Electron beam 3D printing manufacturer raises £4.6m to meet growing demand

Huddersfield-based Wayland Additive Ltd has closed a £4.6m funding round, with backing from existing investors Longwall Ventures, Parkwalk Advisors and ACF Investors.

Strategic investor Metrea Discovery is joining the round as a new supporter of the business.

Wayland is pushing the boundaries of electron beam 3D printing with systems that can work faster and with greater precision than existing laser-based technologies.

It manufactures and sells the Calibur3 metal additive manufacturing machines to users who require high precision and complex components – often made from advanced metal alloys – in areas such as the aerospace, mining, and medical industries.

The Calibur3 features the Neubeam® process which delivers on all of the advantages of metal electron beam (eBeam) technology, while overcoming troublesome issues that have traditionally limited wider adoption.

Wayland’s customers include the Royal Air Force, and Canada-based Exergy Solutions, with the next shipments starting in May to North America, Europe and beyond.

Wayland’s machines allow customers to print highly specialised “super materials”, like the world’s hardest steel or tungsten, remotely and on demand.

This eradicates the issue of downtime caused by spare part shortages, allowing organisations to create exactly what they need, in the right quantities and at the right time.

These materials, which can be used in high temperature and high wear applications, also enable the development of new downstream technologies in a wide range of industries.

Wayland will use the funding to increase its in-house production capability to deliver more machines and materials to customers.

The investment will also go towards further hiring, in particular the recruitment of a COO, as well as supporting further research and development.

Will Richardson, CEO, said: “Since our last funding round, we have formally launched our machines into the market and are already seeing considerable traction, with demand from across the globe.

“By providing bespoke additive manufacturing to our customers, we can play a pivotal role in streamlining their operations and give them the tools to unlock their potential, with high value components at the touch of a button.

“It’s great to have our existing investors continuing to support us as we grow, as well as new strategic investor Metrea.”

Tim Mills, managing partner at ACF Investors, said: “Wayland continues to move from strength-to-strength and is a leading light of Yorkshire’s business community.

“Through its machines, Wayland is pioneering the next generation of additive manufacturing, opening up new applications and unlocking new materials.”

David Denny, partner at Longwall Ventures, added: “Wayland’s ingenuity and hard work has resulted in a great product.

“The Wayland product enables customers to 3D print objects in materials that were not previously possible, and it is great to see this technology now being used by customers.”