Markforged raises $82 million in Series D funding round

3D printer manufacturer Markforged has raised $82 million through a Series D investment round led by Summit Partners. The funding round also saw participation from existing investors Matrix Partners, Microsoft’s Venture Fund M12 and Porsche SE. The multi-million dollar investment will enable Markforged to accelerate its product roadmap—including the release of mass production printers and a range of new materials,—to ramp up its global expansion and to reinforce the company’s position in the global manufacturing industry.

Markforged was founded in 2013 by Greg Mark with the aim of developing and providing a functional and robust additive manufacturing system for industrial applications. Fast forward to today and the company offers a range of products that fit this bill, including a series of industrial composite 3D printers and an end-to-end metal 3D printing system, the Metal X. The recent funding showcases the company’s commitment to pushing its own technology and the manufacturing industry at large forward.

“Markforged set out to change the pace of human innovation by enabling engineers, inventors and manufacturers to print industrial-grade parts at a fraction of the time and cost of traditional methods,” said Greg Mark. “We’re very excited to have Summit join us as we help accelerate the next industrial revolution with broadly accessible and reliable 3D printing.”

The ultimate aim of Markforged—and many other 3D printing companies—is to advance the technology to a point where it is not only as viable as traditional production methods, but exceeds them in terms of efficiency. Part of achieving this is increasing quality while simultaneously driving down the cost of AM.

“We have been actively monitoring the additive manufacturing market for the last decade and are excited to partner with the Markforged team,” commented Michael Medici, a Managing Director at Summit Partners who has joined the company’s Board of Directors. “Markforged has been quietly executing at an incredible pace for the last five years, delivering exceptional products that solve real-world industrial manufacturing needs. Greg and his team are focused on continued product innovation, and we believe the best is yet to come for Markforged and its customers.”

Even before the addition $82 million in capital, Markforged was named by Deloitte as the 10th fastest growing technology company in North America, while Forbes included the company in its Next Billion Dollar Startup list. The company has experienced significant growth in recent years, having sold and shipped over 2,500 industrial 3D printers in 2018 to customers in over 50 countries. Presently, the company has filed for 133 patents and has been issued 38.