Formlabs has announced a $150m Series E funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, which it says has doubled its valuation to $2B.
The Boston-based company will harness the investment to expand its 3D printing portfolio and its global team to help enable greater mass production and customisation opportunities.
Founded in 2011, Formlabs has spent the last 10 years establishing itself as a leading provider of desktop Stereolithography (SLA) systems with the Form series of 3D printers, while also expanding into Selective Laser Sintering (SLS). With these machines, Formlabs customers in healthcare, dental, engineering and more are said to have printed more than 85 million parts, including tens of millions of nasopharyngeal swabs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On the back of this investment, the company has promised to expand its current SLA and SLS portfolios, with a focus on improving user experience and printer quality, while also bringing down the cost of its platforms.
“The industry is undergoing a renaissance and Formlabs is leading the way,” commented Max Lobovsky, CEO and co-founder of Formlabs. “The 3D printing industry markets size is expected to reach $51.77 billion by 2026, and Formlabs is the company to drive this growth forward. Whereas others have promised printers capable of mass production and end-use quality parts, Formlabs has delivered.”
As part of the investment, Deep Nishar, Senior Managing Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, will join the Formlabs Board of Directors, and Kirthiga Reddy, Investment Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, will join as a Board Observer.
“We believe the 3D printing industry is currently standing at the precipice of unprecedented growth and is transforming the way products are made,” said Nishar. “Through its high-performance printers, materials and software, Formlabs is pushing the development of 3D printing technology forward and is enabling the era of mass production and mass customisation. We are excited to partner with Max and the Formlabs team to support their ambition to enable anyone to make anything.”
