May 12, 2015 | By Simon

While many 3D printing startups saw the majority of their funding occur a couple of years ago, it’s nice to know that investors are still on the lookout for individuals and companies that have great ideas for harnessing the future of 3D printing.

Among other small companies that have been making strides towards developing next-generation products includes Polymaker (previously Polymakr), a 3D printing material company that’s headquartered in Shanghai, China and has global offices in the USA, Netherlands and Japan.  Among other products they make include the World’s First 3D printable foam and Jam-Free™ filaments for fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printers.

On Monday, May 11th, the company announced that they are ready for the next era of next-generation filament manufacturing and have just closed on Round-A funding of $3 million.  The investment comes from Legend Star, a venture capital subsidiary of Legend Holdings - who also happen to own the PC brand Lenovo.  Legend Star was joined by two other China-based venture capital firms, ShareLink Capital and Zhilang Investment Management (Suzhou) Co. Ltd.

“Our core mission is to make 3D printing more useful and accessible for everyone”, said Polymaker co-founder and CEO Dr. Xiaofan Luo, “this investment came just in time for us to further realise that mission.”

Luo and the rest of the Polymaker team are planning on using the $3 million to help support the development of the brand’s next-generation lineup of products as well as ramping up their manufacturing capacity and global distribution networks.  

Some may remember the company’s Kickstarter campaign in 2014 when they brought in over $100,000 to help develop three entirely-new 3D printing filaments that were supported by over 1,000 eager backers (PolyMax™ PLA, PolyFlex™ and PolyWood™).  To date, the campaign is still the most successfully-funded campaign on Kickstarter for 3D printing materials.  

Since their successful crowdfunding campaign, the company has seen rapid growth thanks in no small part to a stream of positive reviews and collaborations with other companies.  The company has also built a state-of-the-art research and development facility with manufacturing capabilities in a new 1,800 square meter facility located in Suzhou, China.  Their global expansion into western markets including the USA and Netherlands also included the addition of new offices and warehouse.        

“Investing in local operations allows us to be closer to our customers, so we can provide better product delivery and customer service.” said Mr. Hang Qu, who is currently Polymaker’s VP of Sales and co-founded the company along with CEO Dr. Xiaofan Luo.

The company is planning on releasing several new products later this year that they are stating will “greatly change the way people 3D print and how 3D printing can be used.”  Of course, the $3 million will help get those products to market that much faster across their global distribution network.  

“We are very excited to partner with Polymaker”, added Mr. Gang Lu, Vice President and Managing Director of Legend Star, “Legend Star is very interested in 3D printing.  We believe Polymaker, with its unique technologies and a strong culture in innovation, has the potential to really bring personal 3D printing to the next new level.”

 


Posted in 3D Printing Materials

 

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