodesk Acquires Instructables

3D Systems Catches Alibre

Big announcement from 3D Systems this morning: They’ve acquired CAD/CAM software manufacturer Alibre. Alibre current markets several versions of their 3D modeling software for pro’s and hobbyists, as well as reselling several of 3D System’s 3D printers as software/hardware bundles – so obviously there was a strong existing relationship between the two parties.    … Continue reading 3D Systems Catches Alibre