Impossible Objects raises $40M to scale CBAM technology

Impossible Objects, an Illinois-based company specializing in composite additive manufacturing, has raised $40 million as part of a Series B funding found. The investment will enable it to scale its high-speed Composite-Based Additive Manufacturing (CBAM) technology and meet growing demand for composite AM from customers in the aerospace, defense and advanced manufacturing sectors. In addition to the funding announcement, Impossible Objects will also be exhibiting at IMTS 2026 in Chicago this week, showcasing CBAM’s capabilities and sample prints made from a range of composites and high-performance thermoplastics.

Founded in 2011, Impossible Objects has developed what it calls the world’s fastest industrial 3D printer. This claim is a big one, but the company does back it up, at least in the context of composite AM systems. With the unveiling of its CBAM 25 platform in 2023, for instance, the company stated the system had achieved “a fifteen times speed improvement” compared to existing systems on the market with a rate of 25 layers per minute. CBAM can also reportedly produce composite structures with strengths up to 200 MPa with minimal shrinkage and warpage.

The process that enables this production speed is a unique one: the 3D printer selectively prints fluid onto a continuous web of fiber substrate at a rate of up to 25 feet per minute. The pattern of the fluid represents each layer of the part. Next, the substrate passes through a powdering system that covers it with a polymer powder. This powder sticks to the patterned fluid and excess powder is vacuumed away. The fiber web is then cut into individual sheets, which are stacked in the proper order to create the part geometry. This stack is subsequently compressed and heated to the melting point of the polymer, fusing the polymer particles in the sheets together. The uncoated composite fibers are then removed in a sand blasting unit, resulting in a final part.

This approach to composite AM has clearly garnered interest. Not only has Impossible Objects just raised $40 million from investors—including Inflection Equity, who led the financing, as well as Aaron Wealth Management, OCA Ventures, Impact Capital and Excell Partners—it has also received a number of orders for its CBAM 25 platform. Since early 2025, Impossible Objects has received five orders from customers and has started deploying its technology within the U.S. Air Force, at the National Institute for Aviation Research, the Oregon Manufacturing Innovation Center, and Rochester Institute of Technology.

“We’ve created a fundamentally new way to manufacture,” commented Robert Swartz, founder and chairman of Impossible Objects. “We live our lives through things, and we have changed how things are made. This is as important as the mill, precision measurement and interchangeable parts. This funding gives us the resources to bring that vision to more customers and make it real at scale.”

At the U.S. Army Rock Island Arsenal, CBAM will enable the production of up to 10,000 drone bodies per month. “The nature of warfare is changing as new technologies are deployed,” explained Stephen Farmen, retired U.S. Army major general. “As a result, the defense industrial base needs new advanced manufacturing technologies that can deliver robust and flexible distributed production so we can get new technologies such as drone and counter-drone systems and repair parts to our warfighters faster, more flexibly and with radically shorter delivery timelines.”

The funding will enable Impossible Objects to scale the production of its CBAM platform and meet growing demand for its technology. It will also allow the company to further develop its service and commercial organization to support this growing installed base. Notably, the company also secured $20 million in U.S. government contracts and awards, including Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I and Phase II awards focused on using composite AM for long-range drones, lightweight aircraft structures, and more.