BASF, Materialise Invest in Essentium

BASF Venture Capital and Materialise are leading the Series A investment round in Texas-based Essentium, which is developing new industrial additive manufacturing solutions.

BASF and Essentium are developing advanced fused filament fabrication (FFF) solutions using Essentium’s FlashFuse electric welding technology for high mechanical strength in the build direction for extrusion printed parts. 

With this additional investment, BASF will work with Essentium to establish a consistent materials supply chain for the latter’s High Speed Extrusion (HSE) additive manufacturing platform. Materialise will develop software for the solution.

“Materialise, Essentium and BASF share a vision for growth in the 3D printing industry that builds on the creation of meaningful applications in an open and vibrant ecosystem”, said Bart Van der Schueren, CTO of Materialise. “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.”

According to a company press release, BASF is contributing its materials experience, product portfolio, and its global network to the partnership. 

“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 Markus Solibieda, Managing Director of BASF Venture Capital.

The Essentium platform was designed for manufacturing at scale using FlashFuse and engineering-grade, multi-layer filaments. FlashFuse uses nanomaterial technology to fuse individual layers in a printed part together while still inside the printer. According to the company, this eliminates the need for postprocessing, and solves Z-strength issues associated with FDM printing.

“With this strategic investment, Essentium and BASF are focusing on improved supply chain performance, material consistency and accessibility. Essentium is also delighted to begin a new partnership with Materialise as the three companies focus efforts toward a new era for smart solutions in the global additive extrusion space. Together, we believe manufacturers everywhere will be able to accelerate production due to increased access to our new solutions, bolstered by a holistic, customer-centric approach,” said Dr. Blake Teipel, CEO of Essentium.

Source: BASF