3D print company secures funding worth £2.5m
A Sheffield company which aims to become a world leader in the 3D printing industry has raised a further £2.5m after announcing a partnership with a major global industry player.
Additive Manufacturing Technologies (AMT), whose equipment automates the final stage of the 3D production process, has secured funding from NPIF – Mercia Equity Finance.
This is managed by Mercia and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund; Foresight Williams Technology; the Government’s Future Fund; DSM Venturing, the global start-up investment arm of Royal DSM; and private investors.
The latest funding round brings the total raised by AMT to date to over £7m and follows its recent success in agreeing a partnership with the tech giant HP, positioning its technology as a preferred post-processing solution alongside HP’s range of industrial 3D printers.
AMT’s PostPro technology is a fully automated surface-finishing solution for 3D printed parts.
Currently, this cleaning and polishing process has to be carried out by hand and can account for 30% of the cost of a 3D printed part.
The Sheffield firm’s product not only cuts costs but could also make 3D printing viable for high-volume production across industries such as automotive, industrial, medical and sporting goods.
The company, which doubled its revenue year-on-year in 2020, was founded in 2017 by Joseph Crabtree and based on technology developed at the University of Sheffield.
It now employs over 80 staff at its headquarters in Sheffield, its manufacturing facility in Hungary, and offices in Texas.
The business secured a £750,000 investment from NPIF in February 2019 and a further £4.2m later in the year, in a series A funding round led by DSM Venturing and Foresight Williams Technology EIS Fund.
The latest investment will allow it to continue its growth and product development plans.
Crabtree, CEO, said: “Our mission is to be the world’s first-choice application-centric provider of end-to-end industrialized automated post-processing systems.
“This latest investment will help us to unlock the full potential of industrial additive manufacturing and its sustainable impact.”
Nigel Owens, of Mercia, said: “AMT’s technology is accelerating the adoption of 3D printing and transforming manufacturing in many industries.
“The company has gone from strength to strength and the recent HP partnership deal is another major milestone, as it represents acceptance of its technology at the highest level. This latest funding is allowing AMT to capitalise on its successes and continue its rapid growth.”
Ken Cooper, at British Business Bank, said: “This investment demonstrates how NPIF is able to support high-growth businesses in the North like AMT and unlock additional capital from other investors.
“As the economy starts to recover we anticipate the demand for equity finance will increase across the North and we are pleased NPIF will be able to support more innovative, growing companies like AMT.”
The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.
