Nexa3D announces acquisition of AddiFab

by Sam Davies

5 April 2023

08:56

Nexa3D

Nexa3D has announced the acquisition of AddiFab following a successful year of joint go-to market collaboration between the two companies throughout North American and EMEA.

AddiFab has brought to market Freeform Injection Molding, a patented digital tooling process that has been designed to leverage the design freedom of 3D printing and the mechanical performance of injection molding to enhance product development. With this technology, manufacturers are able to quickly prototype parts using the materials they intend to deploy for the final product.

Through a partnership with Nexa3D, announced in March 2022, AddiFab's Freeform Injection Molding technology has been supported by NXE 400 SLA 3D printers. Since the start to this collaboration, dozens of customers have been converted from traditional tooling to digital tooling, according to a press release distributed by Nexa3D earlier this week. Among those customers is Wilson Sporting Goods, who have leveraged the NXE 400 powered Freeform Injection Molding process in the development of youth baseball bats, with multiple designs produced using the final manufacturing materials able to be tested. PepsiCo, who has leveraged Nexa3D technology to manufacture moulds for its drinks bottles, is also said to have utilised AddiFab's Freeform Injection Molding process.

Nexa3D has moved to acquire AddiFab to integrate fully its capacity to enable ‘same day production opportunities for highly complex, otherwise unmoldable geometries,’ while also noting its desire to ‘broaden true production capabilities’ for customers with the Freeform Injection Molding process. As part of the acquisition, AddiFab's proprietary tooling resin, which is compatible with more than 300 off-the-shelf injection molding materials, will be rebranded as xMOLD. The soluble xMOLD resin can be used in a traditional split mould application for repeated use or in a unique dissolvable application, and will be made available to all users of Nexa3D's resin-based 3D printing portfolio. AddiFab's Copenhagen facility will also be leveraged as a new Customer Experience Center, which will include a product showroom, service and support hub, and a main European fulfilment centre.

"We are very excited to welcome the entire AddiFab team to the growing Nexa3D family of people, products and partners democratising access to dissolving tooling for same day complex molded parts using the entire range of industrially proven plastics," commented Nexa3D co-founder, Chairman and CEO Avi Reichental. "We believe that the market validated strategic fit between our businesses and products, combined with the expanded capabilities in product development, next-gen resin formulation, channel coverage, manufacturing and marketing, will result in significant revenue and accretive growth."

"Soon after teaming up with Nexa3D, it became increasingly apparent that our combined solution unlocks tremendous opportunities for customers looking to create complex injection molding tools quickly and affordably," added Lasse G. Staal, co-founder and Business Development Leader at AddiFab. "A year into our enormously successful commercial collaboration and dozens of customer implementations with the likes of PepsiCo and Wilson Sporting Goods, I’m thrilled that we are officially joining forces."

The news of Nexa3D's acquisition of AddiFab comes after it announced an agreement to acquire XYZprinting's SLS business, with the rest of the company's 3D printing business set to be dissolved by its shareholders. XYZprinting has since clarified that although an agreement for Nexa3D to acquire the SLS business is in place, it has not yet been completed.

by Sam Davies

5 April 2023

08:56

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