The resurrection of Shapeways continues with a new development.
The company had gone bankrupt some months ago, but its assets were purchased by the original founders and restarted. Unfortunately, not all of the assets were recoverable, specifically the online marketplace.
Rather than rebuilding it from scratch, the new Shapeways made the strategic move of acquiring Thangs, a popular online 3D model repository. From there, they would build out the functions provided by the original marketplace.
Another step toward that occurred this week, as Shapeways announced they’ve beta-launched “Print on Demand” from within Thangs.
This feature allows visitors to punch some buttons to instantly trigger production of a 3D model at Shapeway’s 3D print service behind the scenes. The company operates a fleet of “industrial-grade” 3D printers to perform this work and otherwise handles incoming print requests from customers. Currently, they list FDM, MJF, SLS, MJP, and wax casting as their available 3D print processes.
Shapeways CEO Marleen Vogelaar explained:
“We’re really happy to be launching the Print on Demand feature within Thangs already and make good on the ambitions we had from the very start of the journey. We are always mindful that the progress we want to see will take time, and we strive to put our customers first while driving developments forward. This initial iteration of the Print on Demand button lets us prove out the system, learn from the implementation, and ensure that we successfully reach the ultimate goal for this part of the journey: to bring back the full Shapeways Shop experience and strengthen the Thangs community by offering additional means to monetize on their designs and products.”
They’ve also been working with their community. Shapeways explained:
“The company is actively working with its Shop Owner Council and the wider design community to co-develop the platform. Feedback from these early stages will directly inform platform enhancements, including improved discoverability, IP safeguards, and monetization tools.”
They will work out the bugs before they proceed to the next step. But what is that? It turns out Shapeways has published a roadmap of their marketplace strategy:
- Acquisition of Thangs (December 2024): Shapeways gains a platform with advanced discoverability, robust IP protection, and a thriving design community.
- Early Access Print on Demand (Today): Manual onboarding for select designers, providing insight for platform refinement.
- Self-Service Launch (Coming Soon): Automatic onboarding and global reach for all eligible designers.
- Full Relaunch of Shapeways Shops: Enhanced marketplace experience with modern tooling, increased discoverability, and seamless fulfillment via Shapeways.
It looks like they are now working on step 3. They don’t say when they’ll reach step 4, but I might guess that they’ll be there before the end of the year.
For designers, this is a great step. It means that not only can they receive revenue from selling 3D models on Thangs, they can (eventually) get a cut from Shapeways of any printing of their designs that takes place.
Interested designers and former Shapeways Shop owners are encouraged to join their wait list for the new PoD service, and connect with the new Shapeways.
