D.C.G. Lieffering
AM-Flow
Additive manufacturing automation company AM-Flow has raised $4 million in a Series A round after contributions from both Materialise and Midwest Prototyping.
Having joined Materialise as part of the Flam3D platform earlier this year, the Belgian 3D printing software vendor, along with service bureau Midwest Prototyping, has sought to support AM-Flow in its development by investing into the company. The round was led by BOM Brabant Ventures and drew contributions from existing investors Miller Turner and DOEN Participates, as well as another new investor in Innovatiefonds Noord-Holland.
AM-Flow has said it will use the money raised to ‘provide step-change automation’ to users of 3D printing, leveraging its compute vision, motion and robotics technology solutions to enable a ‘Lights Out Factory of the Future.’ The company has packaged those solutions into seven software and hardware solutions, featuring tools to sort production runs; create a ‘digital backbone’ of a factory with CAD/CAM, ERP, MES and PLM platforms; support robotic devices in handling products as they move through the production process chain; and more.
With expectations that the adoption and application of additive manufacturing is to continue to grow, AM-Flow has welcomed the investment, while the investors have outlined the potential of the company’s product offering.
“We are delighted to welcome our new investors and I would like to thank our existing shareholders for their continued support,” commented AM-Flow CEO Stefan Rink. “This strong syndicate of high-tech investors validates our approach and the funding enables us to expand our solution portfolio and market presence. We have a team that is passionate about enabling additive manufacturing to live up to its sustainability promise: local, distributed manufacturing. To drive further adoption of additive manufacturing, the industry must get to competitive price and quality levels per part and shift her focus from the 3D printer to the AM Factory.”
“The success of scaling additive manufacturing as part of an end-to-end digital platform is not just dependant on continued innovation of the printing process itself, but also on whether we’ll be able to handle the high variety of printed components in a cost-efficient way,” added Bart Van der Schueren, CTO at Materialise. “That’s why we are excited by AM-Flow’s product portfolio, which creates a path towards cost-efficient scaling of the handling process.”
“We have been a partner of AM-Flow from their earliest days and through our beta testing have validated their forward-thinking approach,” added Midwest Prototyping CEO Steve Grundahl. “It is just what additive manufacturing needs to continue the march towards realistic higher volume application. We are excited about the changes it has brought to our operation already and we’re just getting started.”
