R3 Printing

High-Performance 3D Printers

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Company Information

Website:

https://r3printing.com/

Sector:

3D Printing

Location:

Los Angeles, CA

R3 Printing has created a high-performance 3D printer.

Its printer enables companies to create custom 3D-printed products at prices that compete with mass production. The company’s printer is being tested by prospective customers and will soon hit the market as a commercially-available product.

The market for 3D printing is massive and growing fast. In 2018, market revenues totaled around nine billion dollars. And by 2030, they’re projected to surpass $115 billion.

Noted a senior managing partner at SoftBank Investment Advisors, “We believe the 3D printing industry is currently standing at the precipice of unprecedented growth and is transforming the way products are made.”

But despite this market’s size and projections for growth, current 3D printers are problematic. Those looking to incorporate 3D printing into their business have only two options:

Cheap printers that require lots of setup, manual labor, and expertise to run…

Or enterprise-grade printers that can cost well over $10,000 and require costly proprietary materials that destroy a company’s product margins.

No matter which option they choose, the conclusion is the same: the cost of 3D printing is too high. This means custom 3D-printed products are expensive — far too expensive to go mainstream.

Mass-produced earbuds, for example, retail for around $129. Custom 3D-printed earbuds, in contrast, can cost more than $500. Mass-produced shoe insoles can retail for less than ten dollars, while custom ones can cost as much as $100.

Bottom line: While there’s demand for products that are custom-made, most are only available to wealthier customers.

Mass production helps to reduce the cost of products for consumers. But taking a “one size fits all” approach for many products isn’t ideal.

Custom printing would solve this problem, if only it were affordable. Now it is.

R3 enables manufacturers to run a scalable 3D printing business. Its affordability — printers retail for less than $10,000 — enables customers to operate more printers and create custom products at a lower cost.

Not only do these printers stand up to manufacturers who run operations 24/7, but they also outperform the competition.

The key is the use of a lighter printhead — the component in a printer that transfers ink onto the page. By shedding more than eighty percent of the weight of a traditional printhead, R3’s printer can print items ninety percent faster than the competition. It can also print items that are 200% larger.

A feature called Active Overheat Prevention uses an additional sensor in the printhead to monitor heat absorption and trigger a pause in printing if a critical threshold is reached.

Most thermally-induced jams take about forty-five minutes of trained labor to fix. And operators are put at risk of burns and other injuries.

By virtually eliminating the need to repair these printer failures, Active Overheat Prevention allows on-demand manufacturing businesses to operate more 3D printers with a smaller staff.

R3 printers don’t rely on expensive proprietary materials. This makes it easier for companies to replace parts when necessary. Furthermore, its printers don’t require “the cloud” for operations or monitoring. This enables the company to sell its product to businesses or government agencies with strict security requirements. Customers can retain access to all operations and monitoring features over their local network.

R3 has conducting a handful of crowdfunding rounds in the past, most recently in 2020. Since its last raise, the company has increased its patent holdings — it now has seven granted patents and nine others pending — with plans to file nearly a dozen more applications before the end of this year.

Additionally, R3 added DLA Piper, a law firm specializing in patent licensing, and Kruze Consulting, an accounting and finance business, to its team.

The company also added metal 3D printing capabilities to its product, a breakthrough that expands its market opportunity by more than three billion dollars.

As mentioned, several customers are testing R3’s latest printer prototype. These include three major universities in California as well as manufacturing companies in Florida, California, and British Columbia.

The company has received funding from Ocean Accelerator, a program that accepts only ten startups each year and provides seed-stage capital. And it’s partnered with FutureWorks, a hardware and advanced manufacturing incubator funded by the New York City Economic Development Corporation.

Team Background

Petra Wood - Chief Operating Officer

Petra is responsible for leading R3 Printing’s growth strategy.

Before joining the company, she worked in digital marketing for Dentsu Aegis, a global media company.

Prior to that, she was a production associate with the Disney ABC Television Group.

Earlier in her career, Petra was a production assistant with Leftfield Pictures, a media company, and interned as a producer with ABC News.

She earned a Bachelor’s degree from NYU and graduated from the Y Combinator Startup School.

Paul Sieradzki - CEO and Head of Product

Paul has a passion for invention and automation.

He began his career at Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS).

From there, he joined Bridgewater Associates, one of the world’s largest investment management companies. While there, he worked in the technology division.

Paul has been with R3 Printing since 2018, and is the inventor of its product’s patented features.

He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from Fordham University and studied Engineering Mechanics at Columbia University. He also graduated from the Y Combinator Startup School.

Co-Investors

Raising
$5 million
Committed
$2.301 million (46%)
Current Valuation
$35 million Cap / 15% Discount
Min. Investment
$250
Deal Type
Title III
(For all investors)
Offering Type
SAFE
Finance History
  • $50K
    2018-03-21
    Unknown
  • $97.728K
    2018-07-12
    Unknown
  • $435K
    2019-09-25
    Unknown
Notable Investors
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