For three years, Velo3D has been working almost in a "stealth" mode. The company was founded in June 2015 and shortly thereafter has received up to $ 90 million in venture capital. This Bay Area startup has achieved rapid growth to a large extent. Recently, however, the 120-employee company is finally preparing to make public its "secret research" and announce the launch of its first product, the "Sapphire system."
The sapphire system uses a technology called "Intelligent Fusion". The system uses laser to sinter some powders to print complex metal objects, and its process is similar to a standardized resin-based 3D printing system.
Another more striking aspect of this technology is its ability to build complex geometric objects without the necessary support structures. Instead, as Chief Product Officer Stefan Zschiegner described, the object is actually made of powder that has already been fully formed.
In addition to prototype design, another highlight of the company's new products that stand out from the fierce competition is additive manufacturing technology for product production. Although Desktop Metal will launch its production system next year, Zschiegner said of the competition: "Desktop Metal, Hewlett-Packard and other companies focus on prototyping, and their parts often cannot be used in the final manufacturing process."
Of course, current technology is not suitable for true mass production. But Velo3D's early manufacturing customers, such as aerospace and space travel companies, worked primarily through 3D production plants. Florida-based 3D prototyping company 3DMT was one of the first companies to adopt a sapphire system. Velo3D claims that the system's first success rate is 90%. Other potential applications for this system include customized titanium medical graft technology.
Velo3D has not yet announced the official pricing of the system, but the company said that the system will be quite competitive compared to other industrial metal printing systems. The company also announced that Carl Bass, former president and CEO of Autodesk, will join its company board as chairman.