Just now, this metal 3D printing equipment manufacturer completed the first round of financing of nearly 100 million yuan

On March 4, 2024, according to the resource database, Micron (Jiangsu) 3D Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Micron 3D") recently completed its first round of nearly 100 million yuan strategic financing, led by industry partners Yueda Automobile Industry Fund and Huagong Technology (000988), with joint participation from Tianchong Capital and Xuzhou Airport Development Zone. Ruby Capital serves as the long-term exclusive financial advisor and strategic partner of Micron 3D. This round of financing will be used for large-scale production and manufacturing of new generation SLM metal 3D printing equipment and promotion, accelerating the penetration of titanium alloy 3C consumer electronics, shoe molds and other fields.

With the maturity of 3D printing technology and the continuous expansion of application scenarios, especially in recent years, it has rapidly penetrated into fields such as aerospace, medical dentistry, and consumer electronics. According to market research company SmarTech Analysis, the global additive manufacturing market size in 2022 is $13.5 billion (Wohlers Report 2023 report $18 billion). The latest market research shows that the additive manufacturing market size in 2023 will reach $18.8 billion, and is expected to reach $119 billion by 2032. Among them, the SLM (METAL PBF) technology route is almost exponentially growing in terms of growth rate and proportion, and is the sum of other routes.

Meiguang 3D was co founded by the first batch of 3D printing doctoral students in China, including Li Shuai and Chen Zhichao, in 2016. The founder, Dr. Li Shuai, studied under Professor Shi Yusheng from the Additive Manufacturing Research Group of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and obtained a doctoral degree in additive manufacturing equipment, process, and application development from the leading global research institution in additive manufacturing, Nanyang University of Technology; Dr. Chen Zhichao, co-founder, has independently written over 400000 lines of software code, created large-scale splicing interface enhancement algorithms, and parallel multithreading algorithms. He is known as the "Huake Zhang Xiaolong" in the field of 3D printing software.

The company is committed to the production, manufacturing, and related services of metal SLM equipment. The company focuses on underlying technological innovation and forward development, self-developed slicing and control software, and conducts many disruptive designs and innovations on products based on first principles. Currently, it has shipped more than 500 units, among which the new metal SLM equipment market is at the forefront in 2023, and the dental SLM equipment market has the highest new market share.

In the past decade, metal additive manufacturing has gone through three stages of industrialization. Since 2008, when US President Obama provided the manufacturing industry back to the United States and Germany provided Industry 4.0, the exploration stage of industrialization has begun in China, mainly involving research equipment purchased by domestic universities and research institutes; The second stage mainly focuses on the mass production of metal 3D printing in high value-added products, especially in military, aerospace, and other high value-added and difficult to manufacture products. Currently, leading domestic listed companies such as Platinum and Huashu High tech have a high proportion of military business; Since 2023, with Honor announcing the use of 3D printed titanium alloy material for the hinge cover of the folding screen Magic V2, metal 3D printing has entered a new stage of large-scale industrial application, said Xia Qing, strategic partner of Micron 3D.

Dr. Li Shuai, the founder, stated that since its establishment, the company has made many software algorithms, processes, and overall design innovations based on first principles, focusing on the efficiency and cost of metal 3D printing. In terms of data efficiency, the complete self-developed software has a slicing speed nearly 10 times faster than similar software. In addition, by combining self-developed software and technology, technology solutions such as variable layer thickness printing and hollow grafting have greatly improved printing efficiency; In terms of cost, compared to purchasing software, self-developed software can bring hundreds of thousands of cost advantages. At the same time, Micron 3D is one of the first domestic enterprises to localize core components and connect underlying communication and control. The most surprising thing is that, drawing on Tesla's integration approach and through disruptive integration innovation, our component quantity is less than half of the equipment on the market, achieving revolutionary cost reduction.

Since its establishment, Meiguang 3D has taken the integration of software and technology as the core of equipment development, continuously iterating software and optimizing processes to achieve localization of components and improve printing efficiency. For the dental equipment M140C, the daily printing volume of fixed dentures exceeds 1000 pieces; In addition, the self-developed permanent filter element not only saves the need for regular replacement of the filter element, but also greatly improves the powder utilization rate. In terms of slicing and path planning, combined with the characteristics of dental factories, one click fully automatic layout and path planning are achieved, greatly simplifying the difficulty of equipment use. The control software and slicing software are seamlessly integrated, and the operation is simple and easy to use.

