Posted on

Arevo Announces New Aqua 2 Carbon Fiber 3D Printer, $25M in Series B Funding

Due to its stiffness, high strength-to-weight ratio, and the fact that it demonstrates anisotropic properties, carbon fiber has been used as a less expensive replacement material for metals such as titanium for decades, and has many applications in industrial sectors like aerospace and automotive. As you may know, Silicon Valley technology startup Arevo has long focused on continuous carbon fiber composites printing. Back in 2015, the company, which counts the CIA’s venture capital arm In-Q-Tel as an investor, developed a laser-based method for 3D printing carbon fiber with a multi-axis robotic arm. This technology, paired with quality design software, allows Arevo, and its customers, to automate the design and printing of large, complex, continuous CFRP composite parts.

“High speed automation removes human errors in traditional composites manufacturing,” the Arevo site states. “Our patented technology uses lasers to manufacture high quality composite parts at scale.”

Now, the California company is announcing its newest innovation: the Aqua 2 3D printing system. Arevo states in a press release that the new Aqua 2 is the first high-speed 3D printer in the world for large continuous carbon fiber composite structures. Additionally, it said that the Aqua 2 printer is of higher quality, can achieve rapid, on-demand fabrication of custom composite parts up to one cubic meter in size, and can also print four times faster than the 3D printer that came before it.

But its new Aqua 2 3D printer isn’t the only good news Arevo is sharing—the company also announced that it has closed its Series B financing round after raising an additional $25 million, bringing the total amount raised to $60 million.

Leaders of this round were GGV Capital and Defy Partners, and additional support came from Alabaster, previous investor Khosla Ventures, and more.

“We are excited to have Defy and GGVC on board to bring not only capital but a vast amount of strategic experience,” Arevo’s co-founder and chairman Hemant Bheda stated. “The strong interests in the company despite tough market conditions really reaffirm our vision.”

Aqua 2 Printer Head

Additionally, Defy has appointed serial entrepreneur and investor Brian Shin to join the board of directors at the startup, which also includes Bheda, Khosla’s Bruce Armstrong, and Arevo’s CEO Sonny Vu.

“Arevo is a compelling opportunity for us as it combines our three main investment foci: consumer internet, enterprise, and smart tech. We see fantastic potential in this market, and have backed Sonny before at Misfit,” said Hans Tung, a Managing Partner at GGVC. “Arevo is led by an experienced team with solid technological foundation and 3D printing manufacturing know-how at scale – to offer breakthrough products at competitive prices.”

Arevo has been historically well-funded over the years, and recently launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to sell its first direct-to-consumer products: the Superstrata bicycle and e-bike. The startup has used its technology to create bicycle frames before, but claims that its Superstrata products will be the first real custom 3D printed unibody carbon fiber bikes. This campaign has been so popular that within three minutes of launching, the goal of $100,000 had already been reached, and now it’s close to raising $4 million.

“Arevo’s new platform enables fabrication of high strength, low weight carbon fiber parts, currently not possible with today’s standard techniques. We are thrilled to be working with the team to help scale up this incredibly impactful technology,” said Trae Vassallo, founding partner at Defy.

Carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic bracket

(Source/Images: Arevo)

The post Arevo Announces New Aqua 2 Carbon Fiber 3D Printer, $25M in Series B Funding appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

Posted on

Nexa3D Acquires NXT Factory, Introduces Eco-Friendly 3D Printing Washing Solvent

While Nexa3D may specialize in manufacturing super-fast stereolithography 3D printers, the company has been branching out recently, and narrowing its focus on the materials side of things. It launched the high-performance polymer xCE-Black in May, followed soon after with the announcement of a partnership with Henkel to commercialize xMED412, a high-impact material for printing biocompatible medical and wearable devices. Now, Nexa3D has announced that xCLEAN, its new eco-friendly washing solvent for resin and photopolymer 3D printers, is commercially available.

“I am very proud of our entire team for stepping-up during this unprecedented pandemic, and  quickly pivoting internal developments and external collaborations to adeptly support our growing customer base and communities. “Throughout this challenging period, we’ve continued to expand the range of our high impact, durable photoplastics, and we are rolling out new productivity tools for the additive manufacturing industry,” said Nexa3D’s CEO and Co-Founder Avi Reichental. “Together with our growing partner network, we are committed to helping our customers improve their design agility, and supply chain resiliency by reducing the time required to produce functional prototypes and production parts from hours to just minutes.”

xCLEAN, compatible with most photopolymeric resin printers, including close loop systems, automated cleaners, and washing units currently on the market, and is safer to handle than other popular cleaning solvents, though it’s not been cleared to use in the cleaning of parts 3D printed out of biocompatible resins.


This material is easy to recycle, as well as recover with the help of a vacuum-assist distillation unit, and doesn’t need any of the typical adherence to shipping regulations or special storage that most post-processing photopolymeric parts require.

“xCLEAN’s development is a powerful reminder that necessity is the mother of invention. We were forced to explore alternatives to isopropyl alcohol (IPA) during the initial Covid-19 surge as IPA became extremely scarce and costs skyrocketed,” explained Nexa3D’s Head of Customer Success Brent Zollinger. ” After considering dozens of candidates, we zeroed in on xCLEAN and quickly embraced it as our go-to cleaning solvent. Having processed thousands of serial production parts in our flexible factory with superior results, we decided to share this incredible cleaner with our customers and invite the entire photopolymer 3D printing community to give it a try.”

