Markforged team with metal x
The Markforged team with the Metal X 3D printer.
Markforged has completed its Series C round of funding which drew significant investment from Siemens’ next47 venture firm, Porsche SE and Microsoft Ventures, and totalled $30 million.
All three of the new investors are existing users of Markforged’s 3D printing technology, and join the likes of Matrix, Northbridge and Trinity as financial backers of the Massachusetts-based company. It brings Marforged’s total funding to $57 million and will further accelerate its growth – the latest round of funding has been made public at the same time as Markforged announced it has achieved profitability in Q2 of 2017, seeing revenues grow by 300%.
Markforged offers 3D printing technology to support plastic, carbon fibre, and metal materials in both desktop and industrial-sized platforms. Supported by its Eiger software platform, Markforged is committed to making 3D printing as easy and effective as possible. The company suggests its technology can deliver 3D printed metal prototype parts 50x faster and 20x cheaper than machining, produce parts on farms of thousands of networked printers with the click of a button, and be harnessed in ‘Factories of the Future’ due to their speed in building strong and lightweight parts.
The extensive offering of 3D printing platforms delivered to market has not only attracted the likes of Siemens, Porsche and Microsoft to buy the products, but now also accelerate the company’s growth through the investment of millions of dollars.
“Markforged is making 3D printing simple, repeatable, and fast,” said Lak Ananth, Managing Partner at Siemens next47, and now Markforged Board member. “This has far reaching implications for our target industries, from automotive and aerospace to healthcare and energy. We see customers embedding Markforged into their product development and production processes, tremendously improving speed to market and addressing new opportunities in their industries.”
Matthew Goldstein, Partner, Microsoft Ventures added: “As cloud services shorten development cycles for software engineers, so too is 3D printing accelerating innovation in the physical world. Markforged’s full-stack offering and innovative materials change the equation for 3D printing, opening up incredible new opportunities for mechanical engineers.”
Porsche SE executive board member, Philipp von Hagen concurred and also stressed the importance of backing innovative start-up companies. He believes Markforged’s additive manufacturing technology has huge potential, particularly in the automotive field. Meanwhile, Markforged has again welcomed the investment from what it considers to be some of the most admired manufacturers in the world.
“At Markforged, we are unlocking a dramatic acceleration to change the process [from idea to physical product] from years to days,” said Greg Mark, founder and CEO of Markforged. “With the new funding and strategic from leading global manufacturing brands, we are poised to change the pace of human innovation.”
