Motorola Mobility, a Google company, is building a 3D printed modular phone, and has partnered with 3D Systems for commercial fulfillment. More »
The Captured Dimensions pop-up studio was located in the Smithsonian Castle and featured approximately 80 digital cameras all connected to 3D software. More »
Microsoft expanded their support for 3D printing by launching a Windows 8 app called 3D Builder. It includes a library of objects you can edit and 3D print. More »
3D Systems (NYSE:DDD) announced the availability of the Sense 3D scanner, the first 3D scanner designed for the consumer and optimized for 3D printing. More »
With rumors circling that 3D Systems will be purchased by IBM, the stock soars. We look at why IBM might be interested in the 3D printing giant. More »
Search Results for: bre pettis
Top 3D Printing News Last Week: Bukito, PhotoUpLink, MakerBot CEO
3D Printing News
A roundup of the top 3D printing news from July 1 to July 7:
Tuesday, July 2
- Bukito 3D Printer: Portable 3D Printer on Kickstarter
- iPhone App PhotoUpLink Launches 3D Printed Photo Frames
Thursday, July 4
Friday, July 5
Full Analysis of the Stratasys and MakerBot 3D Printing Acquisition
Full Analysis of Stratasys and MakerBot Deal
On June 19, desktop 3D printer company MakerBot was acquired by Stratasys for $403 million. The next day, executives from Stratasys and MakerBot hosted a conference call with analysts to discuss the transaction. Seeking Alpha published a full transcript of the call and we provide our analysis on the deal below.
Executives on the call included:
- Shane Glenn – VP Investor Relations
- S. Scott Crump – Chairman of the Board
- David Reis – Chief Executive Officer
- Bre Pettis – CEO and Co-Founder of MakerBot
- Erez Simha – Chief Operations Officer, Israel and Chief Financial Officer
Stratasys Definitive Move into Desktop 3D Printer Market
Stratasys has long been a leader in the additive manufacturing industry. In December they completed a merger with Israel-based Objet to create a $3 billion 3D printer company. Now, with the addition of MakerBot, Stratasys is definitively embracing the desktop 3D printer market.
The executives commented that desktop 3D printing is the next industrial revolution.
It has been widely reported that MakerBot has major customers in organization like GE, NASA and Lockheed Martin, and continue to sell its desktop 3D printers to other Major Fortune 500 companies as well as small entrepreneurial startups and individuals.
Desktop 3D printing usage among design and engineering professional is growing rapidly. Stratasys and MakerBot estimate that between 35,000 to 40,000 desktop 3D printers were sold in 2012. This number is estimated to double in 2013, as consumers increasingly adopt desktop 3D printers for broad range of applications.
In acquiring MakerBot, Stratasys has expanded its scope, selling 3D printers priced from $2,000 to more than $600,000 for all purposes. The MakerBot products allow for more accessibility and affordability of 3D printers that will enable more rapid growth.
MakerBot Company Profile
MakerBot, headquartered in Brooklyn, is the market leader in desktop 3D printing, selling more than 22,000 3D printers since 2009. The company has 274 employees.
MakerBot generated revenues of $15.7 million in 2012, and grew rapidly to $11.5 million in Q1 2013. The company sells two 3D printers: the MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer, and the MakerBot Replicator 2X Experimental 3D Printer. Retail prices range from $2,200 to $2,800. The majority of sales are placed on the MakerBot website. 60% of customers are based in North America, and 40% international.
The 3D printers are assembled in Brooklyn at a 55,000 square foot production facility in the Sunset Park neighborhood.
MakerBot hosts a web community called Thingiverse, where users can upload 3D printable files. There are more than 90,000 3D product files online and the site has more than 500,000 unique visitors and 1 million downloads each month.
Bre Pettis’ View
MakerBot CEO shared his perspective on the deal:
Our company shares a vision about how to lead the market’s growth and development and it’s all about creating a great user experience. We are very proud of what we have built at MakerBot, but we’ve only just begun. That’s why we are so attracted by the opportunity to join with Stratasys.
Our mission remains the same. Merging with Stratasys offers us an opportunity to continue to build our business and pursue our vision under the MakerBot brand. The last couple of years have been incredibly inspiring and exciting for us. We have an aggressive model for growth. Partnering with Stratasys will allow us to supercharge that mission to empower individuals to make things using a MakerBot and allow us to bring 3D technology to more people.
Deal Structure
Stratasys will issue 4.76 million shares of its stock, worth $403 million, in exchange for 100% of the outstanding capital stock of MakerBot.
In addition, MakerBot stakeholders will also be eligible for performance-based earn-outs of up $201 million through the end of 2014.
Read the full transcript at Seeking Alpha.
MakerBot Acquired by Stratasys for $403 Million
3D Printing Company MakerBot Acquired by Stratasys
MakerBot CEO Bre Pettis has reason to be smiling. His firm was just acquired for $403 million by Stratasys.
