There has been a series of additional developments in the Nexa3D situation.
Nexa3D is a California-based 3D printer manufacturer that markets a series of resin, SLS, and FFF 3D printers, along with post-processing and injection molding capabilities. Many of their products were obtained through corporate acquisitions, including Essentium and AddiFab.
At Formnext 2024 in Frankfurt, where Nexa3D was to exhibit in one of the larger spaces booked for the world’s largest trade show on 3D printing.
They didn’t show up.
Rumours swept the event, with some suggesting that the company was bankrupt. There were sightings of the company’s CEO. But there were no announcements. The company’s website produced no official notifications of anything amiss.
After the event, we were contacted by Nexa3D representatives and were told that the company was merely busy with other projects and things were OK. I asked to discuss this further, as it all seemed a bit suspicious, but never heard back.
Then late last week, Nexa3D did release an announcement, entitled “Nexa3D Announces Strategic Decision to Scale Back Operations”.
In the announcement, they say:
“The decision comes after thorough exploration of strategic alternatives amidst evolving market dynamics and macroeconomic pressures.”
And:
“The company is committed to ensuring a responsible process that prioritizes the well-being of its employees, fulfills obligations to customers, and seeks opportunities to transition its technology and intellectual property to organizations that can continue to build on Nexa3D’s legacy.”
This sounds like they have had financial troubles and have been unable to raise revenues or funding. The second quote suggests they are at the point where they need to sell off assets to recover funds. The acquisitions they previously made will possibly end up elsewhere.
What’s at stake here? It’s more than just Nexa3D. Because of the absorption of many different companies by these three companies, there are dozens of 3D print technologies at risk. Nexa3D is attempting to sell off their assets, but which other company will buy them? If Nexa3D wasn’t able to make them work commercially, how could anyone else? What happens when all of these technologies are up for sale? Are there enough buyers to pick them all up?
That’s probably not happening, simply because money is very tight in the 3D print world these days due to the spectacular devaluations of several high-profile companies. Investors poured in billions of investment in hopes of massive growth, but it didn’t happen because the technologies were not appropriate for manufacturing scale. Investors lost and don’t want to do so again in our industry.
The next few weeks will be interesting.
