FASTFORM completes first round of strategic financing of nearly 100 million CNY to promote the 3C consumer electronics titanium alloy 3D printing revolution.
On March 4, 2024, according to the Resource Library, FASTFORM (Jiangsu) 3D Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "FASTFORM3D") recently completed the first round of strategic financing of nearly 100 million yuan, led by the industry parties Yueda Automobile Industry Fund and Huagong Technology (000988), and co-invested by Tianchong Capital and Xuzhou Airport Development Zone. Rubi Capital serves as FASTFORM3D's long-term exclusive financial advisor and strategic partner. This round of financing will be used for large-scale production and manufacturing of a new generation of SLM metal 3D printing equipment and promotion, accelerating the penetration of titanium alloy 3C consumer electronics, shoe molds and other fields.
With the maturity of 3D printing technology, its application scenarios continue to expand, especially in recent years, its application has rapidly penetrated into aerospace, medical dentistry, consumer electronics and other fields. According to market research company SmarTech Analysis, the global additive manufacturing market size will be US$13.5 billion in 2022 (Wohlers Report 2023 reports US$18 billion). The latest market research shows that the additive manufacturing market size will reach US$18.8 billion in 2023 and is expected to reach US$119 billion by 2032. Among them, the SLM (METAL PBF) technology route has almost exponential growth in growth rate and proportion and is the sum of other routes.
FASTFORM3D was co-founded in 2016 by Li Shuai and Chen Zhichao, two of the first batch of 3D printing PhDs in China. Founder Dr. Li Shuai studied under Professor Shi Yusheng of the Additive Manufacturing Research Group of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and obtained a doctorate degree in additive manufacturing equipment, process, and application development from Nanyang Technological University, a leading research institution in additive manufacturing in the world; co-founder Dr. Chen Zhichao wrote more than 400,000 lines of software code, created large-size splicing interface enhancement algorithms and parallel multi-threaded algorithms, and is known as the "Huazhong-Zhang Xiaolong" in the field of 3D printing software.
The company is committed to the production, manufacturing and related services of metal SLM equipment. The company focuses on underlying technology innovation and forward development, self-developed slicing and control software, and has made many subversive designs and innovations to products based on first principles. At present, the cumulative shipments have exceeded 500 units, of which the new metal SLM equipment market in 2023 is at the forefront of the market, and the new market share of dental SLM equipment ranks first.
Metal additive manufacturing has gone through three stages of industrialization in the past decade. Since 2008, when former US President Obama provided manufacturing back to the United States and Germany provided Industry 4.0, China has begun the exploration stage of industrialization, mainly research equipment purchased by domestic universities and research institutes; the second stage is mainly for the mass production of high value-added products in metal 3D printing, especially military and aerospace products with high added value and high manufacturing difficulty. At present, the military business of domestic leading listed companies such as Polylite and Huashu High-tech accounts for a high proportion; since 2023, with Honor announcing that the shaft cover of the hinge in the folding screen Magic V2 uses a 3D printed titanium alloy material solution, metal 3D printing has entered a new stage of large-scale industrial application, said Xia Qing, strategic partner of FASTFORM3D.
Founder Dr. Li Shuai said that since its establishment, the company has made many software algorithms, processes and whole machine design innovations based on the first principles and focusing on the efficiency and cost of metal 3D printing. In terms of data efficiency, the completely self-developed software is nearly 10 times faster than similar software in slicing speed. In addition, the combination of self-developed software and processes to achieve technical solutions such as variable layer thickness printing and hollow grafting has greatly improved printing efficiency. In terms of cost, compared with purchasing software, self-developed software can bring cost advantages of hundreds of thousands. At the same time, FASTFORM3D is one of the first companies in China to localize core components and open up underlying communications and controls. The most surprising thing is that, drawing on Tesla's integration approach and through disruptive integrated innovation, the number of our components is less than half of that of equipment on the market, achieving revolutionary cost reduction.
Since its establishment, FASTFORM3D has taken the integration of software and technology as the core of equipment development, continuously iterated software and optimized technology, realized the localization of parts and improved printing efficiency. For the dental special machine M140C, the daily printing volume of dental equipment fixed dentures exceeds 1,000; in addition, the self-developed permanent filter element not only saves regular replacement of the filter element, but also greatly improves the powder utilization rate. In terms of slicing and path planning, combined with the characteristics of dental factories, one-click full-automatic typesetting and path planning are realized, which greatly simplifies the difficulty of using the equipment. The control software and slicing software are perfectly connected, and the operation is simple and easy to use.
