Feb 22, 2016 | By Benedict
FDM Digital Solutions, a 3D printing specialist from Burnley, UK, has received £300K ($425K) in funding from Rosebud Finance and the North-West Fund for Venture Capital, both managed by Enterprise Ventures. FDM had previously received £860K ($1.2M) from the two investors in January 2014.
Based at the Digital Technology Centre on the Aerospace Park in Burnley, FDM situates itself at the heart of British technological innovation, offering a range of services such as rapid prototyping, 3D scanning, and soluble core manufacturing. Working in the medical, automotive, architecture, motorsport, and aerospace sectors, the company has gained a great deal of additive manufacturing experience in its five busy years as a company.
Last week, the British 3D printing business secured further funding of £300,000 from existing investors, retaining its strong support from Enterprise Ventures, one of the UK’s leading providers of venture capital to small businesses.
FDM, comprised of just eight members of staff, is the lead partner in a British National Health Service (NHS) project conducting research into digitally manufactured insoles. Based on scans of patients’ feet, these 3D printed insoles will be used to reduce the necessity for amputations among diabetics. In addition to the 3D printed insole project, FDM has been designing jig and tooling fixtures for a car manufacturer, as well as producing 3D printed soluble core mandrels for carbon fibre wrapping.
“The funding we have received has put us ahead of the field by allowing us to invest in the very latest technology,” said Graeme Bond, chief executive of FDM. “We are committed to driving the uptake of digital manufacturing technology in industry and believe the key is working closely with selected customers to educate them on the benefits.”
The North-West Fund for Venture Capital and Rosebud Finance, both part of Enterprise Ventures, invested £860,000 in FDM in January 2014, when the NHS 3D printed insole project was just beginning. The North-West Fund contributed £688,000 to that figure, with Lancashire County Council’s Rosebud Fund providing the remaining £172,000.
The North West Fund for Venture Capital was set up to support entrepreneurs building potentially high growth companies. It provides risk capital for young companies in return for an equity share. The Rosebud Fund was established in 1986 by Lancashire County Council—whose purview includes the market town of Burnley, where FDM is based—and has been managed by Venture Enterprises since its inception.
Once the centre of the industrial revolution between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the North of England has an incredibly rich history of manufacturing innovation. Funding such as that distributed by Enterprise Ventures demonstrates the region’s eagerness to build on its historical achievements in a new technological age.
Posted in 3D Printer Company
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