In the latest $100 million 3D printing deal, Stratasys is acquiring Origin.
Origin 3D Printing
Origin came out of stealth in late 2018 with its take on DLP 3D printing: Programmable PhotoPolymerization (P3). Vital to the Origin mission of production 3D printing are a focus in software and an open materials platform with stellar partners. The company debuted its Origin One 3D printer in mid-2019, formally introducing its capabilities to the world.
Since its inception, Origin has been targeting high-throughput production. That application area has been something of a holy grail for additive manufacturing, but technology advances like Origin’s are paving the way for a more actualized reality of 3D printing for mass production.
Stratasys Acquisition
Just two years after Origin’s debut, today the company has gone public with its next major step: joining Stratasys.
The acquisition announcement is peppered with some hefty financial figures:
“Under the terms of the agreement, the total consideration for the transaction is comprised of $60 million paid on closing ($6 million of which is subject to the founders’ retention over 3 years) and $40 million that is subject to performance-based earnouts over 3 years. The acquisition will be paid using a combination of stock of approximately $45 million and cash of approximately $55 million at closing and throughout the earnout period. Approximately $32 million of the cash expenditure will be at closing. The acquisition is expected to accelerate Stratasys’ growth rate and be slightly dilutive to non-GAAP earnings per share in 2021, and accretive to Stratasys’ non-GAAP earnings per share by 2023.”
Notably, the next section adds:
“The Origin team will join Stratasys and lead the development of its technology and product platform, with a full global launch via the Stratasys go-to-market organization towards mid-2021.”
I tuned in to part of the Stratasys/Origin conference call this morning, during which leaders from both companies underscored this point. The Origin team will remain in place, leading the way for the technology they have developed.
“We founded Origin to create a whole new additive manufacturing platform that enables mass production of end-use parts with incredible accuracy, consistency, and throughput along with a wide range of available materials,” said Origin CEO and co-founder Christopher Prucha. “Stratasys is the best company for us to join to achieve our vision, giving us an unparalleled opportunity to significantly expand market reach and enable us to bring our P3 technology to a larger audience.
Stratasys Strategy
Why acquire Origin?
Stratasys is unapologetically targeting nothing less than market leadership in additive manufacturing. As one of the original pure-play 3D printing companies, Stratasys is very familiar as an industry leader. The company owns the trademark on FDM, having originated the material extrusion technology. Stratasys has also been focusing on PolyJet technology, with the material jetting 3D printers marking an important part of its portfolio.
Last spring, Stratasys introduced its first SLA 3D printer, signalling an interesting step ahead into additional 3D printing technologies. The company has also famously been working on a still-unnamed metal 3D printer. As of today, though, available 3D printers from Stratasys fall under FDM, PolyJet, and SLA umbrellas.
But that’s as of today — not tomorrow.
“Stratasys now has the most complete set of #3Dprinting solutions to meet diverse needs across all major industries – with FDM, PolyJet, stereolithography, photopolymerization and soon powder bed fusion,” Stratasys CEO, Yoav Zeif, said quoted on the company’s Twitter.
He goes into a bit more detail on that in today’s press release:
“Our customers are looking for additive manufacturing solutions that enable use of industrial-grade resins for mass production parts with process and quality control. We believe Origin’s software-driven Origin One system is the best in the industry by combining high throughput with incredible accuracy. When combined with Origin’s extensive materials ecosystem and our industry-leading go-to-market capabilities, we believe we will be able to capture a wide range of in-demand production applications on a global scale. Together with our intended entry into powder bed fusion technology, the acquisition of Origin reflects another step in fulfilling our objective to lead in polymer additive manufacturing by offering comprehensive, best-in-class technologies and solutions to create a fully digital additive value chain, designed for Industry 4.0 integration.”
Stratasys’ acquisition of Origin does not sound by any stretch like it will be the only big move we hear the company announce in the near future. We’ll be keeping an eye out for that powder bed fusion step…soon?
The Origin acquisition is expected to close in January 2021, following approvals and closing conditions.
I’d like to believe you, but I doubt that Stratasys will eventually keep an open material portfolio, it’s not in their usual strategy.
And what do you think Origin’s open source philosophy will become? Exit as MakerBot. I’m surprised you don’t talk about it.
Great point! All signs right now indicate that Origin will remain open materials. The many partnerships they have with materials companies are set to stay in place and, hopefully, will continue to expand.