BASF, Materialise and Essentium join forces to advance industrial additive

BASF Venture Capital is leading the Series A investment round in Essentium, a US-based developer of disruptive, industrial additive manufacturing solutions. Materialise is one of the co-investors in the Series A investment round in Essentium.

BASF and Essentium have been working together on advanced fused filament fabrication (FFF) solutions using Essentium’s proprietary FlashFuse technology for high mechanical strength in the build direction for extrusion printed parts. The two companies are now extending their strategic partnership to establish a consistent global materials supply chain supportive of Essentium’s new High Speed Extrusion (HSE) additive manufacturing platform.

The three companies are combining their complementary strengths to jointly advance 3D printing technology, a press note released on the occasion said. “BASF is contributing comprehensive material know-how, a broad product portfolio, and its global network to the partnership. Materialise will add nearly three decades of expertise in the development of innovative 3D printing software solutions. Essentium is addressing additive manufacturing at scale by developing an industrial additive platform truly built for the production floor, providing its FlashFuse electric welding technology, and engineering-grade, multi-layer filaments for demanding applications. Together, the three partners intend to innovate solutions with advanced combination of hardware, software and materials to unleash the potential of Essentium’s unique high-speed-printer technology, coordinating their strengths to the best advantage,” it added.

“Our joint investment strengthens our co-operations with both Essentium and Materialise and accelerates the innovation potential of this powerful team to the benefit of BASF’s customers,” said Mr. Markus Solibieda, Managing Director of BASF Venture Capital.

“With this strategic investment, Essentium and BASF are focusing on improved supply chain performance, material consistency and accessibility,” commented Dr. Blake Teipel, CEO of Essentium.

“This partnership helps to promote a more open market model, which will fuel the adoption of 3D printing in the industrial field by offering users more control, more choice in materials and ultimately lower cost and higher volumes,” added Mr. Bart Van der Schueren, CTO of Materialise.

BASF and Materialise are joined by a syndicate of private venture investors. Moving forward, BASF, Materialise, and Essentium will jointly drive the transition from 3D printing to scalable additive manufacturing.