Additive manufacturing startup Velo3D discloses Series D funding

Consilia Vektor comments

The Velo3D Sapphire printer and its software/services ecosystem bring two important innovations to the metal additive manufacturing market: high-end metal printing without the use of support material in the build box, and the largest Z-axis (height) in its category. A recent update to Sapphire allows printing parts in high-value alloys up to 1 meter in length.

The details

Digital manufacturing specialist Velo3D announced today that it has raised $28 million in a Series D funding round. New investors Piva and TNSC joined the round, along with existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Playground, and Khosla Ventures. This brings Velo3D’s total funding to $138 million.

Series D funding is not only a way to provide additional working capital to a young, growing company, it also helps existing equity holders (investors) re-balance their ownership stake to keep their percentage of ownership the same.

In a press release announcing the new funding Velo3D says the money will be used for research and development to expand the capabilities of its Sapphire additive manufacturing process (metal 3D printer), to expand the number of alloys it can use, and to improve its software.

The company says the injection of fresh capital should help them reach sustainable profitability by mid-2022.

“With the Velo3D integrated solution of Flow advanced pre-print software, Sapphire printer, and Assure quality management software, companies can finally break free of the constraints of existing metal additive manufacturing processes,” states Benny Buller, Founder and CEO of Velo3D. “Customers in industries such as aerospace, oil & gas, and power generation are now able to achieve part quality for their mission-critical applications with performance levels that weren’t possible before with 3D metal printing.”

Piva is the largest investor in the new round and has a strong heritage in industrial markets, as they are backed by Malaysia-based Petronas, one of the world’s largest energy companies.

Founded in 2015, Velo3D operated in stealth mode for the first 4 years, then announced availability of the Sapphire printer in 2019. In that first year of commercialization, Velo3D says it generated nearly $30 million in sales and gained seven new customers, many of which have placed repeat orders. Velo3D now has a global customer footprint that includes Japan, Korea, and Australia.