Markforged announces Series C funding from Siemens' next47, Microsoft Ventures, Porsche SE

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$30M investment will go toward new 3D printing technologies that enable manufacturers to bring products to market faster than ever before

WATERTOWN, MA -- (Marketwired) -- 11/01/17 -- Markforged, the industrial 3D printing platform unlocking a 10x acceleration in product creation speed, today announced that it has completed a $30 million Series C round of funding. next47, the Siemens-backed venture firm, led the round, with Microsoft Ventures, and Porsche Automobil Holding SE (Porsche SE) also making significant investments. The new investors join existing investors Matrix, Northbridge, and Trinity. Markforged has raised a total of $57 million to date, and achieved profitability in Q2 of 2017 having grown revenues by 300%. To learn more, please visit http://markforged.com

The biggest barrier to human achievement is the length of time it takes to go from idea to physical product.

"At Markforged we are unlocking a dramatic acceleration to change that process from years to days," said Greg Mark, founder and CEO. "With the new funding and strategic support from leading global manufacturing brands, we are poised to change the pace of human innovation."

Markforged is the only company to offer 3D printers that print the complete range of materials, including plastic, carbon fiber, and metal, coupled with an industry leading cloud-connected software platform designed to make manufacturing easy: pick a part, select a material, and just click print -- across a fleet of printers and an organization of users, from anywhere to anywhere in the world.

By inventing new ways to print carbon fiber and metal, Markforged has extended the benefit of 3D printing beyond modeling into manufacturing:

  • Prototyping: 3D printers produce metal parts 50x faster and 20x cheaper than machining, on a printer that is 1/10 the cost of existing solutions. Companies can now turn ideas into products in days instead of months.

  • Ramping: Mass production of parts on farms of thousands of networked printers with the click of a button. Seamlessly scale from prototype to production instead of waiting for months.

  • Assembly: Faster, stronger, and lighter, 3D printed carbon fiber parts enable on-demand assembly lines and bring businesses closer to the factory of the future.

"Markforged is making 3D printing simple, repeatable, and fast," said Lak Ananth, managing partner at Siemens next47, who will also be joining the Markforged board. "This has far reaching implications for our target industries, from automotive and aerospace to healthcare and energy. We see customers embedding Markforged into their product development and production processes, tremendously improving speed to market and addressing new opportunities in their industries."

"As cloud services shorten development cycles for software engineers, so too is 3D printing accelerating innovation in the physical world," said Matthew Goldstein, partner, Microsoft Ventures. "Markforged's full-stack offering and innovative materials are game-changing for 3D printing, opening up incredible new opportunities for mechanical engineers."

"Start-ups are an important source of innovations. In order to advance and capitalize on such innovations we have to invest in technologies at an early stage," said Philipp von Hagen, member of the executive board of Porsche Automobil Holding SE, responsible for investment management. "Our investment in Markforged is a perfect example of this approach. Its additive manufacturing technology has the potential to massively change different segments along the automotive value chain."

About Markforged
Markforged provides an industrial 3D printing platform to liberate designers and engineers from decades-old, slow part creation processes. NASA, Google, Volkswagen, Amazon, Facebook and thousands of other companies in over 50 countries use Markforged to print strong functional prototypes, same-day end-use parts, and accelerate their manufacturing process. With Markforged, customers are able to ship 50X faster, spend 20X less, and build products that are 23X stronger.

The Markforged platform includes a full ecosystem of 3D printers for metal, composite, and plastic parts; purpose-built metal & carbon-reinforced materials for strength and beautiful finishes; and cloud software for turning drawings into high-strength printing. For more information, and to learn why Markforged has grown over 300% in 2017, visit www.Markforged.com.

About next47
next47 is a global venture firm created by Siemens that invests in, and partners with, entrepreneurs who think big and build industry-defining companies. With offices in Boston, Beijing, London, Munich, Palo Alto and Shanghai, next47 gives start-ups unparalleled access to one of the world's largest portfolios of customers in the areas of industry, energy and infrastructure as well as domain expertise in the deep technologies that impact those customers.

About Microsoft Ventures
Microsoft Ventures is the corporate venture arm of Microsoft, (NASDAQ: MSFT) (@microsoft) the leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world. Microsoft Ventures partners with visionary entrepreneurs looking to drive digital transformation. As part of its promise to portfolio companies, Microsoft Ventures offers unrivaled access to go-to-market resources and strategic relationships globally. Microsoft Ventures currently operates in London, New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Tel Aviv. Learn more here.

About Porsche SE
Porsche Automobil Holding SE ("Porsche SE") is a listed holding company, based in Stuttgart, Germany. Its main asset is a majority holding in the ordinary shares in Volkswagen Group, one of the world's leading automobile manufacturers. The Group comprises twelve brands from seven European countries: Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Audi, SEAT, ŠKODA, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, Ducati, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Scania and MAN. In addition, Porsche SE invests in technology companies along the automotive value chain with a focus on the industrial and mobility ecosystems.

Source: Markforged

Released November 1, 2017