Boeing Invests in Digital Alloy's High-Speed Metal Printing

Boeing (through its HorizonX Ventures arm) has ponied up an investment in Burlington, MA-based Digital Alloys. The company develops high-speed, multi-metal printing systems for manufacturing aerospace parts.

HorizonX participated in Digital Alloys’ Series B funding round, which was led by G20 Ventures and included Lincoln Electric and Khosla Ventures.

Image courtesy of Digital Alloys.

According to the company, Digital Alloys’ Joule Printing technology can combine different metals into a single part to improve thermal, magnetic, and other properties. The company was formed in 2017.

The Joule process uses commodity wire for raw materials. Current is pushed through the wire and into the print bed, which melts the wire tip via joule heating. The positioning of the wire and melting occur at the same time, which the company says reduces cost and time, as well as improving repeatability in the process.

"Our novel Joule Printing process is faster, more cost-effective, and more reliable than other approaches," said Duncan McCallum, CEO of Digital Alloys. "Partnering with Boeing will make us a smarter, stronger company. We are committed to enabling Boeing and other leading manufacturers to create valuable new products quickly and at less cost by incorporating metal 3D printing into their production."

"Our investment in Digital Alloys will help Boeing produce metal structural aerospace parts faster and at higher volume than ever before," said Brian Schettler, managing director of Boeing HorizonX Ventures. "By investing in companies with emerging additive manufacturing technologies, we aim to strengthen Boeing's expertise and help accelerate the design and manufacture of 3D-printed parts to transform production systems and products."

HorizonX has also invested in or partnered with a number of other 3D printing companies this year, including Assembrix (which provides software to protect intellectual property), Morf3D (another metal printing company), and Oerlikon.

Source: Boeing