The DeepTech & Climate Fonds (DTCF) has successfully closed its first investment in a series A financing round. Together with the HZG Group, Onsight Ventures and the current investor SquareOne, DTCF is investing eight million euros in the company xolo GmbH. This funding supports xolo’s vision to transform the 3D printing industry through the use of its revolutionary new process “xolography”.
Xolography is a volumetric printing process that is fast and produces very smooth surfaces. It also makes use of materials that could not previously be used for 3D printing. This addresses three of the major challenges that the 3D printing industry typically has to face. The aim is to achieve a breakthrough with the novel technology of xolography and thus open up completely new fields of application for 3D printing. For example, in medical technology for the reproduction of organs or in the optical industry for the production of high-precision lenses.
Objects created out of nowhere
The printing process was developed at the Technology Park Berlin Adlershof by xolo founders Prof. Dr. Martin Regehly, Prof. Dr. Stefan Hecht and Dirk Radzinski. Xolography sounds like science fiction, because objects are seemingly created out of thin air. In the 3D printer Xube, the three founders are putting the technique of xolography into use. Unlike conventional 3D printing processes, which use layered generation techniques, xolography is a volumetric printing method. It is based on a cuvette with liquid resin continuously moving through a light sheet, into which an additional light projection is focused. By enriching the liquid resin with photoactive specialty chemicals developed by xolo, the so-called photoinitiators, the final product is produced within a very short time and with smooth surfaces. Read more about the details in the scientific journal “Nature”, in which the researchers described their process.
Expertise, financial strength and network
xolo co-founder and CEO Dirk Radzinski: “Xolography represents a fundamental shift in the 3D printing industry. From hardware to materials, everything is being rethought. Our investors understand the importance of this paradigm shift and support us with their financial strength, expertise and network towards making it a success.”
Frank Carsten Herzog, managing partner of the HZG Group, adds: “Xolography significantly improves the resolution and volume generation rate of previous processes. This means that in the future, the process will be able to produce large numbers of highly detailed objects in a short time – the economic potential is enormous.”
The DTCF focuses its investments on the capital-intensive growth phase of companies. The aim is to develop the technology champions of the future of tomorrow. With its first investment, the DeepTech & Climate Fonds aims to enable the transition of xolo’s revolutionary 3D printing technology to industrial-scale use. Co-Managing Director Tobias Faupel: “xolo has all the prerequisites to become a future market leader in the field of 3D printing. We are pleased to support this development together with HZG, Onsight Ventures and SquareOne.”
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