Consolidation continues in the 3D printing industry with an announcement from 3D-Fuel.
3D-Fuel is the producer of a wide range of 3D printer filaments, and is well-regarded in the industry. They’re not just a producer of common materials in a variety of colors; instead they focus on engineering materials and by my count they currently offer around 40 different material types. More if you count colors.
There’s an interesting sequence of events happening here, and let me walk you through it.
In July last year, Fargo ND-based 3D Fuel announced they were moving their warehouse from North Dakota to Texas. At the time, they explained:
“If you’ve visited our site in the last week, you’ll see that our inventory is listed as out of stock. We’re migrating all of our inventory that was in our Fargo warehouse to our Texas warehouse (stay tuned for an exciting announcement with more details later this week) so until that inventory has been fully moved and is in place, it cannot be purchased on our website.”
This was a surprising announcement on its own, and the rational was revealed shortly thereafter. It turned out they had made a special arrangement with Essentium to provide them with their vast array of engineering materials. Essentium’s customers are typically military operations that require unusual materials for their applications. The relationship was so tight that they literally moved their warehouse to be adjacent to Essentium.
Then, only months later, it was announced that Nexa3D was to acquire Essentium. Essentium had previously attempted to go public via the SPAC process, but halted that before completion. Instead it turns out their exit would be to sell the company to Nexa3D. When this past January, the acquisition further adds to Nexa3D’s growing portfolio of 3D printing capabilities.
What about 3D-Fuel? My understanding was that they had not been acquired by Essentium, but instead simply had a very tight relationship. What would happen as a result of the Nexa3D acquisition?
We now know what will happen. 3D-Fuel’s founder and CEO John Schneider announced the following this past week:
“I’m thrilled to share some exciting news today – 3D-Fuel materials are now part of the Nexa3D family! As the CEO and co-founder of 3D-Fuel, I am pleased to announce this significant milestone in our company’s journey.”
It sounds like they will deeply integrate with Nexa3D, as Schneider said:
“You’ll now have access to Nexa3D’s validated resin, metals, and thermoplastic materials.”
This is a very interesting move by Nexa3D, although somewhat predictable. Nevertheless, Nexa3D will now have a significant materials resource at their disposal.
Via 3D-Fuel
