The additive manufacturing company Rapid Liquid Print (RLP), a spin-off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 2015, has successfully completed its Series A financing.
In the latest financing round, German investor HZG Group led the capital injection, joined by existing investors BMW i Ventures and MassMutual. In total, RLP received fresh funding of 7 million US dollars.
HZG Group, based in Lichtenfels and Coburg in Bavaria, manages a €60 million technology fund focused on 3D printing startups. RLP is the second US investment of the group, which has so far been mainly active in the DACH region. RLP plans to use the capital to scale production, expand its team of experts and develop additional business areas.
RLP’s technology, developed at MIT’s Self-Assembly Lab, makes it possible to “draw” three-dimensional objects in a specially developed gel. A gantry robot injects a mixture of liquid materials into this gel, drawing the object through a nozzle into three-dimensional space. The gel holds the object in suspension while it hardens during the printing process. The entire printing process takes only minutes and requires no additional support structures.
Schendy Kernizan, co-founder and CEO at RLP, says: “In the HZG Group, we have found an investor who recognizes the full potential of our technology and has its own track record of setting standards with the introduction of metal 3D printing on an industrial scale. Together, we will take RLP’s technology to the next level. RLP will benefit greatly from the HZG Group’s engineering expertise and network at its high-tech location in Bavaria.”
RLP’s technology overcomes the size limitations of conventional additive manufacturing processes and enables the creation of complex, large-scale geometries from established industrial materials. Sustainability is increased by the multiple reusability of the gel and the recyclability of the silicone focus material at the end of the product life cycle.
Dr Florian Bechmann, CTO at HZG Group, emphasizes: “Rapid Liquid Print rethinks additive manufacturing beyond the established layer-based process. It is like a new coding language into which existing processes and functionalities are translated, resulting in complex elastic components with outstanding industrial properties and fast production times. The development of an industrial-scale production machine is one of the mid-term milestones that RLP will work towards with our support.”
Marcus Behrendt, Managing Director BMW i Ventures, says: “With the HZG-Fund leading the Series A investment, we are thrilled to have found an outstanding partner renowned for their expertise in 3D printing. Teaming up with HZG and the visionary leaders at RLP, we are sure to create a winner in the space of elastomer 3D printing. The unparalleled technology from RLP has accumulated significant interest, affirming its superiority. Their success in demonstrating the potential relevance of their technology in the automotive industry speaks volumes.”
RLP currently operates a print factory in the Boston area that processes orders for numerous industries, including medical and automotive. In addition to the printing technology, the company has developed a software platform to control the print head in the three-dimensional gel space.
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