Headmade Materials raise 1.9 million to scale up their technology

Founded in 2019, Headmade Materials is a startup that develops materials and processes for metal 3D printing. The company is known for developing a sinter-based metal additive manufacturing process called Cold Metal Fusion (“Metal SLS”). This innovative process enables additive manufacturing for mass production using low-cost 3D printers available on the market. Several days ago, Headmade Materials announced that they successfully secured 1.9 million investment for scaling up their technology as well as for marketing and customer development purposes. The entire amount was provided by one single investor – the Industrial Technologies Fund of btov Partners. The financing round was prepared and supported by the BayStartUP investor network.

Originally, Headmade Materials was launched as a spin-off from the SKZ polymer research institute located in Würzburg, Germany. Today, the startup’s Cold Metal Fusion process enables customers to mass produce metal parts at low cost and in a scalable manner. The German startup adapts the material so that the process can run on equipment from various established manufacturers, which significantly facilitates process integration. At the core of the process lies the Headmade feedstock, which is a combination of metal powder and a special polymer binder system. This feedstock can be processed on almost any laser-based 3D printer.

Cold Metal Fusion allows to use a wide range of metal powders. (Image credits: Headmade Materials)

In addition to the sale of feedstock based on more or less standard alloys, such as stainless steel 316L or titanium 6AI-4V, the German startup also adapts individual alloys upon client’s request, for example, hard or refractory metals. “We have been working on the technology for five years and the partnership with btov now gives us the opportunity to accelerate the company’s development and realize our vision of 3D series production,” says Christian Staudigel, Managing Director of Headmade Materials.

btov Partners is a European venture capital firm focusing on digital and industrial technologies. This firm is one of the most successful backers of AI companies in Europe. With offices in Berlin, Munich, St. Gallen and Luxembourg, the company manages assets of more than EUR 500 million in total. Its network of private investors consists of 250 experienced entrepreneurs and executives from all over Europe. The most well-known investments include Data Artisans, DeepL, Dyemansion, Effect Photonics, Finanzcheck, Immatics, ORCAM, Quanta, Raisin, SumUp and Volocopter.

Robert Gallenberger, partner of the btov Industrial Technologies Fund says: “We see the Cold Metal Fusion technology as a very viable approach for serial production due to the high cost efficiency of the process. The combination of mechanical part properties known from metal powder injection molding (MIM) process and considerable process advantages, such as reduced safety requirements due to easier powder handling and higher green part stability, is also significant here“.

(All image credits: Headmade Materials)

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