3D Systems continued its acquisition strategy this week by picking up not a company but a technology. They’ve recently been acquiring whole companies related to 3D printing, but this one is slightly different: they’ve purchased what appears to be the USD$7M/yr revenue rapid prototyping arm of Huntsman, a very large chemical conglomerate. The specifics… Continue reading 3D Systems Acquires Huntsman Technology
Corporate
MAKE Talks with Bre
There’s a very long interview with MakerBot Chief Bre Pettis in MAKE magazine that we encourage you to read. We went through it looking for clues to MakerBot’s future plans, especially after their recent gigantic infusion of an astonishing USD$10M from investors. Here’s what we noticed: Bre is still very pumped about MakerBot as… Continue reading MAKE Talks with Bre
Stratasys Expands
3D printing industry giant Stratasys has been spending some money lately – on a new 90,000 sq. ft production facility in Minnesota. The new facility, which is actually a refit of an existing building in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, actually doubles their capacity for building their line of 3D printers. Evidently Stratasys believes there’s a… Continue reading Stratasys Expands
3D Systems Acquires Kemo
Mark down another acquisition for 3D Systems, who this week announced they’ve picked up Belgian 3D print service Kemo B.V. Modelmaker. This Belgian firm adds to the significant number of 3D print services now under the vast 3D Systems umbrella. Kemo focuses on on-demand custom parts for industry, similar to other services that 3D Systems… Continue reading 3D Systems Acquires Kemo
Free 3D Printers!
We wrote about a mysterious program from MCOR in which they hinted they’d be giving away 3D printers at no charge. Certainly this deserves some investigation, and it turns out it’s actually true! MCOR now no longer sells their paper-fuelled 3D printers. Instead they simply give them away! But there’s a catch, of course.… Continue reading Free 3D Printers!
Bullish Outlook for 3D Printing
Financial analyst Andrea James of Dougherty & Co. recently upgraded their recommendations for Stratasys from “hold” to “buy”, predicting that stock could hit as much as $28 from its current $20ish level. She also predicts a 15% compound growth in 3D printing for at least five years. Um, if our math s correct, 15% compounded… Continue reading Bullish Outlook for 3D Printing
3D Systems Acquires Formero
Continuing their sweep across the world acquiring 3D print services, 3D Systems has now absorbed Formero, and Australian 3D print service. Formero focuses on the Asia-Pacific market from their Melbourne base of operations. With this acquisition 3D Systems now has stretched its global reach quite a bit farther, at least in terms of 3D… Continue reading 3D Systems Acquires Formero
MCOR Gets a New Chair
MCOR, makers of the very unusual paper-based 3D printer, have announced they’ve appointed a new chair of their board of directors. The Irish-born Ryan has had a very long career in California in the electronics industry and now acts as an industry advisor for start-up companies – and now will provide advice and guidance to… Continue reading MCOR Gets a New Chair
3D Systems Acquires … Jim!
Jim Smith of Grass Roots Engineering has been working on 3D printing technology for quite a while, building such amazing machines as shown in the image at left. But now he’s made a big announcement: Since I started this website in December 2010, it has received a lot of attention, especially from my NPR… Continue reading 3D Systems Acquires … Jim!
MakerBot Is Hiring (Again)
MakerBot, that Brooklyn, NY-based 3D printing startup that always seems to be in the news is hiring again. We noticed a post recently in which they are trying to recruit yet another worker bee, this time a Customer Support Tech: You’ll be responsible for eloquently representing a growing DIY 3D printer and technology company… Continue reading MakerBot Is Hiring (Again)
MakerBot’s $10M Challenge
MakerBot chief Bre Pettis made a very big announcement yesterday: They’re taking in the staggering amount of USD$10M in a special investment round! The sixteen listed investors, led by Foundry Group, obviously have huge confidence in MakerBot’s future. MakerBot has come a very long way from their modest start in early 2009, growing to… Continue reading MakerBot’s $10M Challenge
More on the 3D Systems’ BotMill Acquisition
We were a tiny bit surprised last week when we learned that up and coming 3D printer manufacturer and marketer BotMill was snapped up by industry giant 3D Systems. At the time there was not a lot of information available about this move, so we contacted 3D Systems VP of Global Marketing to clarify the… Continue reading More on the 3D Systems’ BotMill Acquisition
BotMill Acquired by 3D Systems
Buzz on the interwebs last night indicated another 3D Systems acquisition has taken place. This time they’ve scooped up Florida-based hobby 3D printer manufacturer BotMill. While there doesn’t seem to be an official announcement or press release on this event yet, there is a very telling indication from the graphic on BotMill’s site, as… Continue reading BotMill Acquired by 3D Systems
Autodesk Acquires Instructables
3D software giant Autodesk, makers of Maya, Revit, 3DS Max and AutoCAD announced they’ve acquired Instructables. Instructables provides do-it-yourself instructions for a wide variety of projects, some of which involve 3D printing. Instructables chief Eric J. Wilhelm says: Autodesk gives us the scale and support to grow and improve Instructables, build some great apps, and… Continue reading Autodesk Acquires Instructables
3D Systems Catches Alibre
Big announcement from 3D Systems this morning: They’ve acquired CAD/CAM software manufacturer Alibre. Alibre current markets several versions of their 3D modeling software for pro’s and hobbyists, as well as reselling several of 3D System’s 3D printers as software/hardware bundles – so obviously there was a strong existing relationship between the two parties. … Continue reading 3D Systems Catches Alibre