Aug 20, 2015 | By Alec

It looks like up-and-coming 3D printing startup Carbon3D is in for a wild and successful ride. The company, which has developed new CLIP 3D printing technology, has closed a $100 million Series C investment led by Google Ventures.

Carbon3D is a very young startup from Redwood City, California, who has created a lot of buzz with CLIP, what they call a breakthrough technology. Carbon 3D really only reached headlines recently because of lecture at TED 2015, given by the company's founder and CEO Joseph DeSimone. Their custom made 3D printing technology CLIP stands for Continuous Liquid Interface Production, and somewhat resembles SLA printing. In a nutshell, CLIP harnesses UV light and oxygen to continuously grow polymers. "UV light triggers photopolymerization and oxygen inhibits it. By carefully balancing the interaction of light and oxygen, CLIP continuously grows objects from a pool of resin. CLIP moves beyond the limitations of 3D printing to offer unprecedented speed, quality, and choice," its developers write on their website.

The result is a type of UV printing that is insanely quick; from 25 up to 100 times faster than common 3D printing technologies. The printing results of this tunable photochemical process are also excellent. Surfaces are super smooth – reportedly comparable to injection-molded objects – while structural integrity is excellent. It’s no wonder that Ford, following special effects company Legacy Effects, is so interested. Earlier this summer, we reported on their promising rise in Hollywood – where their new CLIP 3D printing technology was to develop props for the upcoming Terminator movie. In last June, Ford Motor Company announced it was using CLIP as a prototyping tool to improve its manufacturing.

Now the startup has landed $100 million in funding, led by Google Ventures. Other investors in this round include Yuri Milner, Reinet Investments S.C.A., F.I.S., along with previous investors Sequoia Capital, Silver Lake Kraftwerk, and Northgate Capital.

"The financing will support Carbon3D as it continues to develop technology and materials that will enable customers to address the fundamental limitations of conventional 3D printing as they move toward a flexible 3D manufacturing solution." notes the company in a press release.

"Carbon3D's printing technology is an order of magnitude faster than existing technologies," said Andy Wheeler, General Partner at Google Ventures. "Carbon3D's technology has the potential to dramatically expand the 3D printing market beyond where it stands today and reshape the manufacturing landscape."

Carbon3D first showed off its technology to Google during its public premiere at the TED conference in March. It was from there that Google "started a dialogue with us," said Carbon3D CEO Joseph DeSimone. "We are excited to have closed this round of financing with such incredible partners who will help us deliver on our vision. Together we have a tremendous opportunity to enable a renaissance in manufacturing."

"After evaluating Carbon3D's CLIP technology, we believe it is a game-changer for complex manufacturing across many global market segments," said Anton Rupert on behalf of Reinet.

With all of its series rounds and also the $10 million provided by the Autodesk Spark Investment Fund, Carbon3D now has raised $141 million in total funding.

 

 

Posted in 3D Printer Company

 

 

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Paul Angelo wrote at 8/22/2015 5:27:48 PM:

I don't think with all this work and development that the consumer market is their goal. Why sell printers for below $5k when you have a unique technical advantage that other companies with similar SLA printers can't yet compete. If they figure out how to print fully solid objects at these speeds it will be a serious game changer. I doubt they have figured it out yet and that's why all the videos show a lattice shaped object being printed.

-Tj- wrote at 8/20/2015 10:13:36 PM:

I'm extremely interested in seeing where this technology will go. I really love my Form 1+, but it's speed definitely leaves a lot to be desired. Has anyone heard any blurbs or rumors about how much one of these machines could go for once they start producing them for customers? I'm starting to feel like these are going to be more in the strictly "professional" price range, rather than "prosumer," considering the companies they've announced they've worked with (Ford, Legacy). I would definitely look into purchasing one at a prosumer-level price range, but I wouldn't be able to afford a professionally-priced machine.



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