With $100M In Funding, Carbon3D Will Make 3D Manufacturing A Reality

Carbon3D, a startup building 3D printers for manufacturers, has pulled in $100 million in new funding to move 3D printing out of the prototyping phase and into production.

Google Ventures led the Series C round, joined by new investors Yuri Milner, Reinet Investments, and F.I.S., along with existing investors Sequoia Capital, Silver Lake Kraftwerk, and Northgate Capital.

If Carbon3D’s printers look like something out of a Terminator movie, it’s because that’s where co-founder Joseph DeSimone drew the inspiration for the technology. The printers are powered by a photochemical process, rather than the layer-by-layer process of traditional 3D printers, which allows them to print functional parts at 100 times the speed of existing printers.

“This is the first 3D printing tech that really has the potential to break out of the prototyping realm that 3D printing has been relegated to until now,” says Andy Wheeler, who led the Carbon3D investment for Google Ventures. “For one because of the sheer speed, but perhaps even more importantly due to the range of materials.”

Carbon3D can print everything from a remote control to the arm of a chair by utilizing a variety of materials that a typical 3D printer cannot.

The company is already working with a dozen large manufacturers spanning the automotive, aerospace, and consumer electronics industries, including Ford and special effects studio Legacy Effects.

Many of the parts Carbon3D’s printers are churning out were previously made with injection molding, which gets expensive if you’re only creating a handful of parts. Potentially the most exciting aspect, though, is that this technology makes it possible to create an entirely new range of structures and parts.

Instead of using steel to build certain high-strength components of an airplane, for instance, Carbon3D would be able to 3D print a lightweight alternative by shaping plastic into a form previously impossible to manufacture.

Currently in beta, the company will begin selling its industrial-scale printers to manufacturers later this year.

Comments

SoftBank Lands $236M From Alibaba And Foxconn To Bring Its Pepper Robot To The World

Remember Pepper, the intelligent robot that SoftBank unveiled last year ? Pepper goes on sale in Japan this coming weekend, but in advance of that launch SoftBank has revealed that Alibaba and manufacturer Foxconn have invested $118 million each in its robotics division. That deal will give Alibaba and Foxconn 20 percent shares in SoftBank Robotics Holdings (known as SBRH), with SoftBank retaining a dominant 60 percent stake. “SoftBank, Alibaba and Foxconn will build a structure to bring Pepper and other robotics businesses to global markets, and cooperate with the aim of spreading and developing the robotics industry on a worldwide scale,” SoftBank said in its announcement. SoftBank isn’t short on money, of course — it is building up quite a portfolio of e-commerce investments across Asia — but its two partners bring know-how, strategy and global networks to the table. So, it looks like Pepper has eventual world domination plans. Or, at least, ...

Check this cool Fun Apps

Apple to release new small phone before iPhone 7

Apple to release new small phone before iPhone 7 Apple is to create a smaller, cheap version of the iPhone, persistent to the 4 inch size of the iPhone 5. Apple is testing 5 different iPhone 7 models. It will sell next to Apple’s existing phones however mark the first time that Apple has ready a latest phone smaller than the one it locate on sale before. There will be the choice of 2 or three colours likely the gold, space grey and silver options that mainly Apple products now coming up. Other than inside there will be very much better components. The flagship improve will be the addition of the A9 chip that powers the iPhone 6S. There may also be a number of changes to the outside. The most able to be seen is apt to be the addition of the somewhat curved edges that are found on the iPhone 6 and 6S. careinfo.in Apple dropped the iPhone 5C previous this year. A number of hoped that it would be replaced by a 6C, though reports at the time made clear that we...

Intel announces the first 14 nanometre processor

At the Computex conference in Taipei, chipmaker Intel has revealed a fanless mobile PC reference design using the first of its next-generation 14nm "Broadwell" processors. The 2 in 1 pictured here is a 12.5" screen that is just 7.2 mm thick with keyboard detached and weighs 670 grams. The Surface Pro 3 – for comparison – is 9.1 mm thick and weighs 800 grams. It includes a media dock that provides additional cooling for a burst of performance. The next-generation chip is purpose-built for 2 in 1s and will hit the market later in 2014 . Called the Intel Core M, it will be the most energy-efficient Intel Core processor in the company's history with power usage cut by up to 45 percent, resulting in 60 percent less heat. The majority of designs based on this new chip are expected to be fanless, with up to 32 hours of battery life, offering both a lightning-fast tablet and razor-thin laptop. Intel is also delivering innovation and performance for the ...

How ad-free subscriptions could solve Facebook

At the core of Facebook’s “well-being” problem is that its business is directly coupled with total time spent on its apps. The more hours you pass on the social network, the more ads you see and click, the more money it earns. That puts its plan to make using Facebook healthier at odds with its finances, restricting how far it’s willing to go to protect us from the harms of over use. The advertising-supported model comes with some big benefits, though. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly said that “We will always keep Facebook a free service for everyone.” Ads lets Facebook remain free for those who don’t want to pay, and more importantly, for those around the world who couldn’t afford to. Ads pay for Facebook to keep the lights on, research and develop new technologies, and profit handsomely in a way that attracts top talent and further investment. More affluent users with more buying power in markets like the US, UK, and Canada command higher ad prices, effectively...

Exciting Technology

Search This Blog