Desktop Metal, a 3D printer manufacturer, has received $65 Million in a new funding round led by Ford.
The latest financing round follows a successful 2017 for the Burlington Massachusetts based company and brings total funding to $277 Million. In June 2017 the closure of a series D finance round brought unicorn status to the company, valuing Desktop Metal at over $1 billion.
Ric Fulop, CEO and co-founder of Desktop Metal, commented,
“The age of metal 3D manufacturing is here and this strategic partnership with Ford, along with our portfolio of investors, validates our vision to transform the way metal parts will be designed and mass produced.”
As part of the deal Ford’s Chief Technology Officer, Ken Washington, will also become a member of the Desktop Metal Board of Directors.
In addition to the Studio System and Production System metal 3D printers, Desktop Metal is also working on several R&D projects. These include the Live Parts generative design tool unveiled at SOLIDWORKS World 2018.
Expanding headcount, developing advanced R&D
In 2017, Desktop Metal was voted start-up of the year by 3D Printing Industry readers. During a remarkably short period of time the young company has passed a number of major milestones including,
- Growth of Desktop Metal to more than 225 employees
- Nearly 100 channel partners and resellers
- International expansion with distribution in more than 40 countries
- A portfolio of 100+ pending patent applications covering more than 200 inventions, as well as the granting of two patents for its Separable Supports™
- The development of advanced R&D, including Live Parts™, an experimental generative design tool that applies morphogenetic principles and advanced simulation to shape strong, lightweight parts in minutes.
Desktop Metal investors now include, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Future Fund, GV (formerly Google Ventures), GE Ventures, BMW iVentures, Techtronic Industries (TTI), Lowe’s, Lux Capital, Vertex Ventures, Moonrise Venture Partners, DCVC Opportunity, Tyche, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Shenzhen Capital Group (SCGC), Saudi Aramco, and 3D printing leader Stratasys.
Fulop added, “The continued support of our investors underscores the power of our metal 3D printing solutions to help engineers and manufacturers, for the first time, apply metal 3D printing for the entire product development lifecycle – from prototyping to mass producing complex, high performance metal parts in a cost-effective way.”
Desktop Metal is shortlisted for the 2018 3D Printing Industry Awards, vote now.
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Featured image shows Ric Fulop CEO of Desktop Metal presenting office-friendly metal printing at RAPID 2017. Photo by Michael Petch.