Made from molecules that are smaller than DPM and TPM, xCLEAN is extremely effective, and doesn’t have any of the gross, greasy residue that you get with these two alternative materials; just rinse it off with water. It’s also sustainable, with three times the saturation limit of IPA, which means that it lasts three times as long and requires fewer changeovers and generates less waste.

xCLEAN can be ordered for immediate delivery here, or from one of Nexa3D’s authorized resellers. A single 5-gallon container will cost you about $320. To see the material in action, check out the video below:

But materials haven’t been the company’s only focus during COVID-19—the company just announced that it has acquired NXT Factory, which manufactures ultra-fast selective laser sintering (SLS) production systems powered by its proprietary Quantum Laser Sintering (QLS) technology.

“We are thrilled to join forces with Nexa3D and together unleash the power and potential of our products. COVID-19 propelled both of our companies to demonstrate the unique capabilities of our complementary additive manufacturing power as we quickly ramped into full production of personal protective equipment for frontline healthcare workers. This crisis has helped showcase the incredibly rapid and flexible nature of our combined additive manufacturing capabilities compared to traditional manufacturing and demonstrates how vulnerable the global manufacturing supply chain is to unexpected disruptions,” stated Kuba Graczyk, the Co-Founder and CEO of NXT Factory. “Together, we are committed to taking additive manufacturing to the next level and realizing its full potential.”

The two companies have entered into an agreement that states Nexa3D will acquire all the outstanding shares of NXT Factory, and the stockholders and boards of directors of both companies have approved the transaction, the details of which were not disclosed publicly.

By combining NXT Factory and Nexa3D’s high-speed technologies, the company is strengthening its capabilities and portfolio of production-grade materials. Nexa3D will now have access to NXT Factory’s range of powder fusion, supply chain-approved plastics, which will essentially double its addressable market and strongly position it for increased growth in the industry.

Leveraging its relationships with other key material suppliers, Nexa3D will be able to diversify its revenue streams by offering access to 100% of currently available polymer applications

“Stereolithography (SLA) and Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) are the cornerstones of additive manufacturing of plastics, so I am honored and proud to be part of the team that is uniting the two companies that are taking both technologies to their full potential. Having worked side by side with the Nexa3D team over the past four years in Ventura, California, sharing facilities, exhibiting jointly at tradeshows, witnessing untold technological breakthroughs and rapid expansion, there is no doubt in my mind that this is the perfect match for both of our companies. I am excited to join this dream team and contribute towards the creation of a leading fourth generation additive manufacturing powerhouse,” said Tomasz Cieszynski, Co-Founder and CTO of NXT Factory.

Subject to customary and other deal-specific closing conditions being met, the transaction should be completed as soon as practically possible.

(Source/Images: Nexa3D)

The post Nexa3D Acquires NXT Factory, Introduces Eco-Friendly 3D Printing Washing Solvent appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

Posted on

T3D Announces New LCD-Based High-Speed 3D Printing System

Taiwan 3D Tech, also known as T3D, is a startup spin-off from the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST). Headquartered in Taipei, the company was officially founded in 2017 by Jeng Ywan-Jeng, a Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of the High Speed 3D Printing Research Center at the university, as well as the Founder of the 3D Printing Association in Taiwan.

Jeng had been working on a 3D printing system since 2012, and finally showed off his smartphone-based 3D printer to the world at Inside 3D Printing Shanghai 2015, launching a Kickstarter campaign for the small SLA system two years later. He told 3DPrint.com at formnext 2017 that T3D’s unique printer, which he had once referred to as “a cyber physic system (CPS) machine,” can cure a 100 micron layer in 15 seconds.

“The idea is to use only a smartphone, no PC; we use this light for its energy to do something. We have already proved it can be done,” Jeng told us at the event in Frankfurt.

The 3D printer uses light from the smartphone to cure specialty resin from a vat sitting on top of the phone to the print bed above, a concept we’ve seen before in the OLO smartphone-powered 3D printer. Both 3D printing systems had successful Kickstarter campaigns, but the difference between the two is that while there has been no news on the OLO, now the ONO, for roughly two years, T3D is actively getting its product to customers, while also continuing to innovate.

“T3D is the first mobile 3D printer in Taiwan,” the company states. “No complicated operation and no restrictions. Just print your lifestyle. We are a team of hardware, software, and chemical engineers aiming to disrupt the traditional 3D printing industry.”

Recently, the T3D team announced its newest product, the T3D LCD High-Speed 3D Printer, which will officially be launched at the Taiwan Innotech Expo event in Taipei this September.

According to T3D, its new High-Speed 3D Printer is able to speed up the 3D printing process by achieving fast print speeds of 10 cm per hour. In addition, thanks to the startup’s multiple colors of visible light curing photosensitive resin and “special fep film,” as a press release states, the system can also print continuously.

Just like with the original T3D smartphone-powered system, the T3D High-Speed 3D Printer also comes with an app that appears to make the process quick and easy. Users can search the Cloud Gallery for a variety of public models, and with one click can select their desired print. The T3D app works with many kinds of mobile phones, so you shouldn’t need to worry about corrupting any files, and you can also select your print settings in the app as well.

T3D, which aims to make 3D printing easier for consumers, states that the High-Speed 3D printer features “high productivity and accuracy,” which is definitely in line with this mission. Other competitive advantages the new T3D High-Speed 3D Printer features include 47 um precision and advanced software to ensure an easier workflow.

(Images courtesy of T3D)

The post T3D Announces New LCD-Based High-Speed 3D Printing System appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.