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, privately-held MakerBot will trade its stock for new stock issue of publicly-traded Stratasys in a transaction that expands the growth of the desktop 3D printer market.
The Wall Street Journal also released details about MakerBot’s sales of 3D printers.
MakerBot has sold more than 22,000 3D printers since it was founded in 2009 and in the recent first quarter it generated total revenue of $11.5 million. The company’s products are increasingly used by so-called prosumers, including engineers, designers, architects, manufacturers who buy high-tech products or equipment, and consumers for personal applications.
This is Stratasys’ second large deal in the last year. In December, Stratasys merged with Objet to create a $3 billion juggernaut.
We’ve reached out to MakerBot for comment.
MakerBot Store in NYC Visit: 3D Printers, Digital Scanners, and More
MakerBot Store in NYC Drives 3D Printer Sales
This past week at the Inside 3D Printing conference, the On 3D Printing team was invited to a special event at the MakerBot Store in NYC, along with other industry press.
We asked MakerBot CEO Bre Pettis what’s the next big thing he’s working on? He answered immediately, “3D scanners.” MakerBot announced its Digitizer product at SXSW and has a booth where you can digitize your own head. We gave it a try and our 3D printed profile is on order. See the photo below of one of the visitors scanning his head in the booth.
MakerBot’s motivation to open the store is to give potential customers a chance to see 3D printing in action. Does it increase sales of printers? “Absolutely,” one of the MakerBot employees told us. There is a certain magic to seeing a 3D printed robot or digitized head. You can immediately imagine what you might 3D print yourself.
We met some great entrepreneurs at the event as well, including the founder of Square Helper who prints his products on MakerBot 3D printers.
Below is a photo gallery from our visit.
3D Printing Future is Bright, Say Industry Leaders on SXSW Panel
The 3D printing future is bright. That was the consensus of industry leaders on a panel at SXSW this year in Austin, Texas. The show kicked off with MakerBot’s Bre Pettis unveiling the new MakerBot Digitizer 3D scanner and closed with 3D printed toys producer MakieLab winning the SXSW Accelerator top prize.
CNET’s Rich Brown hosted a panel on “The Future of 3D Printing“, featuring 3D Systems CEO Avi Reichental, MakieLab CEO Alice Taylor, and Bespoke Innovations founder Scott Summit.
The panel discussed three topics:
- Business opportunities
- IP and copyright issues
- General thoughts about the industry
Key takeaways
Reichental discussed how 3D printing is already powering major industries. He noted that hearing aids are manufactured using 3D printing, many dental implants are 3D printed, and parts used in military jets and drones are created using 3D printing as well. 3D Systems has a partnership from the military to increase the number of 3D printed parts to 900 for the next generation jet.
While 3D Systems is a large public company, Taylor and Summit represented their experience in their respective startups. 3D printing enabled them to get manufacturing intensive businesses to market without incurring dramatic capital expenses. The things that kill startups – time to market, upfront costs, and inventory costs – go away with 3D printing.
Intellectual property concerns were somewhat dismissed by the panel, suggesting that piracy is simply a demonstration of market demand and loyalty. Summit argued that a larger risk for piracy is the counterfeit mass production of goods in China.
Likewise, the hype around 3D printed guns was suggested to be overplayed by the media and not a real risk. Taylor suggested it will continue to be easier to buy a gun than print one.
Looking to the future, the panelists commented on 4D printing (3D printing with functionality) and 5D printing (voxel manufacturing) as revolutionary directions the technology could go, while also acknowledging that there are real limitations with respect to materials and cost today.
The panel also suggested that prices of consumer 3D printers would fall as competition increased.
Tweets
Wow, deep “we lost a generation to video games, buy your kids a 3D printer and they’ll become a rocket scientist by college” #ftr3dprint
— Jake Frick (@JakeFrick) March 11, 2013
We won’t continue to see few design for millions. With 3D printing, we’ll start to see millions designing for themselves. #FTR3DPRINT #SXSW
— Sarah Schultz (@schultzse) March 11, 2013
Original panel description from SXSW
No longer is it necessary to create a mold and make 10,000 of an item in order to get it produced. Today, 3D printing allows almost anyone to create just about design they can imagine. The technology is being used to make everything from toys to motorcycles to airplane parts, and even houses, as well as incredible medical advances . Where is the tech going? Some think it can make new parts for the International Space Station. Others see it as a way for designers to make money selling 3D models.
What’s clear is that production will never be the same. The question is whether the technology behind creating 3D printed products can really be democratic, or if truly high-end production will remain in the hands of a skilled — and monied — few.
Experts in the field will share their thoughts on the state of the art, and where this exciting tech is likely to go in the years to come. CNET Reviews editor Rich Brown, who has been writing about 3D printing for years, will moderate.
Photo by William Hertling.
