Today, two major deals were announced in the advanced manufacturing world: one, a vote of confidence for a future of mass customization; the other, an acknowledgement that in order for the additive manufacturing / 3D printing market to grow, traditional product manufacturers will require advice on how to best utilize the disruptive technology.
For six years, I developed and ran international scientific research programs for the US Government. A big part of that job was evaluating grant applications and I quickly learned there are a number of key features that set the good proposals apart from the rest.
It was a very busy week in the advanced manufacturing venture space as three startups scored VC funding, while 3D Systems continued to grow through acquisitions. It continued an exciting start to 2015 for the advanced manufacturing startup sector, which, thus far, has shown a bias towards the development of low price printers and digital design.
Over the last few months, Manufacturing Disruption has published a series of articles describing opportunities created in the additive manufacturing / 3D printing industry and how VC firms can capitalize on these opportunities. The genesis of the research began with an independent project I began at London Business School during my Executive MBA and the more I got into the topic, the more promise it showed.
My research has shown four distinct strategies for value creation and capture arising from additive manufacturing technology, with corresponding opportunities across the venture capital industry, from small seed funds to corporate VC funds, all the way up to major top-tier firms. Each strategy is summarized below and includes links to in-depth articles:
Up and down news from the advanced manufacturing funding realm this week: Stratasys came out with a press release regarding its preliminary FY 2014 financial results indicating an impairment of $100-110 million on MakerBot while making plans for future investment across a number of areas. Meanwhile, Bolt – an early-stage venture capital firm specializing in startups at the hardware/software interface – announced a new $25 million fund (Fund II) and expansion to a second facility in San Francisco. As if that wasn’t enough, a few days later, Bolt and well-known seed accelerator Y Combinator jointly announced a partnership that will see Bolt’s partners and engineering staff added to Y Combinator’s already impressive list of mentors, while offering access to Bolt’s workshop facility to YC hardware startups.
Manufacturing Disruption 