At present, Meiguang 3D's software and technology have been running on nearly a thousand devices. It customizes exclusive software and operation interfaces for different application fields and operation requirements, achieving intelligent one click operation. It is the only multi line solution in China that integrates software algorithms, control, and material technology, and is far ahead in the field of 3D printing software in China.

Based on the efficiency and cost advantages of our products, we have achieved disruptive breakthroughs in multiple fields. The M140C dental specialized equipment launched in May 2023 has achieved the first domestic market share in the dental 3D equipment industry since its launch, changing the denture processing methods of existing small and medium-sized denture factories and also changing the competitive landscape of dental 3D equipment.

The multi gloss industrial equipment such as M300 and M420, launched in the second half of 2023, has been verified and purchased in bulk by shoe mold equipment factories. Traditional shoe mold processes have high costs, and the company's new M420 (4, 6, 8 gloss) has the technical feasibility and cost advantage of subverting traditional processing. For the first time in China, the comprehensive cost of 3D printed shoe molds (considering powder, equipment depreciation, etc.) is lower than the manufacturing cost of traditional shoe molds. In the future, it will accelerate the substitution and penetration of processing methods in the shoe mold field. Currently, we have conducted in-depth discussions and cooperation with top shoe mold enterprises worldwide.

Since the second half of 2023, the 3D printing capital and industry heat of titanium alloy consumer electronics have not decreased. For the titanium alloy consumer electronics field, our new eight light equipment fully considers printing efficiency and printing process rhythm, using powder feeding technology to achieve continuous production for 7 * 24 hours. At the same time, through strategic cooperation with important influence customers in the 3C consumer electronics industry, we are expected to become the first technology solution manufacturer with equipment depreciation costs far lower than printing powder costs in the future.

In terms of the market, in addition to exploring various domestic sub markets, Micron 3D will increase its pace of going global. In 2023, the proportion of overseas business will rapidly increase. Currently, Micron 3D printing equipment has been operating in dozens of countries such as Russia, India, and the United States. In the future, we will work together with domestic and foreign partners to jointly develop overseas markets, accelerate the agent and after-sales service system.

In terms of team, with the rapid development of business, the company will establish a research and sales center in Shanghai, increase market and sales promotion, and expand the research and development team. The company is recruiting excellent teams in multiple positions such as market, sales, and research and development. We also welcome more ambitious individuals to work together for development and create a better future.

Xu Pengtian, Executive General Manager of Shanghai Jinpu Kunwen Investment Management Co., Ltd. and Head of Yueda Automotive Science and Technology Innovation Fund, stated that additive manufacturing is one of the directions of technological revolution in the industrial production field. Currently, it has been widely applied in aerospace, military manufacturing, high-end medical, 3C consumption and other fields. The Meiguang 3D team has accumulated and developed over the years, and has many unique advantages in both hardware and software in the SLM metal 3D printing field. They have strong competitiveness in the metal additive manufacturing industry.

As an investment oriented platform in the automotive industry, Yueda Automobile Group is fully committed to building a full chain ecosystem of the automotive industry in areas such as vehicle manufacturing, parts, research and development, and services. Yueda Automobile attaches great importance to the potential for large-scale manufacturing of core components in the automotive industry through additive manufacturing, and will work together with the Meiguang 3D team to explore the large-scale application of additive manufacturing in the field of new energy vehicle manufacturing.

Zhu Jianfeng, Deputy General Manager of Huagong Technology Investment, stated that Huagong Technology is the earliest laser listed company in China (000988), committed to providing a wide range of complete laser manufacturing processing solutions for the industrial manufacturing field, leveraging its leading position and full industry chain advantages in the industrial laser field. Huagong Technology attaches great importance to additive manufacturing technology, especially at the turning point of SLM metal 3D printing entering a new round of large-scale industrial applications. The founding team of Micron Rapid Manufacturing is also alumni of Huake, with a deep understanding and industrialization in the field of slicing software and process implementation. In the future, there will be many industrial collaborations with Micron Rapid Manufacturing in the field of additive manufacturing.

About Micron 3D

Meiguang (Jiangsu) 3D Technology Co., Ltd., abbreviated as "FastForm" in English, was established in April 2016. The core founders are all from well-known 3D printing research institutions at home and abroad. The company has been committed to the market-oriented application of 3D printing equipment, providing professional additive manufacturing application solutions for aerospace, high-performance industrial manufacturing, mold manufacturing, precision medicine and other fields. The equipment has completed CE certification and is exported to more than 50 countries and regions such as Europe, America, Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia.