CAMPBELL, CA, Mar 27, 2023 – Velo3D, Inc., announced financial results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2023 ended December 31, 2023. For the fourth quarter of 2023, the company reported revenue of $1.8M, down 92% compared to $24M in the third quarter of 2023. Net loss was $58.2M.

“2023 was a transformational year for the company as we re-aligned our strategic and business priorities from driving revenue growth to ensuring customer success, improving system reliability and materially reducing our cost structure,” said Brad Kreger, CEO of Velo3D. “We are pleased with the significant progress we are making related to our key initiatives as we have significantly reduced our costs and materially improved our operational efficiency. Additionally, our new go to market approach is paying dividends as we have resumed our bookings growth, including signing a number of new, strategic customers in the defense industry with Kratos Defense and Bechtel Plant Machinery. I remain very excited about our market opportunities in 2024, especially in defense given the recent $825 billion Department of Defense funding approval. We have already received one purchase order tied to this approval and expect we will close additional orders by the end of the quarter as a result. I firmly believe the benefits from our re-alignment are just beginning.”

“The entire Velo3D team remains focused on these four objectives and we’re beginning to see these changes yield results, including existing customers purchasing new systems. We believe this reflects their confidence in our technology as well as the success of our initiatives in improving customer satisfaction,” said Kreger. “We’re continuing to execute on our cost realignment programs to improve margins and cash flow, while prudently managing working capital. By doing so, we believe we are well positioned to profitably capitalize on the increasing industry demand for leading-edge additive manufacturing solutions.”

A complete chart of the financial results is available here.

About Velo3D

Velo3D is a metal 3D printing technology company. 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing (AM), has a unique ability to improve the way high-value metal parts are built. However, legacy metal AM has been greatly limited in its capabilities since its invention almost 30 years ago. This has prevented the technology from being used to create the most valuable and impactful parts, restricting its use to specific niches where the limitations were acceptable.

Velo3D has overcome these limitations so engineers can design and print the parts they want. The company’s solution unlocks a wide breadth of design freedom and enables customers in space exploration, aviation, power generation, energy, and semiconductor to innovate the future in their respective industries. Using Velo3D, these customers can now build mission-critical metal parts that were previously impossible to manufacture. The fully integrated solution includes the Flow print preparation software, the Sapphire family of printers, and the Assure quality control system—all of which are powered by Velo3D’s Intelligent Fusion manufacturing process. The company delivered its first Sapphire system in 2018 and has been a strategic partner to innovators such as SpaceX, Honeywell, Honda, Chromalloy, and Lam Research. Velo3D has been named as one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies for 2023.

CAMBRIDGE, MA, Mar 22, 2024 – Fluent Metal is developing production-grade liquid metal printing to remove barriers to entry into metal additive manufacturing, while allowing for unmatched scalability and process tunability. The company is launching out of stealth with an additional $3.2M in venture capital funding, led by E15 with participation from Pillar VC and industry angels, bringing the total funding to $5.5M. Fluent Metal’s drop-on-demand approach is compatible with most metals, including refractories, and enables the creation of parts in a single-step process, minimizing variability. It is energy efficient: using less starting material and producing no waste–making it far more sustainable than current powder-based metal 3D printers.

Fluent Metal’s mission is to revolutionize metal additive manufacturing by offering cost-effective and reliable metal 3D printing technology, fostering innovation across industries.

“Drop-on-demand technology is an elegant approach to create complex metal components,” said Peter Schmitt, CEO. “Whether it’s prototype iterations of an idea or production runs of a single part, Fluent Metal will provide customers with great operational and material flexibility. This freedom will unlock new creativity and problem solving abilities across industries.”

Existing metal additive manufacturing technology has come to accept the extensive industrial scale overhead required to operate this equipment safely. Fluent Metal is developing an alternative lean overhead process, to make it more sustainable, operational efficient and functional, using an inkjet printer-like approach.

Fluent Metal’s drop-on-demand approach is:

• Functional: Using wire as the starting material and producing no waste, Fluent Metal enables true multi-metal printing. It’s possible for even high-value metals to be intricately combined; creating properties never before possible. Complex shapes such as fully enclosed voids and internal channels are possible due to the inkjet-like printhead and parallel throughput.
• Operationally efficient: Fluent Metal’s approach is designed to operate safely on a typical manufacturing floor or even in a prototyping shop, without the need for clean rooms or expensive safety measures. Additionally, material changeover is designed to be easy as plug-n-play, reducing setup efforts and allowing for higher machine uptimes.
• Sustainable: This approach produces no waste and uses less energy than powder-based technologies.

“As the manufacturing industry evolves in response to the changing needs of global supply chains and sustainability demands, we need novel approaches to drive creativity and expand our collective conception about what’s possible,” said Philip Liang, managing partner, E15. “In the near term, Fluent Metal will spark the imagination of designers, engineers, and technologists to consider how rapid, on-demand production of custom metal parts could transform their capabilities. At scale, this approach will revolutionize the entire footprint and direction of industrial manufacturing.”

Fluent Metal is led by industry veterans from Desktop Metal, Vulcan Forms, and the MIT Media Lab. Visit www.fluentmetal.com to learn more about contract manufacturing and be the first to know about expanded product offerings.

^{Releases Cura 5.7 Beta Version}

NEW YORK, NY and NETHERLANDS, Mar 19, 2024 – UltiMaker, a leader in desktop 3D printing, today announces significant updates to the Method XL 3D printers in its latest firmware 2.3 release. With a focus on user experience, Method XL now supports three new materials—ASA, Nylon 12 Carbon Fiber, and SR-30 support material, in addition to several enhancements designed to streamline workflow and enhance productivity.

Method XL Lifestyle 4

Numerous improvements have also been made to Method XL’s notification system and user interface, including faster response times and smoother navigation, to enable a better user experience from start to finish.

In addition to the latest firmware updates to Method XL, UltiMaker has released the Cura 5.7 beta version. Cura 5.7 beta now includes Universal Cura Projects, a new way to share both models and print settings. These printer-agnostic project files allow you to selectively share print settings that are common across nearly all printers.

In Cura 5.7, both Method X and Method XL now fully support cloud printing using UltiMaker Digital Factory. Users can now slice a file through Cura and send it directly to the printer over the cloud, or send it to Digital Factory for additional features, including file storage and organization, print job monitoring, print management, and more.

“With this release, we have doubled the material offering, enhanced the system performance and improved the user experience of the Method XL. We are committed to continually improving the Method XL product and making it the premier choice for Engineering Applications,” said Michael Mignatti, VP, central development, at UltiMaker.

The addition of these new materials to Method XL, only available through Cura and Method XL new print profiles, further enables the printer to support a wider range of industrial applications. Nylon 12 Carbon Fiber is a high-performance, engineering-grade material with high tensile strength, impact resistance, and heat deflection properties. This unique combination of properties makes it ideal for functional prototypes, end use parts, and any application with high performance demands. In addition, Nylon 12 Carbon Fiber has a high stiffness-to-weight ratio, making it a suitable replacement for traditional tooling materials like aluminum in applications like jigs, fixtures, tooling, and end effectors.

ASA is an all-purpose, weather-resistant alternative to ABS that is widely used for functional prototypes and end use parts in outdoor environments. ASA has high UV and chemical resistance that allow it to better retain its gloss, color, and mechanical properties in outdoor exposure. The material has been widely adopted in many industries, including automotive, due to its UV resistance, heat resistance and chemical similarity to ABS.

For more information, visit https://ultimaker.com/learn/ultimaker-cura-5-7-beta-release-notes/.

About UltiMaker

UltiMaker is a global leader in 3D printing, focused on shaping the future of manufacturing and product development. With a wide range of cutting-edge 3D printing solutions, including the popular S and Method series, and an extensive portfolio of 3D printing materials, UltiMaker is paving the way for innovation across industries.

As part of its dedication to advancing education, UltiMaker also offers the MakerBot sub-brand and Sketch series, providing one of the most comprehensive 3D printing ecosystems for classroom learning.

With a focus on reliability, precision, and innovation, UltiMaker is empowering customers to push the boundaries of what’s possible.

Learn more at www.ultimaker.com.

BERLIN, Germany, Mar 19, 2024 – 3D metal printing with Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) is being used in an increasing number of applications. GEFERTEC, a pioneer in this area, is now expanding the range of available machines with its new arc80X series. This latest generation of machines is in response to widespread customer demand for the ability to produce larger parts with WAAM.

Larger assembly space and more automation

For the machine’s kinematics, GEFERTEC relies upon a CNC-controlled linear axis system, whose high precision ensures sustained process stability and repeatability throughout the entire assembly space. In the 3-axis version, the new production system has an assembly space of 2 x 2 x 2 m and can produce parts with a total mass of up to eight tons. The 5-axis version prints parts with a diameter of up to 0.9 m and a height of up to 1.4 m. In addition to the larger assembly space, this new generation of machines offers many other advantages. These include a higher degree of automation to improve production efficiency and reduce personnel requirements. Automated functions include integrated tool measurement, gas nozzle cleaning, wire cutting, and replacement of wear parts.

The new machine generation also scores points with refined process monitoring to ensure part quality. The process monitor records and stores all relevant data during the printing process. This allows comprehensive documentation for quality assurance and process optimization. An integrated pyrometer measures the part temperature and, together with active component cooling, contributes to optimal quality of the printed part. The optional inert gas box enables printing in a closed inert gas atmosphere. This allows the unit to process even sensitive materials such as titanium.

Process know-how as a service offering

In the past, many potential users of the innovative 3D printing process were reluctant to invest in their own machines. In many cases, this was primarily due to a lack of expertise within the company. GEFERTEC will also be offering a comprehensive service package for this in the future. With their extensive know-how, GEFERTEC process technicians and CAM engineers support customers in easily changing over their parts manufacturing process to the arc machines. Services include parts screening to review technical feasibility and to identify potential areas of increased efficiency. The GEFERTEC experts can also help in the qualification processes. This allows customers to make optimal use of the arc machine and start 3D printing with WAAM even without inhouse experts.

Proven machine design

GEFERTEC has retained the advantages of the previous machine generation in the new arc80X series. The machine is designed as a complete production system based upon the WAAM process. Traditional metal inert gas welding is used for the additive manufacturing of parts. The arc machines combine this with special CAM software and a Sinumerik control architecture. The process offers high build rates, and because wire is used as the raw material, handling is easy and the material is cost-effective. The machines are already being used extensively in industrial applications, such as mass production of turbine components in the energy sector.

About GEFERTEC GmbH

GEFERTEC offers complete production systems for 3D metal printing using the Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) process. In these systems, traditional metal inert gas welding is combined with greater process expertise for the additive manufacture of parts, a reliable machine system, integrative CAM software, and process quality assurance. GEFERTEC is a fully owned subsidiary of the Berlin.Industrial.Group. (B.I.G.), with headquarters in Berlin and approximately 340 employees.

For more information, visit website.