Azul 3D/ Instagram
Azul 3D's HARP technology.
Azul 3D has announced an oversubscribed seed financing round amounting $12.5 million after four more investors offered their backing.
The company had previously announced the raising of $8m in May of this year, but in the subsequent four months has secured an additional $4m. Joining Azul’s growing investor pool in this latest round are Louis A. Simpson, former CIO for Geico, former Manager of Berkshire Hathaway and founder of SQ Advisors; Wally Loewenbaum, former Chairperson of 3D Systems; Hugh Evans, former Senior Vice President of Corporate Development for 3D Systems; and Joe Allison, former CEO of Stratasys Direct Manufacturing.
As announced earlier this year, Azul 3D intends to leverage this investment to advance its High-Area Rapid Printing (HARP) continuous stereolithography technology, which has been used throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to produce thousands of face shields a day for hospitals, prisons and first responders. The technology and company have spun out of Northwestern University and is being brought to market to ‘lower the upfront and sustained costs in the manufacturing of goods, spanning many sectors,’ with the company looking to secure ‘partnerships validating this point’ in the near future.
Azul 3D, which is now producing face shield components at a rate of 1,000 components per printer in a 12-hour shift, believes the demonstration of its HARP platform throughout the last few months has contributed significantly to the additional $4.5m in funding. The first beta HARP machines are set to be shipped in early 2021 with Azul confident its technology can help to support a range of supply chains in a range of sectors.
“One of the reasons we’re doing so well is because our technology offers a solution to unexpected surges in demand and supply-chain bottlenecks that occur during global crises, such as in the current pandemic,” commented David Walker, Azul 3D cofounder and chief technology officer. “With the ability to manufacture nearly anything quickly and on demand, we can meet these unexpected needs as they arise to quickly fill gaps in the supply chain. That’s the big difference between HARP and traditional manufacturing as well as many other forms of 3D printing, which either don’t have the throughput or material properties to meet the required specifications. We don’t have to change a whole assembly line or machine new moulds. The concerns that accompany a stressed supply chain simply vanish.”