At present, FASTFORM3D's software and technology have been running on nearly a thousand devices. For different application fields and operation requirements, exclusive software and operation interfaces are customized to achieve intelligent one-click operation. It is the only multi-threaded solution in China that integrates software algorithms, control and material processes, and is "far ahead" in the field of domestic 3D printing software.
Based on the efficiency and cost advantages of our products, our products have achieved disruptive breakthroughs in many fields. The M140C dental equipment launched in May 2023 has achieved the first domestic new market share in the dental 3D equipment industry since its launch on the market. It has changed the denture processing methods of existing small and medium-sized denture factories, and also changed the competitive landscape of dental 3D equipment.
Multi-light industrial equipment such as M300 and M420, which will be launched in the second half of 2023, have been verified and purchased in batches by shoe mold equipment manufacturers. Traditional shoe mold processes are costly. The company's new M420 (4, 6, 8 lights) has the technical feasibility and cost advantages to subvert traditional processing. For the first time in China, the comprehensive cost of 3D printed shoe molds (considering powder, equipment depreciation, etc.) is lower than the manufacturing cost of traditional shoe molds. In the future, it will accelerate the replacement and penetration of processing methods in the shoe mold field. We are currently in in-depth discussions and cooperation with the world's leading shoe mold companies.
Since the second half of 2023, the 3D printing capital and industry heat of titanium alloy consumer electronics have not diminished. For the field of titanium alloy consumer electronics, our new eight-light equipment fully considers the printing efficiency and printing process rhythm, and uses the upper powder feeding technology to achieve 7*24 hours of continuous production. At the same time, through strategic cooperation with important influential customers in the 3C consumer electronics industry, it is expected to become the first technical solution manufacturer with equipment depreciation cost far lower than the printing powder cost in the future.
In terms of the market, in addition to the development of various domestic market segments, FASTFORM3D will increase its overseas business. In 2023, the proportion of overseas business will increase rapidly. At present, FASTFORM3D printing equipment has been operating in dozens of countries such as Russia, India, and the United States. In the future, it will work with domestic and foreign partners to jointly develop overseas markets and accelerate the agency and after-sales service system.
In terms of the team, with the rapid development of the business, the company will set up a research and development and sales center in Shanghai, increase market and sales promotion, and expand the research and development team. The company is recruiting excellent teams in multiple positions such as marketing, sales, and research and development, and also welcomes more people with lofty ideals to seek development and create a better future together.
Xu Pengtian, executive general manager of Shanghai Jinpu Kunwen Investment Management Co., Ltd. and head of Yueda Automobile Science and Technology Innovation Fund, said: Additive manufacturing is one of the directions of technological revolution in the field of industrial production. At present, it has been widely used in aerospace, military manufacturing, high-end medical, 3C consumption and other fields. The FASTFORM3D team has accumulated a lot of experience over the years. In the direction of SLM metal 3D printing, both hardware and software, it has many unique advantages and has strong competitiveness in the metal additive manufacturing industry.
As an investment platform for the automotive industry, Yueda Automobile Group has made comprehensive efforts in vehicle manufacturing, parts, R&D and services, and has devoted itself to building a full-chain ecological system for the automotive industry. Yueda Automobile pays great attention to the potential of large-scale manufacturing of core components in the automotive field of additive manufacturing, and will work with the FASTFORM3D team to jointly expand the large-scale application exploration of additive manufacturing in the field of new energy vehicle manufacturing.
Zhu Jianfeng, deputy general manager of HGTECH Investment, said: HGTECH is the earliest laser listed company in China (000988), dedicated to providing a wide range of complete laser manufacturing solutions for the industrial manufacturing field, giving full play to its leading position in the field of industrial lasers and its advantages in the entire industrial chain, and paying close attention to additive manufacturing technology, especially SLM metal 3D printing, which has entered a new round of large-scale industrial applications. The founding team of FASTFORM is also alumni of HGTECH, with a long history of accumulation, especially in the field of slicing software and process realization. In the future, there will be many industrial collaborations with FASTFORM in the field of additive manufacturing.
About FASTFORM3D
FASTFORM (Jiangsu) 3D Technology Co., Ltd., also known as "FastForm" in English, was established in April 2016. The core founders are all from well-known 3D printing research institutions at home and abroad. The company has been committed to the market application of 3D printing equipment, providing professional additive manufacturing application solutions for aerospace, high-performance industrial manufacturing, mold manufacturing, precision medicine and other fields. All equipment has completed CE certification and is exported to more than 50 countries and regions including Europe, America, Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia.