BIG: Two desktop FDM 3D printing giants, MakerBot and Ultimaker, announce merger

On May 12, 2022, two world-renowned desktops
FDM
3D printingcompanies MakerBot and
Ultimaker
The merger plan was announced today.This is for desktop level3D printingThe field is definitely big news, because 10-15 years ago, these two companies kicked off the initial craze in the global additive manufacturing space, becoming the two most prominent companies in desktop 3D printing.Early domestic contact3D printerGroup, many people have bought the products of these two companies.

Founded in 2008, MakerBot is a branch of the open-source RepRap project. It was a global hit. In 2013, Makerbot was wholly-owned by industrial 3D printing giant Stratasys for $400 million. Starting from the original wooden shell version, MakerBot has continuously launched R2, R2X, Fifth Generation, Z18, MINI, METHOD X and other products. And it operates the world’s largest free 3D printing model community Thingiverse, providing a large number of data model resources for global printer players.

Ultimaker’s team was founded in the Netherlands in 2011, also around the productization attempt of the RepRap project. Ultimaker3D printerIt has also led the trend and launched open source slices
software
Cura is used by a large number of equipment manufacturers and users. Ultimaker has worldwide
380 employees,
It has been operating independently.

With the upgrading of technology, the improvement of the industrial chain and the reduction of costs, especially after 2018, the globalDesktop 3D PrinterShipments soar to Shenzhen
Creative 3D
,Shenzhen
Longitudinal cube
Chinese consumer-grade 3D printers represented by , FlashForge, etc., have won the global market with relatively high cost performance. Each manufacturer has annual shipments of hundreds of thousands or even millions of units, far exceeding MakerBot and others in terms of shipments. established manufacturers.It is impossible to compete with Chinese manufacturers in the consumer market, and it also faces huge competitive pressure from Chinese manufacturers in the mid-to-high-end desktop market (such as Shanghai
Fu Zhi
Raise3D
,
Snapmaker
etc.), the merger of MakerBot and Ultimaker is also a last resort in a sense.

It is reported that after the merger, the new company will obtain the existing
invest
Backed by a total of $62.4 million in cash investments from investors NPM Capital and Stratasys (NASDAQ: SSYS), the money will be used for research and development and market expansion. The new company will be led by Nadav Goshen, current CEO of MakerBot, and Jürgen von Hollen, current CEO of Ultimaker, who will serve as co-CEOs, with Nadav managing operations and R&D and Jürgen managing commercial functions.

Both companies are unanimously positive about the merger, with Ultimaker CEO Jürgen von Hollen saying: “This merger marks an important milestone for Ultimaker and MakerBot, where innovation and growth are critical to transforming desktop 3D printing from a specialist technology to a widespread The technology applied is critical. The new company will leverage and expand sales and operations in the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific.”

Nadav Goshen, CEO of MakerBot, said: “By combining our teams and leveraging additional funding, we can accelerate the development of advanced solutions that provide our customers with a broad portfolio of hardware and software solutions for a wide range of customers and applications. Serve.”
But the related media said that the two companies will have to solve the same problem of how to open up most of the market outside cutting-edge industrial additive manufacturing applications.

The deal is expected to close in the second or third quarter of 2022, subject to regulatory approval.

(responsible editor: admin)